Tag: ESPN

Jan 8, 2024; Houston, TX, USA; The 2024 CFP logo on the field before the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Washington Huskies at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Report: College Football Playoff, ESPN reach $7.8B extension

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The College Football Playoff agreed to a six-year extension of its broadcast deal with ESPN worth $7.8 billion, The Athletic reported on Monday.

The deal keeps all CFP games on ESPN’s family of networks through the 2031 season, concluding with the national title game in January 2032.

However, the contract won’t be ratified until CFP leadership irons out the format of the tournament going forward.

The playoff will expand from four to 12 teams for the first time next year, and the original agreement was to include the six highest-ranked conference champions and the six highest-ranked at-large teams — the so-called 6+6 model.

With the Pac-12 set to fold following the current season, the number of power conferences shrinks, and some league commissioners are pushing to modify the format to 5+7, which most likely would keep the field at one “Group of Five” conference champion.

The extension kicks in for the 2026 season, but for the next two years ESPN still controls the rights to all games, including the new first round and quarterfinals.

According to the report, ESPN will have the right to “sublicense” CFP games over the course of the contract to other media organizations or streamers.

–Field Level Media

Jan 13, 2024; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; University of Alabama former head coach Nick Saban attends a press conference to introduce the new head football coach Kalen DeBoer (not pictured) in the North end zone at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Nick Saban joins ESPN as college football analyst

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Nick Saban is making a comeback to college football.

ESPN announced Wednesday that Saban is joining its Saturday College GameDay program as an analyst. He’ll also provide NFL draft and SEC Media Days analysis.

“ESPN and College GameDay have played such an important role in the growth of college football, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to join their team,” Saban said in the release. “I’ll do my best to offer additional insights and perspectives to contribute to College GameDay, the ultimate Saturday tradition for college football fans.”

Saban, 72, retired from coaching last month after 17 seasons at Alabama, where he won six of his seven national titles. He finished with a career mark of 297-71-1, 206 of those wins coming at Alabama (with 29 losses). Alabama quickly hired Kalen DeBoer as his replacement.

Saban began his head coaching career at Toledo in 1990. He coached Michigan State from 1995-1999 before accepting the head coaching job at LSU in 2000. He won his first national title in 2003 at LSU.

–Field Level Media

Jan 7, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) walks off of the field before a game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Rodgers out as guest on Pat McAfee’s show

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Aaron Rodgers has been cut — by “The Pat McAfee Show.”

McAfee announced at the outset of Wednesday’s show on ESPN that the New York Jets quarterback will no longer appear this season. Rodgers had been scheduled to appear throughout the NFL playoffs, the New York Post reported.

“So ‘Aaron Rodgers Tuesday,’ Season 4, is done,” McAfee told his audience. “There could be a lot of people that are happy with that, myself included, to be honest with you. The way it ended, it got real loud. I am happy that he’s not going to be in my mentions going forward, which is great news.”

McAfee’s decision comes in the wake of Rodgers last week suggesting, falsely, that ABC late-night TV show host Jimmy Kimmel’s name was on soon-to-be-released court documents of people connected to convicted pedophile, the late Jeffrey Epstein, who would ferry friends and associates to his Caribbean island to have trysts with underage girls.

McAfee apologized for his role in Rodgers’ comments about Kimmel but the QB did not.

Disney owns both ABC and ESPN.

In his appearance on Tuesday, Rodgers went after Kimmel some more and ranted about COVID vaccines. He also ribbed sportswriters and an ESPN executive. Rodgers’ beef with Kimmel dates to 2021, when the comedian first went after Rodgers for his cryptic comments about being “immunized” against COVID and then testing positive for the virus.

It was apparently enough for McAfee, who has said previously he paid seven figures for Rodgers’ weekly appearances.

“We’ve given a lot of people who have been waiting for us to fail a lot of ammo, and things to attack us for over the last week,” McAfee said Wednesday. “And we would love to get back to the point where we just move on.”

–Field Level Media

Aug 4, 2023; Canton, OH, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell speaks with the NFL shield as a backdrop during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Gold Jacket dinner at Canton Civic Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

NFL insider Chris Mortensen retires from ESPN

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Longtime NFL reporter Chris Mortensen said Tuesday that he has retired from ESPN.

“Excited about another season but it’s time to reveal after my 33rd NFL draft in April, I made a decision to step away from ESPN and focus on my health, family and faith,” Mortensen tweeted. “The gratitude and humility is overwhelming. It’s not a classic retirement. I’ll still be here talking ball. It’s just time. God Bless you all.”

