Pitaro’s new contract adds another three-and-a-half years to his current agreement. During his tenure, which began in March 2018, Pitaro’s biggest accomplishments may be smoothing out ESPN’s relationship with the NFL and negotiate a new TV rights deal that includes two playoff games and two Super Bowl broadcasts, in addition to continuing the Monday Night Football package and rights to highlights for the network’s studio programming including SportsCenter, NFL Live, Sunday NFL Countdown, and Monday Night Countdown.
Additionally, Pitaro has strengthened ESPN+ as networks like NBC and CBS have emphasized an increased focus on their streaming platforms. (Fox, curiously, hasn’t appeared to make streaming much of a priority, pointing to its Tubi service.) ESPN’s streaming service currently has 17.1 million subscribers, undoubtedly aided by ESPN+ being included in the Disney bundle with Disney+ and Hulu.
As Marchand points out, some of the challenges ahead for Pitaro include finding younger talent to feature, which ESPN has done successfully with NFL Live, overhauling the show with Laura Rutledge, Mina Kimes, Marcus Spears, and Dan Orlovsky. The network has also appeared to emphasize individual personalities like Stephen A. Smith (or even Scott Van Pelt) less. Will that continue or does ESPN have to find new faces and voices to highlight?
ESPN has also shown some creativity in adding special alternate broadcasts to its schedule, such as the baseball “Nerdcast” incorporating analytics and advanced metrics with Jason Benetti, Mike Petriello, and Eduardo Perez. Of course, the jewel of alternate broadcasts during the past year was the “ManningCast” featuring Peyton and Eli Manning with a rotating cast of guests during Monday Night Football.
During the upcoming Major League Baseball season, ESPN will add a “Kay-Rod” alternate telecast for eight Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts featuring Alex Rodriguez and Michael Kay in a set-up similar to the “ManningCast.” Will more of these alternate broadcasts be developed or will the network find that viewers’ appetites for such programming is limited?
Perhaps one of those questions will be answered when Pitaro appears at the 2022 BSM Summit, held at The Anne Bernstein Theater in New York City March 2-3.
As Jason Barrett describes, he and Pitaro will have a 35-minute conversation on stage “discussing the state of the sports media industry, the opportunities and challenges facing operators in 2022 and beyond, the growth of sports betting, network radio, podcasts, subscriptions, social, and many other issues.” Tickets for the event can be purchased here.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
The deal isn’t done yet, but Andrew Marchand of The New York Postreports that Greg Olsen is on his way to joining Kevin Burkhardt in the top NFL booth at FOX. Although Tom Brady will take over that role after he retires and leaves the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Olsen will spend at least this season on FOX’s A-Team.
Last season was the first Burkhardt and Olsen worked together. They largely won rave reviews.
Earlier this year, the former Panther told The Mac Attack on WFNZ in Charlotte that he was disappointed he didn’t get to call a postseason game. He will more than make up for that in 2023. As Burkhardt’s partner, Olsen is in line to be the analyst for Super Bowl LVII.
Marchand writes that we could get a taste of what is to come in February. He speculates that if the Buccaneers are not in the Super Bowl, it is possible Tom Brady could make his FOX debut, either in the booth alongside Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen or as part of the network’s studio show.
Now, FOX has to make a decision about it’s number 2 NFL booth. According to Marchand, Drew Brees is a candidate to be the analyst. Adam Amin and Joe Davis have emerged as candidates for the play-by-play role.
Poll Data Shows Tepid Response To Tom Brady Joining FOX
“A recent Harris Poll conducted on behalf of Front Office Sports showed that 1 in 3 Americans are more likely to watch a game with Brady on the microphone.”
FOX Sports reportedly signed Tom Brady to a 10-year deal worth $375 million to make the seven-time Super Bowl champion the new lead analyst for its top NFL broadcast once his playing career is over.
The poll said 2 in 5 NFL fans have a better opinion of FOX Sports following the deal, with 41% of NFL fans being at least somewhat more likely to watch a game with Brady as an analyst.
Data shows one-third of NFL fans think the deal Brady reportedly agreed to is worth about the same as its reported value.
That reaction could probably be described as “tepid”. That may be exactly what FOX expects and maybe all it wants.
Last week, Domonique Foxworth of ESPN suggested that the paycheck is less about what the network thinks Tom Brady means to viewers and more about showing the NFL that the network values its product.
Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett News Media. He also works for ABC8 News and Newsradio WRVA and 910 The Fan in Richmond, Virginia. His prior experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly and iHeartradio Richmond. He can be reached by email at Jordan.E.Bondurant@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.
FOX Not Interested In Joining Streaming Sports Wars
“All this fight that’s going on, sort of gladiatorial kind of bloodshed, is really for that last position, right, in the three to four services that people will take?”
The CEO of FOX doesn’t plan on forking over billions of dollars to be people’s last choice for paid streaming services.
Lachlan Murdoch said at a time when more than 80% of American homes already have some kind of paid streaming service, it’s not worthwhile to jump on that train.
Amazon, Netflix and Disney+ typically account for the average streaming presence in a household.
“All this fight that’s going on, sort of gladiatorial kind of bloodshed, is really for that last position, right, in the three to four services that people will take,” Murdoch said at a tech conference earlier this year. “And so the billions of dollars that’s being spent by multiple aspirants is all for that last position. And so we are extraordinarily — I want to say that — we’re happy to be sort of sitting on the sidelines.”
Murdoch told Benjamin Swinburne that when it comes to the NFL, FOX’s media rights are the same as CBS, NBC and ESPN. The main focus for the company remains on keeping games on TV.
“We don’t believe it helps us to put those rights under a streaming service or free on over-the-air. We think it’s very important that those rights remain exclusive to the broadcast environment,” Murdoch said.
FOX does stream games through its app, but it is only the games it is also carrying on its broadcast network or FS1.
Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett News Media. He also works for ABC8 News and Newsradio WRVA and 910 The Fan in Richmond, Virginia. His prior experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly and iHeartradio Richmond. He can be reached by email at Jordan.E.Bondurant@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.