Sports TV News

Barry Melrose Stepping Away from ESPN After Parkinson’s Diagnosis

“A razor sharp wit, he was always early and looked like a million bucks.”

Published

2 months ago

October 10, 2023

BSM Staff

Courtesy: Phil Ellsworth, ESPN Images

Barry Melrose, a studio analyst for coverage of the National Hockey League on ESPN, will be stepping away from the network as he endures a battle with Parkinson’s disease. During this difficult time, he will spend time with his own family and therefore end his tenure with the property. John Buccigross, his ESPN colleague and longtime friend, made the announcement on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday ahead of the network’s season opening tripleheader.

“I’ve had over 50 extraordinary years playing, coaching and analyzing the world’s greatest game – hockey,” Melrose said in a statement. It’s now time to hang up my skates and focus on my health, my family, including my supportive wife Cindy, and whatever comes next. I’m beyond grateful for my hockey career, and to have called ESPN home for almost 30 years. Thanks for the incredible memories, and I’ll now be cheering from you from the stands.”

“Barry has had a connection to the sport for an astonishing 50 years as a player, coach and analyst, and he has left an indelible mark both on and off the ice,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “We wish him and his family the very best.”

Melrose first joined ESPN in 1996 after serving as the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings for the preceding three years. Over a seven-year span, he called various regular-season and playoff games for both ESPN and ABC Sports before moving into the studio to provide analysis for select telecasts. In June 2008, he briefly left the network to take the head coaching job with the Tampa Bay Lightning and made his return upon being relieved of his duties shortly thereafter. Since then, he has regularly appeared on programming such as SportsCenter and ESPNEWS, and was known for working with Steve Levy in giving reports annually from the Stanley Cup Final.

“For years, I’d walk around the Stanley Cup Final with Barry Melrose,” Levy told Barrett Sports Media in an interview last November. “He was like a rockstar because he’s Barry Melrose. He’s got the clothes [and] he’s got the hair.”

“Barry is a unique, one-of-a-kind person,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “And hockey on ESPN won’t be the same without him. … His love for hockey is obvious and infectious. And it is impossible to have a conversation with him without a smile on your face. Barry, we wish you well in this fight and know you will give it everything you have — as you always do.”

Melrose played 10 years of professional hockey in both the NHL and World Hockey Association (WHL) and ended his career with the Detroit Red Wings. The vast knowledge and passion for the game allowed him to contribute to college hockey broadcasts as well, a display of versatility within the sport.

“I’ve worked with Barry at ESPN for over a quarter-century,” Buccigross added on X. “Cold beers and hearty laughs in smokey cigar bars. A razor sharp wit, he was always early and looked like a million bucks. I love him; I’ll miss him. Wayne Gretzky on a life dedicated to hockey.”

BSM Staff

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Sports TV News

Scripps Sports Exec: Teams Are Making Contingency Deals For After Bally Sports Bankruptcy

Lawlor said that Scripps Sports “already has deals in place with at least a couple of teams as a contingency in case Bally halts broadcasts before the end of the 2024 season.”

Published

10 hours ago

November 30, 2023

Jordan Bondurant

With the writing on the wall that Diamond Sports Group will drop its regional sports contracts after next year, entities like Scripps Sports are bracing for additional opportunities to work with various teams.

Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor recently said teams and leagues are already thinking ahead.

“There’s a lot of contingency planning by teams and leagues to have distribution options if the creditors pull the rug out early,” Lawlor told Cincinnati Business Courier. “It’s really messy right now.”

Lawlor added that Scripps has already been involved in contingency planning with those leagues and teams, with talks having gone on for months in some instances.

“(Scripps) already has deals in place with at least a couple of teams as a contingency in case Bally halts broadcasts before the end of the 2024 season.

Scripps Sports already stepped in to help provide a new TV home for both the Vegas Golden Knights and the Arizona Coyotes. Lawlor said returns with those teams, particularly in Vegas, have been great.

“We’ve been blown away by the Golden Knights over-the-air ratings and the number of people who have subscribed to direct-to-consumer,” he said.

Jordan Bondurant

Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.

Sports TV News

Bob Iger: ESPN Could ‘Go It Alone’ and Not Take Financial Partners

“We are fully prepared to do that. It would be a little more challenging if we did.”

Published

10 hours ago

November 30, 2023

Jordan Bondurant

Courtesy: CNBC

As Disney continues to consider selling an ownership stake in ESPN, Disney CEO Bob Iger told employees he’s not ruling out the possibility of not bringing in new financial partners.

Front Office Sports reported Wednesday that Iger spoke at a Disney town hall on Tuesday and there’s no requirement in place that says Disney must seek out new investors to maintain ESPN’s financial future.

“We could go it alone,” he said. “We are fully prepared to do that. It would be a little more challenging if we did.”

Disney has already had some level of conversations with potential partners including pro sports leagues and big tech companies.

Jordan Bondurant

Sports TV News

NASCAR to Announce $1.1B Rights Deal with FOX, NBC, Prime Video, TNT

The $1.1 billion figure represents a nearly 40% increase in what the organization receives from its current deals.

Published

17 hours ago

November 29, 2023

BSM Staff

A photo of the NASCAR Cup Series, FOX, Prime Video, TNT, and NBC Sports logos

NASCAR is on the verge of announcing a new TV rights deal that will see the racing organization bring in $1.1 billion annually from five TV partners.

The $1.1 billion figure represents a nearly 40% increase in what the organization receives from its current deals.

Beginning in 2025 and running through the 2031 season, NASCAR will air its first 14 Cup Series events with FOX and FS1. The next five events will air on Amazon Prime Video, making the first time a NASCAR event will be shown exclusively on a streaming service.

Following Amazon’s portion of the schedule, another five events will be broadcast on both TNT and the B/R Sports tier of the Max streaming service. The final 14 races of the year will be broadcast with NBC, USA Network, and Peacock, according to reporting from Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern.

Previously, FOX Sports aired 18 races, while NBC aired 20, which includes two exhibition events.

In addition to its new deals with Amazon Prime Video and TNT for the Cup Series, NASCAR also has a previously announced new broadcast agreement with The CW to air each race of the Xfinity Series.

The upcoming announcement, which is expected either Wednesday or Thursday, comes on the heels of NASCAR President Steve Phelps admitting new TV partners would be entering the fray in the next contract.

“We are going to have an additional partner and we may have two additional partners,” Phelps told NBC Sports. “That’s kind of where we’re trying to figure out in these last few weeks — what that’s going to look like, but we already know we’re going to have more partners.”

BSM Staff