Mortensen, 71, was a newspaper journalist before joining ESPN in 1991, where he regularly appeared on “Sunday NFL Countdown” and “SportsCenter” and contributed the network’s Super Bowl and NFL draft coverage. In January 2016, he announced he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer.

Mortensen received the Dick McCann Award from Professional Football Writers of America in 2016. Even as he was away from work while battling cancer, Mortensen broke the news in March of that year that Super Bowl-winning quarterback Peyton Manning would retire after 18 NFL seasons.

Tributes for Mortensen poured in across social media.

“Best of the best,” tweeted Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN’s NBA insider. “What an honor it’s been to spend time with Mort and learn from him. A true titan in this industry and an inspiration in every aspect of his remarkable life and career.”

–Field Level Media

Lee Corso chooses Tennessee to defeat Alabama during ESPN's College GameDay show held outside of Ayres Hall on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. The college football pregame show returned to Knoxville for the second time this season for No. 8 Tennessee's SEC rivalry game against No. 1 Alabama. Kns Espn Gameday Bp

‘College GameDay’ opens 37th season in Charlotte

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ESPN will kick off Week 1 of the 37th season of its “College GameDay” in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 2 in advance of the contest between South Carolina and North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Classic.

The ESPN crew will broadcast live from 9 a.m.-noon ET, stationed at Romare Bearden Park in uptown Charlotte.

This will be the 30th season that “College GameDay” has broadcast from the road, and the battle for the Carolinas will represent its 440th remote show. It’s the first-ever visit to a game between South Carolina and North Carolina.

The Tar Heels have not been the focus of the show since 2010, while the Gamecocks were featured in 2014.

“College GameDay” is anchored by Rece Davis, who is joined by analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee. Insider Pete Thamel and reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims also are part of the crew.

South Carolina finished the 2022 season with an 8-5 mark and ranked 23rd in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll, buoyed by late-season wins over Clemson and Tennessee. North Carolina was 9-5.

–Field Level Media

Jul 28, 2022; Englewood, CO, USA; Denver Broncos linebacker Aaron Patrick (94) during training camp at the UCHealth Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Broncos LB Aaron Patrick (ACL) files negligence suit over injury

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Denver Broncos linebacker Aaron Patrick is suing the NFL, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Los Angeles Rams and ESPN for negligence over a season-ending torn ACL he sustained during a game against the Chargers in Inglewood, Calif.

Patrick was defending against a punt return Oct. 17 at SoFi Stadium and went out of bounds. The lawsuit alleges that Patrick’s foot rolled on a mat that was covering television cords and cables used with the league’s replay monitor. He was trying to avoid slamming into an NFL employee involved with the monitor — whom he did collide with — just before his legs made contact with the mat.

Patrick said his knee bent awkwardly after his foot made contact with the mat.

The suit, filed in California by attorney William Berman, says “the defendants were negligent in their operations of SOFI STADIUM in allowing a dangerous condition to exist by having three mats placed near the sideline to cover cords/cables that led to the feed for the instant NFL’s replay monitor.”

Berman said that safety at SoFi Stadium wasn’t a priority of the NFL.

“Player safety should be the foremost of importance to the NFL and its owners,” Berman said. “The NFL is a multi-billion-dollar sports enterprise and business, and it needs to do everything possible to protect its players from non-contact game injuries.

“As for Patrick’s injuries, Sofi Stadium was built at a $5,000,000,000 expense; the stadium should have the state-of-the-art equipment to protect for player safety, and not use the type of $100 mats that you would expect to see in a restaurant kitchen.”

Patrick, 25, had a one-year, $660,000 contract for this season and reportedly lost the chance to hit bonus clauses in the deal. He played all but two snaps on special teams in five games this season and made three stops.

Overall, Patrick has 11 tackles in 17 games with Denver over the past two seasons.

–Field Level Media

Sep 17, 2022; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Herm Edwards walks the sidelines as his team plays the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. Football Asu Fb

Herm Edwards returns to ESPN as football analyst

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Herm Edwards is returning to ESPN as an NFL and college football analyst.

The former head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets, Edwards served as an ESPN analyst from 2009-17 before Arizona State hired him as head coach in December 2018. He was fired from that job in September after posting a 26-20 record in four-plus seasons. The Sun Devils were 1-2 under Edwards this season.

Edwards went 54-74 in eight seasons with the Jets and Chiefs.

Edwards, 68, who signed a multi-year agreement with the network, will appear on a variety of ESPN shows and will make his return Friday.

