The buildup to the 2024 BSM Summit continues with our next speakers announcement. Media professionals looking to attend March’s show can secure seats at BSMSummit.com. We’ve already announced Jeff Smulyan, Mark Chernoff, Don Martin, Bruce Gilbert, Scott Sutherland, Chris Oliviero, Scott Shapiro, Spike Eskin, Mitch Rosen, Paul Mason, Bonnie Bernstein and Damon Amendolara will be part of the event. We’ll have additional big names to reveal in the weeks and months ahead too so stay tuned for more.

Before I get into the latest group of speakers, I want to pass along some Barrett Media news.

First, when you log on to BSM and BNM on Monday December 4th, you’ll notice both sites operating with a new, cleaner look. We pump out a lot of daily content on our websites but finding all of it can be intimidating. We’re hoping the modifications make it easier to find and digest our content and look forward to your feedback on what we roll out next week.

Secondly, I’ve spent months going through a process to identify an Executive Editor for Barrett Media. The type of leader I’ve been looking for different from what exists at some online publications. I’ve spoken to a lot of smart, talented people during this process, many who I know could make us better. However, there is only one job available. Fortunately after going through an extensive search, I’ve identified someone who I’m interested in teaming with to help take Barrett Media to the next level. I hope to announce that hire and the addition of a number of new writers next week. I think our readers, partners and clients will like what’s on the horizon.

Third, we have opened up voting on the Barrett News Media Top 20 of 2023. The deadline to cast votes for News/Talk PD’s is next Monday December 4th. We will present the News/Talk radio format’s collective feedback December 11-15 and December 18 on BarrettNewsMedia.com.

There’s other stuff on the way as well, but I’ll save the rest for next week. Let’s dive now into the latest additions to the Summit.

It is my pleasure to announce the additions of Nick Wright of FS1, Danny Parkins of 670 The Score in Chicago, Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, and Omar Raja of ESPN to the 2024 BSM Summit speaker lineup. All four of these men are extremely talented and accomplished, and I’m grateful to each of them for making time to be with us.

Starting with Omar Raja, the work he did building House of Highlights into a powerhouse social brand is well documented. He now serves as a commentator for ESPN’s digital and social content, which includes being the leading voice behind ESPN’s SportsCenter Instagram account, and providing strategic social programming across ESPN’s social platforms. It’s not every day industry professionals gain an opportunity to learn from one of the industry’s top social media minds, so I’m hoping to see a lot of folks present when he shares his wisdom at the Summit.

Shifting from digital to on-air talent, one session I know many will be present for will include three personalities who have been highly successful in each of their careers, and share a lifelong bond through the friendships they formed while attending Syracuse University together. Nick Wright, Andrew Fillipponi, and Danny Parkins are three of the best in the business today, and all three will be on stage together to discuss their individual paths, their differing approaches to content creation, measuring and managing success, and much more. Having Damon Amendolara, another Syracuse graduate who’s been highly successful on the air, guide the session should make it even more interesting and entertaining for all in the room.

With these latest four individuals added to the lineup we’ve now secured sixteen top speakers for March’s show. I’m hoping to reveal the next group of participants in a few weeks. Once we get past the holidays I’ll start revealing the awards winners and a few executives who will be part of the conference.

I want to thank Steve Stone Voiceovers, Good Karma Brands, Bonneville International, Silver Tribe Media, Premiere Networks and the Motor Racing Network for returning as sponsors of the 2024 BSM Summit. If your group would like to explore a sponsorship opportunity for the show or review website or newsletter options for 2024, email Stephanie Eads at [email protected] to receive a copy of our advertising decks.

That’s the latest for now. More to come in December.

Each year the BSM Summit welcomes a star studded group of high-profile talent, accomplished executives, top programmers, and successful digital leaders to examine the top issues facing the sports media business. The information provided arms each attendee with actionable ideas and solutions to improve their brands, shows, and individual performance, and our 2024 event in New York City promises to deliver more of what the industry has come to expect.

If you missed the initial announcement, we’re excited to be joined once again by Spike Eskin, Don Martin, Scott Shapiro, Mitch Rosen, Jeff Smulyan, and Mark Chernoff. Each of these men have enjoyed great success in the sports radio industry, and we appreciate them making time to join us and offer their insights at the Ailey Theater in NYC on March 13-14, 2024.

Today though it’s time to reveal the next group of speakers who will be part of our show. Two of these individuals have built successful careers as on-air talent. Four remain involved in management and programming roles for Audacy, Cumulus, and Bonneville International.

Starting with the on-air talent, I’m looking forward to having SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio morning host Damon Amendolara, and Emmy Award-winning American sports journalist and media executive Bonnie Bernstein join us for the 2024 BSM Summit. D.A. was part of our 2020 show in the concrete jungle. For Bonnie, this is her first time appearing. Specific sessions highlighting their involvement will be announced closer to the event.

