The Sports Media Podcast

Marchand & Ourand go inside the negotiations for the new deals Adam Schefter and Adrian Wojnarowski signed with ESPN, looking at everything from ESPN’s strategy to the next steps for the gambling companies that had been angling to sign them. Marchand & Ourand dissect the work of CBS and Turner’s top men’s college basketball booth during the Final Four and Championship game. And they analyze the sp...

Andrew Marchand and John Ourand go into full details about Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit agreeing to big money deals to call Thursday Night Football with Amazon. Marchand says the key to the whole thing will not even be in the booth. Ourand gives the full details on what ESPN traded to Fox Sports for the rights to Joe Buck, ESPN's new Monday Night Football play-by-player. Marchand and Ourand dis...

On this week’s pod, Andrew Marchand and John Ourand go into deep detail on what Joe Buck’s $75 million contract and Troy Aikman’s $90 million deal mean for Monday Night Football, ESPN and Fox. They also go around the NFL, analyzing how Fox plans to replace Buck on the Super Bowl and World Series, as well as its approach with Aikman’s spot. Plus, Al Michaels to Amazon is at the half-yard line with...

Andrew Marchand and John Ourand go deep on Apple’s deal to carry an MLB doubleheader every Friday night and talk about what that deal means for other leagues and rival media companies. The NFL’s announcer moves was another big topic this week, as the duo looked into each network’s strategy in terms of signing talent. Marchand and Ourand dive into viewer complaints about ESPN’s performance for Coac...

Andrew Marchand and John Ourand break down Troy Aikman's move from Fox to ESPN for a record-setting five-year, $90-plus million. They look at Joe Buck, Fox and ESPN's decisons. What the next moves could have Al Michaels and Amazon. Plus, Amazon's interest in Kirk Herbstreit and their willingness to approach $100M for Sean McVay. They also go into MLB's pending deals with Apple and NBC when games r...

Marchand and Ourand dissect Adam Silver’s comments about limiting locker room access for reporters. They also look into what’s next for the Olympics, which is coming off a disastrous two-year run in Japan and China. Marchand and Ourand discuss NFL media free agents this off-season and talk about NFL schedule changes that are likely to be implemented next season. Other topics include media prospect...

Marchand and Ourand go deep into what is next for Al Michaels, Sean McVay and Troy Aikman as they break down what could be a busy NFL TV offseason. The duo reviews NBC's Super Bowl coverage, doling out grades for the pregame and the game broadcast, identifying what went right and what went wrong. They go into the industry moves with Amazon's shift at the top and Turner Sports trying another "...

Super Bowl broadcaster Al Michaels joins the podcast this week to discuss his future role given that his NBC contract ends after the Super Bowl and he is being pursued by both Amazon and ESPN. Michaels also discusses his preparation for the Super Bowl and delivers his best Howard Cosell story.   Marchand and Ourand preview the Super Bowl and discuss the disappointing TV ratings coming from the Win...

Tom Brady’s media future is the first topic on this week’s podcast, as Marchand and Ourand discuss how Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington broke the news of the quarterback’s retirement. The duo also discuss Tony Romo’s head-scratching analysis at the end of the AFC Championship game, the likelihood of Apple bidding on NFL Sunday Ticket, DraftKing’s move into producing sports content and the upcomin...

Marchand and Ourand discuss the news that ESPN may pursue Al Michaels for Monday Night Football, even as he is way down the negotiation road with Amazon's Thursday Night Football. Michaels is slated to call the Super Bowl for NBC in less than three weeks and then the NFL TV Hot Stove will heat up. Troy Aikman and Sean Payton are possibly on the move. Sean McVay, who may stay as the Rams' coach, is...

Marchand and Ourand dissect Drew Brees’ underwhelming performance as NBC’s game analyst on the Raiders-Bengals game. The two also speculate on the future of the “Monday Night Football” booth after Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick called their final game of the season. Other topics include: will conference commissioners expand the College Football Playoff; what’s does ESPN’s deal with Pet...

Marchand and Ourand unveil their Mount Rushmore of NFL Media, while discussing Apple's potential deal to call MLB games, Sinclair's agreement with the NBA, Sunday Night Baseball's new booths and The Athletic's deal with the New York Times. For "Who's up," "Who's down" and "Calls of the Week," LeBron James, Jen Lada, Ian Eagle and Chris Fowler are some of the names in the mix. For "The Big Get" seg...

