UPDATE: ESPN’s live coverage of the first and second rounds of the Masters Tournament on Thursday and Friday, April 11-12, attracted the largest two-day average viewership for the 3 p.m. ET telecasts since 2018, according to Nielsen Fast National data. A two-day average of 3.4 million viewers watched the live coverage from Augusta National Golf
ESPN
Oops. ESPN has apologized for airing a brief video clip of a woman flashing her breast during its broadcast of the Sugar Bowl Monday in New Orleans. The clip was shown following a commercial during the second half of Washington’s 37-31 victory over Texas in a semifinal game of the College Football Playoff. A group
Taylor Swift is no Yoko Ono, claims a prominent ESPN sportscaster. Reacting to the chatter that has arrived as the Kansas City Chiefs are no longer dominating opponents, angry fans are pointing to Swift’s appearances at the Chiefs games as the cause of the team’s swoon. Swift is, of course, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s
Arnold Schwarzenegger is hoping to be useful to Peyton and Eli Manning. The Terminator and FUBAR star is heading to Manningcast on Monday night as Justin Herbert’s Los Angeles Chargers take on Zach Wilson’s New York Jets. He is the latest big-name star to appear on the Omaha Productions show after the likes of Barack
ESPN saw revenue of $13.2 billion and operating income of close to $1.5 billion for the first nine months of fiscal 2023, Disney revealed ahead of earnings next month when it plans to break out Sports as its own business segment — part of a restructuring initiated by CEO Bob Iger. In comparison, the entire
EXCLUSIVE: Peyton and Eli Manning are returning for a third season of ESPN’s Monday Night ManningCast and to help plug the alternate telecast, they are staging an “audition” for a third host. In a 7-minute promo from Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions (watch it above), the gag is that the ex-quarterback brothers have been asked to
Wendi Nix, the host of College Football Live, has announced on Instagram that her time at ESPN has ended after 17 years. “Exactly 17 years ago, I walked into ESPN wide-eyed and excited. This week, I walk out the same way. Grateful, but equally excited about the next chapter. To be continued…” she wrote on
Disney CEO Bob Iger shook up the entertainment industry and Wall Street last month when he declared to CNBC at Sun Valley that linear television may be non-core and that he’s looking for partners for ESPN as the company pivots to streaming. He’s still all in on filmed entertainment, television content studios and theme parks.
ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale said Wednesday that his battle with cancer continues, as he once again has vocal cord cancer The 84-year-old Vitale posted on Twitter that he will need six weeks of radiation to treat it. “I plan to fight like hell to be ready to call games when the college hoops
Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Argentina and soon-to-be Inter Miami soccer star Lionel Messi took multiple trophies Wednesday at the 2023 ESPY Awards. Mahomes, who won the NFL MVP for a second time after leading the Chiefs past the Philadelphia Eagles in this year’s Super Bowl, was named Best Athlete, Men’s
Paul Finebaum, an ESPN contributor for a decade, is weighing in on the layoffs that saw about 20 on-air personalities exit the sports network. “It’s pretty tough, and I say that loving my job and loving the company,” Finebaum said during an appearance on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast. “But it was the
Pat McAfee recently struck a deal to bring his namesake sports commentary show to ESPN. The former NFL player has been receiving backlash after the sports network announced layoffs and many viewers are correlating that it has to do with McAfee. McAfee, who is also an analyst on ESPN’s College GameDay, took to Twitter to
Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout from the Los Angeles Angels, and Freddie Freeman, J.D. Martinez, and Mookie Betts from the Los Angeles Dodgers were named as starters to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, set for July 11 in Seattle. ESPN announced the starters, which were named by fan voting in the first phase of
Coming off one of its wildest seasons in years, the NHL today released its 2023-24 schedule, kicking off with an intriguing opening-night tripleheader on ESPN. Check out some key dates and matchups below. Ahead of Wednesday’s entry draft, ESPN will begin Season 3 of its seven-year NHL rights deal on October 10 with the Nashville
Rob Ninkovich’s ESPN contract won’t be renewed, continuing cutbacks of ESPN’s television and radio teams. Front Office Sports reported the news Friday. Ninkovich joined ESPN in 2019. A former New England Patriot and two-time Super Bowl champion, Ninkovich was on-air personality on programs including “NFL Live,” “Get Up,” and “SportsCenter.” Front Office Sports reported his contract