–Field Level Media

Jan 9, 2021; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks tight end Greg Olsen (88) warms up prior to a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen to lead Fox 2022 NFL team

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Play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and analyst Greg Olsen will lead Fox Sports’ top broadcast team for the 2022 NFL season.

Veteran reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi, plus rules expert Mike Pereira, will complete the team for Fox, which will televise Super Bowl LVII from Glendale, Ariz., on Feb. 12.

The move had been expected but wasn’t announced until Tuesday.

“We’re thrilled to have this team steward our industry-leading and award-winning coverage as we embark on our 29th NFL season, highlighted by our 10th Super Bowl,” Fox Sports executive Brad Zager said Tuesday.

The Fox team will make its regular-season debut on Sept. 11 from Minneapolis, where the Minnesota Vikings will face the Green Bay Packers.

Burkhardt and Olsen, a three-time Pro Bowl selection during his 14-year NFL career, will replace the top Fox broadcast team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. They have reunited at ESPN to make up the lead team for “Monday Night Football.”

Burkhardt and Olsen were Fox’s No. 2 broadcast team last season.

Buck and Aikman are coming off 20 seasons calling NFL games for Fox. They will make their “MNF” debut on Sept. 12 when the Denver Broncos face the Seattle Seahawks.

Terms of the Buck-Aikman deal with ESPN were not released. However, the New York Post reported Buck was in line to receive a five-year deal worth between $60 million and $75 million. The Post reported that Aikman received a five-year, $92.5 million contract to jump to ESPN.

Olsen is keeping the seat warm for Tom Brady, who will become Fox Sports’ lead NFL analyst when his playing career ends. Fox did not release terms of his contract, but he has agreed to a 10-year, $375 million deal — the most lucrative in sports broadcasting history — according to the New York Post.

Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, will return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his 23rd NFL season this year.

–Field Level Media

Jan 1, 2022; New Orleans, LA, USA; Baylor Bears linebacker Terrel Bernard (2) reacts to a play against the Mississippi Rebels during the second half of the 2022 Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Sugar Bowl moved to Dec. 31 to avoid TV conflict with ‘MNF’

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The Sugar Bowl will be played on New Year’s Eve at 12 noon ET on Dec. 31 next season, rather than in its regular primetime TV slot.

The bowl game is normally held on New Year’s Day, which will fall on a Sunday in 2023. But it could not be moved to Monday, Jan. 2 with other bowl games because ESPN owns the broadcast rights and had a conflict with its “Monday Night Football” game, an AFC tilt between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals.

Instead, the Sugar Bowl — held in New Orleans and usually pitting representatives of the SEC and Big 12 — will stay back on Dec. 31 and kick off at 11 a.m. local time.

Next season’s two College Football Playoff semifinal games, the Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl, will follow that day at 4 and 8 p.m. ET in some order.

The Orange Bowl will be played Dec. 30, but that isn’t unfamiliar territory for the Miami-based game that features the ACC champion. The two other traditional New Year’s Day bowls — the Cotton Bowl and Rose Bowl — will be played during the day on Jan. 2.

–Field Level Media

Lee Corso waves while wearing a Brutus Buckeye head as, from left, Desmond Howard, Rece Davis, Archie Griffin, and Kirk Herbstreit applaud his pick during ESPN's College GameDay broadcast from the campus of Ohio State prior to the NCAA football game against the Michigan State Spartans in Columbus on Nov. 21, 2015. (Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch)Osu15msu Ac 07

‘College GameDay’ to kick off at Ohio State-Notre Dame

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ABC will air a trio of high-profile college football games over Labor Day weekend, with ESPN kicking off its “College GameDay” coverage with Notre Dame’s visit to Ohio State on Sept. 3.

It’s the 21st visit all-time to Columbus, Ohio, by “GameDay” — more than any other city.

ABC begins game coverage with national champion Georgia, which will meet Oregon at 3:30 p.m. ET in Atlanta. It will represent a homecoming for new Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, who was the defensive coordinator on the Bulldogs’ title team.

That game will be followed by the seventh all-time meeting between Notre Dame and Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. The Buckeyes have won all four games played since 1995.

It marks another return for a new head coach. Marcus Freeman, hired to replace Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, played linebacker for the Buckeyes (2006-08) and began his coaching career there as a graduate assistant.

On Sept. 4, Kelly and his new team, LSU, will meet Florida State at the Superdome in New Orleans at 7:30 p.m. in the first meeting between the teams since 1991.

–Field Level Media