On the executive side, I’m thrilled to welcome back Cumulus Media and Westwood One SVP of Sports Bruce Gilbert, Bonneville International EVP Scott Sutherland, and Audacy New York VP and Market Manager Chris Oliviero. I’m equally excited to have 104.5 The Zone Program Director Paul Mason make his first appearance at the conference. The collective knowledge, success, and relationships these men enjoy across our industry speaks volumes of why they’re trusted to lead and grow their respective brands and companies. It’s important for folks in the room to learn the business, not just the world of content, and I’m grateful to Chris, Scott, Bruce and Paul for helping us further educate the room.

We have a lot more lined up that we’ll announce in the weeks and months ahead. As has been our strategy throughout the years, we like to build the show and increase excitement for it. If you work in the media industry and wish to attend, tickets can be purchased by visiting BSMSummit.com. On the conference website you’ll also find details about our hotel partner, M Social. Make sure to visit the Hotel page and book your reservation asap to avoid being left without a room later on. Our room block expires in mid-February.

Additionally, for those looking to be a part of the Summit as a marketing partner, please reach out to Stephanie Eads at [email protected]. We’ve already had a number of sponsorships for the event get scooped up, and the demand for show involvement is usually high. Before they all go away, check with Stephanie to see what’s available.

Expect another announcement prior to Thanksgiving. This is going to be another action packed event, and I look forward to once again seeing everyone as we bring the industry together to explore solutions to move the business forward.

Every now and then a story makes the rounds that leaves me scratching my head. The latest one involves the NY Post’s report of Pat McAfee paying big money to Aaron Rodgers and Nick Saban to appear on his program.

This is nothing new. Paying people to appear on media outlets on a set day and time has been happening for decades. Maybe the amount being paid is more but looking at it through the lens of the Pat McAfee Show, this is a no-brainer. I applaud him for defending it. He has every right to do it. If you’ve paid attention to the rise of his show the past few years, he’s clearly invested in the right type of difference makers. If what Pat said is true, and the value of his company has grown from 2-5 million to over 500 million, heck, even if it’s half of that, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t be doing the same exact thing. It’s business 101.

What bothered me when this story dropped is that it felt tied to a different issue than whether or not Aaron Rodgers and Nick Saban should be paid for their time. I’ll get to that in a minute. Given how many people watch Rodgers on Pat’s show, listen to him via the podcast, and how much media attention each appearance generates, Aaron’s more than demonstrated his value.

Saban may not be as popular as Rodgers but he is the greatest college football coach of my lifetime, speaks his mind, and he’s in charge of one of the nation’s top college football programs. We’re not going to seriously suggest these aren’t valuable assets, right? Both men are filthy rich and don’t need to do these appearances. If you want them to make time for it, which likely leads to extra discussions with local and national media about the comments they make on the air, they’ve got to see the benefit in doing it. Providing a ‘platform’ isn’t enough of a reason for them to make time each week to doing it.

The bigger issue I have involves this fascination by some in media circles to look for a way to make it political. Let me be clear, that is not what I believe was behind the New York Post’s story. I’ll get to that later in this piece.

As is the case often, when a story like this drops, it’s followed by aggregation and reactionary columns. You’re reading one right now. If you’ve read up on Rodgers, you’re aware that some don’t like his staunch defense of not being vaccinated or how he views the world. He’s a complex personality who some would prefer to silence because his beliefs don’t jive with their own. Quite frankly, I could care less if anyone is vaccinated or unvaccinated. Those are personal choices and they have no effect on my life or what we focus on covering on BSM or BNM. If there’s a media issue to explore, we examine it. If not, we move on.

As it relates to Rodgers, he’s a future first ballot hall of famer who speaks his mind and gets people to watch or listen. That’s usually what media folks want from the athletes they cover. The second I heard him call Travis Kelce ‘Mr. Pfizer’ I knew there’d be media outlets chomping at the bit to write about it. Some see it as an opening to question ESPN for allowing him on the air to share his views, just as they may question why Mad Dog can admit taking a gummy on a Disney owned network.

Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t but we didn’t touch Aaron’s remarks about Kelce. Nor did we write about Kelce’s response. Why? Because we cover the sports broadcasting business, not the world of sports. Unless you’re on a mission to chase clicks, which we’re not, this was a sports story involving two athletes. I’m sure in the coming days some athletes will speak about the issues between Hamas and Israel and some will write about that too. We will not. That doesn’t mean I won’t read those stories and find them interesting, they’re just not sports media business stories.

If ESPN pulled the plug on Rodgers appearing, dropped Mad Dog for his hilarious admission or if a discussion on Israel-Hamas led to an issue between broadcasters, then we’d dive in. That makes it a media matter. Otherwise it’s an interview on a show with an athlete who has an opinion and there are hundreds of those happening daily. We’ll leave that for reporters and hosts covering the world of sports.