Andrew Marchand broke the story of MLB Network cutting ties with Ken Rosenthal. In their first podcast of 2022, Marchand and John Ourand discuss the fallout from that move. Other topics include the NFL’s first-ever Week 18, Kirk Herbstreit’s comments on college football players opting out of bowl games, Rachel Nichols next moves and the debut of Premier League games on USA Network. This episode’s...

On the 2022 Preview Extravaganza, Andrew Marchand and John Ourand preview the people who are going to have the best and worst years in 2022, as part of their Who’s Up/Who’s Down segment. Topics include Amazon’s plans for Thursday Night Football, gambling companies’ push to create and pay for content and the future of the regional sports networks. Marchand and Ourand preview the rights deals that a...

On the Year-in-Review Spectacular, Andrew Marchand and John Ourand pick their "Who's up" and "Who's down" for 2021. They analyze the biggest sports media topics of the year. The duo breaks down NFL TV deals, the Manningcast and the changing of the guard on Sunday Night Football. They look at the new power and money for the Pat Pat McAfees and Stephen A. Smiths of the world. Mar...

In this week's podcast, Andrew Marchand and John Ourand tell you why Pat McAfee and Jimmy Pitaro are on the way up. They go deeper into McAfee's FanDuel deal, Amazon's budding studio show and what Pitaro and ESPN are up to spending-wise. They also dissect the Monday Night Football booth's future, the issues with MLS Cup's start and examine Ourand's Crystal Ball for the Big 10 rights and Al Michael...

Andrew Marchand and John Ourand are joined by former ESPN President Steve Bornstein, who opines on how he sees the media business changing. Marchand and Ourand discuss the Manningcast, Al Michaels and Darren Rovell, in addition to diving into coming media rights negotiations for the Big 10 and MLS, the state of sports radio, and Jake Tapper’s editorial excoriating the International Olympic Committ...

Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss the NFL's ratings dominance, the futures of Troy Aikman, Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels, the loss of ESPN subscribers, baseball struggles and Sean McManus' legacy at CBS. In an unprecedented development for the pod, NBC's Sports President Jon Miller received Ourand's "Who's up and down," while Marchand went with the chalk, picking the NFL and ML...

Andrew Marchand and John Ourand are joined by Men in Blazers co-host Roger Bennett. The three go over the finer points of Comcast/NBC's $2.76B deal with the Premier League and what it means for U.S. soccer. Bennett provides his usual comedic touch, while also talking about the emotions of going to see his parents this Thanksgiving for the first time in two years. The guys also discuss other news:...

On the podcast, Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss the top sports media issues of the week. Starting with their weekly picks of Who’s Up (Phil Mickelson and the Premier League) and Who’s Down (Tony Romo and Sinclair’s Chris Ripley), Marchand and Ourand break down the competition to sign Adrian Wojnarowski and Adam Schefter, go inside the RSN negotiations between Dish Network and Sinclair and...

On the podcast, Andrew Marchand and John Ourand’s “Big Get” is Shaquille O’Neal. The NBA Hall of Famer/TNT analyst/actor and all-around entertainer reveals the big movie role he once turned down, talks about why he first joined TNT and was asked what’s next in his career. Marchand and Ourand talk about “Who’s up?” (Pat McAfee and “Get Up”) and “Who’s down?” (Peter Chernin and the MNF crew). They g...

Marchand and Ourand have broadcasting legend Bob Costas on the pod this week. Costas tells several entertaining stories about his illustrious career, including getting offered the time-slot behind David Letterman at CBS after Letterman left NBC, the time he told off an uninterested NFL star and sitting in the broadcast booth with Bob Uecker. Also on the pod, Marchand heaps praise on Jay Glazer whi...

Sports Business Journal and the New York Post today released the fourth episode of a new podcast hosted by the best sports media reporters in the business, SBJ’s John Ourand and the Post’s Andrew Marchand. Among the topics this week: whether Amazon will ever become a major player in sports media, the reasons behind the NFL’s sky-high ratings, ratings prospects for the World Series, and the pros an...

John Ourand and Andrew Marchand discuss the prospects for a post-COVID NBA Season, future soccer rights and whether Disney will spin off ESPN into its own streaming network. This episode also includes Marchand and Ourand’s best calls of the week such as Tony's Romo advance prediction of the game-winning pass. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Sign up for SBJ 360, our free,...

John Ourand and Andrew Marchand are joined by ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro. Pitaro was a guest at the CAA World Congress of Sports and talked about future of sports broadcasting. This episode also includes Marchand and Ourand’s best calls of the week such as Michele Tafoya's sideline work during the Monday Night Football delay in Kansas City. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information...