Sports Online

Katie Nolan Announces She Is No Longer With ESPN

“The news comes less than a year after Nolan re-signed with ESPN, only to have them lay off her podcast co-host and producer, Ashley Braband, who had been with the company for 13 years.”

Published

2 months ago

September 29, 2021

Russ Heltman

Courtesy: ESPN

Katie Nolan announced she is no longer working at ESPN. The podcast and TV host broke the news on Twitter. She had been with the company since leaving Fox Sports in 2017.

I’ve thought about sending this tweet for weeks and I still have no clue how to make it not make you all roll your eyes. Alas: the obvious thing has happened. I no longer work at ESPN. I’m really grateful for my time here. I made incredible friendships and valuable mistakes.
— Katie Nolan (@katienolan) September 29, 2021

“I’ve thought about sending this tweet for weeks,” Nolan wrote on Twitter. “I still have no clue how to make it not make you all roll your eyes. Alas: the obvious thing has happened. I no longer work at ESPN. I’m really grateful for my time here. I made incredible friendships and valuable mistakes.”

Nolan came over to ESPN four years ago following a four-year run at Fox Sports. During her ESPN tenure, she hosted the ESPN+ series Always Late with Katie Nolan and her podcast Sports? with Katie Nolan, and frequently appeared on other now-defunct programs, such as Highly Questionable and The Dan Le Batard Show.

The news comes less than a year after Nolan re-signed with ESPN, only to have them lay off her podcast co-host and producer, Ashley Braband, who had been with the company for 13 years.

For the sake of brevity I’m gonna handle most of my thank yous via text, but I do want to publicly sing the praises of @AshleyBraband, a woman who made a lot of personal sacrifices in service of ESPN and myself, and who may never know how much that means to me.
— Katie Nolan (@katienolan) September 29, 2021

“We didn’t know this was happening,” Nolan said during a podcast episode recorded at the time. “Some of us didn’t know this was happening to the point where they recently signed a contract. And so we are now in a situation where this is the only thing I have to do, and now I have to do it alone, I think.”

That decision, along with an undefined role for Nolan amidst a rapidly changing pandemic media environment, seemingly pushed the host out ESPN.

“Ashley’s reached a situation where she’s worked at this company for [13 years] now, and found out that she is done working here on her birthday, which is cool,” Nolan said sarcastically.

Braband did land on her feet, as she is now the head of development for Omaha Productions, Peyton Manning’s production company. Nolan on the other hand now has the sports media world as her oyster.

She’ll soon have an opportunity to look at a variety of situations and determine where she fits best. Independent media voices have been flourishing all over the place lately, with Ariel Helwani, Dan Le Batard and others providing a template for Nolan to emulate if she wishes to do so.

Russ Heltman

Russ Heltman is a daily news writer for BSM. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH. He also works in gameday communications for FC Cincinnati and additionally contributes to the AllBengals blog for Sports Illustrated. Russ can be found on Twitter @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.

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Darren Rovell Signs Extension With Action Network

“The trajectory of growth in this industry over the last three years has been incredible and I’m thrilled to be a part of this ride.”

Published

3 hours ago

December 1, 2021

Reice Shipley

Darren Rovell has been at The Action Network since he left ESPN in 2018, and it appears that he isn’t going anywhere else anytime soon.

Rovell wrote an article on the company’s website discussing all of the reasons that he felt staying with the network was the right move for him.

“Over the past couple months, as my original deal with The Action Network was coming to a close, I was confronted with the choice of whether to return or to take my brand to one of those cushy sportsbook deals,” said Rovell. “At The Action Network, I am surrounded by a team that is uniquely talented at executing best-in-class data-driven sports betting content with such aplomb. Combine that with the resources given to us thanks to our acquisition by Better Collective this past year and I felt it would be virtually impossible to build the structure we have here anywhere else.”

The details of how long Rovell will agree to continue to be at the network are unclear at this point. It seems that Rovell is content doing exactly what he has been at The Action Network.

“You can count on me to continue to tell you what’s happening at the sportsbooks, to report the big bets and the bettors making them and to keep you updated on anything topical that could count as gambling these days from sports memorabilia to NFTs,” he added.

Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a daily news writer and social media assistant for BSM. He is a graduate of Ithaca University, contributor to the Syracuse Mets, and aspires to work behind the scenes in sports media in the future. He can be found on Twitter @Reice_Shipley18 or you may reach him by email at RShipley@ithaca.edu.

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Sports Online

ESPN To Celebrate Dick Vitale During 2021 V Week

“Raising funds for cancer research is a long-standing tradition at ESPN.”

Published

15 hours ago

November 30, 2021

Reice Shipley

ESPN’s 15th annual V Week for cancer research and awareness begins today, and ESPN has a whole bunch of promotions in store for the special event.

ESPN is launching the Campaign for a Cause: ESPN and the V Foundation x StockX, which allows fans to have a chance to win celebrity sneakers and memorabilia during V Week through StockX’s Campaign for a Cause benefiting the V Foundation.

Celebrities involved in the campaign include Drake, Kevin Durant, Mike Krzyzewski, Nyjah Huston, Naomi Osaka, and more.

A new addition to V Week is is the development of #VStrongBaby to show support for ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale, who returned to call his first game of the men’s college basketball season last Tuesday after being diagnosed with lymphoma in October. The hashtag is accompanied by a customized heart emoji in honor of the legendary commentator, which ESPN will feature throughout V Week.

ESPN also continues on in funding the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund, which continues to address health inequities that exist in cancer.

“The ongoing pandemic has continued to disrupt the critical need to fundraise for cancer research and address the health disparities impacting people of color in their fight against cancer,” said Kevin Martinez, vice president of ESPN Corporate Citizenship. “Raising funds for cancer research is a long-standing tradition at ESPN, and we are committed to continuing our work to close the gap in cancer disparities experienced by patients of minority populations and improve their outcomes.”

Along with these traditions, the Jimmy V Men’s and Women’s classics take place next week. The Men’s Classics begin Tuesday, December 7, followed by the Women’s Classics on Sunday, December 12, all airing live on ESPN.

Since the V Foundation’s inception in 1993, ESPN has helped raise more than $142 million in the fight to end cancer. Direct donations can be made at www.v.org/donate.

Reice Shipley

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Sports Online

Outkick Planning Live Pregame Show For Georgia vs Alabama

Chad Withrow, Jonathan Hutton and Jill Savage will host the show, with Clay Travis joining in periodically throughout the show.

Published

17 hours ago

November 30, 2021

Reice Shipley

Alabama versus Georgia is sure to be the talk of the college football world this week. The game will have huge implications on the College Football Playoff selection the following day.

Outkick has announced that it will be covering the SEC Championship Game this Saturday with its own live show from Atlanta.

Kickoff for the actual game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Eastern. But you can get a head start with Clay Travis and OutKick the Tailgate pregame show long before that, with their broadcast starting at 1:30 EST.

Chad Withrow, Jonathan Hutton and Jill Savage will host the show, with Clay Travis joining in periodically throughout.

The Outkick the Tailgate pregame show will be taking place live in Atlanta, Georgia at STATS Brewpub not far from the game taking place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Those who are in attendance for the live show can enter for a chance to win merchandise autographed by Alabama coach Nick Saban and receive other prizes as well.

Those who cannot be in attendance can watch via live stream either on the Outkick Youtube channel or on Twitter where full coverage of the pregame show will be aired. It will also be aired on the Outkick website.