Media speed reads

On the latest SBJ Sports Media Podcast, I chat with Athletes First’s Gideon Cohen, an SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree in 2019, and he discusses how the agency has built out a media representation business and what he’s paying attention to in the space.
ESPN had its second-best Masters Par 3 Contest audience ever on Wednesday, despite some vocal pushback against its inclusion of Jason Kelce in the coverage, writes SBJ’s Josh Carpenter.
Carpenter also broke down each of the 391 shots that CBS showed during its coverage of the Masters on Sunday, including all 71 of Rory McIlroy’s final round. McIlroy was the only player to have all shots shown Sunday. Overall, CBS showed 391 shots on the day, up from 337 for last year’s final round. Those 391 shots were across 23 players, also an increase from 20 last year.
While down in Augusta for the Masters, Carpenter reported that, with TGL in the midst of media rights negotiations, the league’s presenting sponsor SoFi is eyeing more consistent broadcast windows in the next rights deal.
Building on a relationship that started around the FIFA Club World Cup, DAZN and TNT Sports will partner on boxing starting this summer in a move that will help bolster the sport’s previously diminishing presence on linear TV in the U.S., reports my colleague Adam Stern.