After 22 years as one of the top anchors at ESPN’s flagship SportsCenter franchise, Scott Van Pelt says he sees the end in sight. “I’ve been doing this a long time where, look, I don’t want to do that forever,” Van Pelt said on the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast. “And that would lead
Popular “SportsCenter” anchor Neil Everett is reportedly leaving ESPN after 23 years. Front Office Sports has written that the 61-year-old Everett is leaving, the latest on-air talent to depart the network. “Bartender…last call,” Everett said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “ESPN changed my life, but now it’s time for me to change my
After waving their sports flags proudly last week at their upfronts pitches to ad buyers, Disney and Warner Bros Discovery are confronting a head-scratching situation with the NBA and NHL playoffs. The conference finals in both basketball and hockey — broadcast by WBD’s TNT and Disney’s ESPN and ABC — have been remarkably lopsided. Until
“There’s just certain things you don’t talk about,” said Sherri Shepherd on her syndicated talker today. She then indicated those verboten topics are “politics, religion and Rihanna vs. Beyoncé.” Comments by ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith to Shepherd on that last subject yesterday ignited a firestorm of protest from not just the Sherri studio audience,
Formula 1 races will continue on ESPN Networks in the United States through the 2025 season. A new multi-year contract renewal was announced in Austin at the second of two US stops for F1 during the 2022 season. Under the renewal, at least 16 races will air on ABC and ESPN each season, more than
UPDATE SUNDAY 8:45 PM: Good news for Dish/Sling TV customers ahead of Monday Night Football. Disney and Dish have taken a major step towards a new carriage agreement after their dispute led to the Disney networks going dark on Dish and Sling TV at midnight on Sept. 30. “We have reached a handshake agreement with
The red carpet for tonight’s ESPY Awards hosted by Stephan Curry on ESPN was a glittery collision of Hollywood and the sports world. Curry and wife Aisha brought the family and walked the carpet with the likes of Olympic Gold Medalists Lindsey Vonn, Eileen Gu, Allyson Felix and Aly Raisman; Super Bowl Champ Russell Wilson
New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum has joined ESPN as an NBA analyst. McCollum will make his debut on ESPN2’s alternate broadcast of Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors on Thursday. In addition to his work on the NBA Finals, McCollum will work on a podcast with
Tennis Hall-of-Famer and broadcaster Chris Evert revealed today that she has stage 1C ovarian cancer. Evert, who is 67, was diagnosed last year after undergoing a preventative hysterectomy, she said. Cancer has not been detected elsewhere in her body, according to a piece she co-wrote with Chris McKendry on ESPN.com. In it, Evert also revealed
The University of Hawai’i has been forced to bow out of playing in the Hawai’i Bowl, which was scheduled to kick off in its traditional Christmas Eve TV slot this evening on ESPN. The host school, which was to play Memphis in Honolulu, cited Covid issues within the football program and pulled out late Thursday
ESPN, a longtime cornerstone of the Walt Disney Co., continues to lose lucrative pay-TV distribution, shrinking another 10% to end fiscal 2021 at 76 million U.S. households. Disney provided the number as part of its annual report, filed with the SEC this afternoon. The company operates on a fiscal year, so its 2021 officially ended
The two top teams in college basketball met tonight as No. 1 Gonzaga faced No. 2 UCLA, but the highlight of the evening was legendary ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale returning to call the game after battling two separate forms of cancer this year, with his latest diagnosis coming just last month. Before the game, Vitale
Two days after it was announced Maria Taylor was parting ways with ESPN, the network’s former NBA Finals pregame and halftime host made her debut on NBC, doing Olympics coverage, no less. NBC Olympics mainstay Mike Tirico introduced Taylor, whom he called a new member of “our NBC Sports and NBC Olympic family,” on Friday
ESPN will retake the ice for the first time since 2004 when it airs an NHL opening-night doubleheader in the fall. And the league’s other new TV partner, Turner Sports, also revealed its inaugural games on TNT. The league unveiled its 82-game 2021-22 regular-season schedule today (see it here), and ESPN will drop the puck
The world’s No. 2 women’s tennis player made her first public appearance Saturday night after withdrawing from the French Open and Wimbledon. A pensive Naomi Osaka took the stage at the ESPYs to accept the award for for ‘Best Athlete, Women’s Sports.’ Osaka, who has revealed she suffers from social anxiety and depression, especially in