Having managed brands in multiple cities and consulted outlets for the past 8 years, I’m very familiar with the paid contributor game. I know stations spend a lot of money on weekly contributors. When I ran 95.7 The Game in SF for Entercom (now Audacy) we spent 100-200K per year on baseball, football and basketball players appearing for weekly hits. Guess what, it worked. There was more attention placed on the station’s programming, we increased revenue through weekly segments and appearances, and the perception of the station was elevated. Those are called smart business investments.

When we rolled out a weekly feature titled ‘GIANT Tuesday’ and made Buster Posey and Matt Cain the focus of it during the height of the San Francisco Giants championship run, it instantly lifted the brand. First, it prevented two key stars from appearing on the competition, gave us exclusive access each week which grew tune ins and local buzz, the players took part in on the field meet and greets with the audience, and we were able to connect advertising partners to their segments and run adjacent spots. The same structure existed with Jerry Rice, Klay Thompson, Billy Beane, the San Francisco 49ers, and other key players from the three main leagues.

Before managing in SF, I experienced the same thing in St. Louis at 101 ESPN. We paid a rights fee to air St. Louis Rams football, and we received perks in the deal such as a weekly coaches show, suites, tickets, seats on the team plane, etc. but players cost extra. I was lucky enough to work for Bonneville who believed in investing in its programming, and they allowed us to strike deals with Steven Jackson, Rick Venturi, Tony Softli, Andy Van Slyke, Chris Duncan, and more. Those deals weren’t cheap but they helped grow ratings and revenue.

This doesn’t mean that every contributor is compensated for appearing on a podcast or radio or TV station but those providing value that can produce profit are going to be given different consideration. We can debate whether or not anyone is worth paying seven figures to appear on a show but if you ran that person’s business and saw it grow by 200-300% are you really going to suggest you wouldn’t make the same investment to retain what you built? You’re full of it if you’re saying otherwise.

What the general public sees or hears is the individual’s weekly appearance but what they don’t are the additional items that come with these paid relationships. Sometimes a paid guest signs a bunch of merchandise for sales people to use to try and attract clients. Sometimes they include a 1-2 hour private or public appearance for the media group to use to recoup some of its investment. Other times they may voice spots, take part in social media chats, meet fans or clients on the field/court or take part in a phone call with a key advertiser to try and close business. I’ve even seen some donate part of their uniform to help brands raise money for important causes.

These are the bonus items beyond calls that make deals even more valuable. It’s why I checked in regularly with agents and key players during the course of an agreement to make sure they were happy. At times, I’d even go down to the locker room and bring additional restaurant gift certificates, a bottle of wine or a copy of a new video game for a player to bring home to his kids. That’s what you do when you’re involved in a successful business relationship.

Do you know for sure that Aaron Rodgers hasn’t done things beyond the appearance to help Pat close bigger deals? Do you think ESPN and FanDuel before them didn’t see the value of working with McAfee knowing he had exclusive access to people like Rodgers and Saban? How much marketing money would’ve been needed to gain the attention that the McAfee show has received the past few years due to having Aaron on regularly? It’s enormous. To think that Aaron shouldn’t command a high fee when he’s providing that type of value is silly.

When McAfee addressed this story on his program Thursday, I thought his response was spot on. You take care of the people who help you grow your business. He’s made investments in people who move the needle. If the audience rises, the advertising increases, and your own brand gains significant value, which leads to a major deal with the industry’s largest sports media company, why would you even think a key contributor wouldn’t be paid let alone not expect a fortune to come on? Do you think WEEI in Boston paid peanuts to the Patriots for weekly calls with Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, additional players, and to frame two days of their weekly content around the Patriots name?

Big dollars have been attached to star players and personalities since the beginning of time and it’ll continue long after we’re all gone. The reason is simple, they grow audience, revenue, and brand/company value. To think this wouldn’t be the case indicates a lack of understanding of the way the media business works.

The only issue I took with Pat’s on-air commentary was his personal dig at Andrew Marchand. I understand Pat being frustrated with the story being out, and feeling there was an attempt to make him look like he was doing something unethical by paying valuable people to appear, but Andrew’s job is to report media news. He does a damn good job of it. Maybe the headline could have been different, and from McAfee’s chair he can question why it’s even a story, but Rodgers is a popular figure, those Tuesday visits produce a lot of interest, and people are going to be interested in those details. The attention only increases when you operate under the ESPN lights, and that’s something Pat has to get used to because it’s not going to change.

The bottom line, nobody got hurt, the world will go on, and the media business will continue investing in people capable of producing interest and business. Pat McAfee is taking care of the right people, and it has paid dividends for his brand and those part of his journey. That’s something we should be applauding not criticizing. Why? Because it works.

Demetri Ravanos will be taking a look at this issue from a different angle on Monday. Be sure to check back then to see how he views the situation.