Media

How’s this for a crazy sports broadcasting stat? When Al Michaels calls Amazon Prime Video’s opening regular season game on Sept. 17 -- the Lions at Bills at Buffalo’s new Highmark Stadium -- it will be the 10th time in the broadcaster’s storied career that he is on the mic for an inaugural regular ...

TNT Sports’ first year as the French Open’s U.S. rightsholders drew praise for inventive elements like its Red Zone-style whiparound show (“Rally at Roland Garros”), the candid conversations its talent curated with athletes at the studio desk, and strong, tournament-long ratings. In year two of its ...

Nick Barfoot took his seat for the Toronto Sceptres home opener to find another fan, there by herself, checking the app he had created. Barfoot, a Toronto-based app developer, has evolved PWHL Fan throughout the league’s three seasons, combining his love of hockey and the pro women’s league with a n...

The prevailing storyline around regional sports networks is one of apocalyptic doom. Main Street Sports Group wound down operations. Leagues have had to step in and manage game production and distribution in some markets.

MMA fighter Ronda Rousey said that her fight with Gina Carano “will set a new purse record for female fighters” when they meet Saturday at Intuit Dome, with the bout set to be streamed on Netflix. Rousey “championed her bout with Carano as a landscape-shifting moment for the sport” and also “took ai...

Apple TV will be “showing” Friday’s Mets-Yankees game for “free on a giant screen” in Times Square. Fans of the two teams will have to wait until the Subway Series finale to “watch the games on the teams’ networks.” After Apple TV’s broadcast on Friday, Fox will broadcast the game on Saturday. SNY a...

The NFL is “defending its expanded lineup of games on streaming platforms” amid criticism from President Trump and scrutiny from the U.S. Dept. of Justice. NFL EVP/Media Distribution Hans Schroeder suggested that the league has “no intention of pulling back from its partnerships with streaming servi...

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast, SBJ’s Austin Karp and Josh Carpenter discuss how Amazon isn’t just streaming games -- they’re building an entire sports ecosystem, from NFL deals to scripted shows like the upcoming Muhammad Ali series.

The NBA Draft Lottery set a record last weekend, with ABC drawing 2.3 million viewers. That led into the Knicks finishing a sweep of the 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. ABC was up 23% from the lottery last year.

Versant CEO Mark Lazarus said that as media companies are working the next costly and competitive media-rights contract cycle with the NFL, it leaves room for newly independent Versant to “nab rights to other leagues as they come up,” according to Jill Goldsmith of DEADLINE. On an earnings call Thur...