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PREVIEW VERSION
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Welcome back to The Varsity, my twice-weekly private email on
the sturm und drang of the sports media business. I’m coming to you, once again, from Washington, D.C., where everyone is ready to elect Jayden Daniels as president of the town. Do skeptical sports fans recall another big-armed, lightning-quick No. 2 overall pick who also nearly single-handedly turned around the franchise? I don’t want to hear it! This kid is awesome, and we have the ownership and staff to protect him. You can send all your anxious texts to
Marchand, who is currently dressed up like Santa at the Short Hills Mall. (Andrew, don’t forget my matcha latte half-caf!!)
🚨🚨 Pod alert: Make sure you listen to Constance Schwartz-Morini, the C.E.O. and co-founder of SMAC Entertainment, on the
latest episode of the Varsity podcast. Con spoke candidly about how the ever-changing media market is affecting her roster of all-star clients, such as Deion Sanders, Michael Strahan, and Erin Andrews. Also, be sure to check out the pod on Wednesday. Puck’s Media Superfriends—Jon Kelly and
Dylan Byers—joined me to pick over some of the most pressing storylines of the year. (Listen here.) Finally, NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe had me on Weekend Edition to discuss Netflix’s
Christmas Day NFL experiment. Thanks, Ayesha!
Also also: Take a moment to fill out this survey for the second installment of The Puck Private Conversation series, powered by Orchestra. It only takes a minute or two, and the data will provide a snapshot of how our elite readership is thinking
about the Trump transition, among other fun topics.
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The Brady Meter: Week 16
Ravens 34, Steelers 17
Grade: C+
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Alas, this recurring feature would be so much better if Tom Brady
was either a great analyst or a truly horrible one. Unfortunately, Brady remains...
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The Varsity at . For full access to Puck, and to each of my colleagues, subscribe today.
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In a surprise move, Netflix has acquired the rights to the 2027 and
2031 Women’s World Cup, stunning the industry and amplifying expectations about its live sports ambitions.
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The guessing games started almost as soon as FIFA executives
told their counterparts from CBS, Fox, and NBC that the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cup rights were going to a non-traditional partner, which seemed like a nom de guerre for a streamer. Naturally, the clannish sports media business immediately played a game of elimination. It was apparent that ESPN, Amazon, and Google wouldn’t end up with the rights, not least because they did not bid on them. Apple seemed like a possibility, but an unlikely one: The company
allegedly irritated FIFA by pulling out of a deal to carry the Club World Cup toward the end of the summer. It wouldn’t have made sense that the two would have consummated a Women’s World Cup deal just four months later.
Those Club World Cup rights ended up going to...
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Puck sports correspondent John Ourand and a rotating cast of industry insiders take you inside the executive
suites and owners boxes where the decisions that shape the entire sports business are made. You’ll hear interviews with players, network execs, and everyone in between. The Varsity is an extension of John’s private email for Puck by the same name. New episodes publish every Wednesday and Sunday.
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Ace media reporter Dylan Byers lets readers into his notebook as he reports on the biggest stories (and egos) in
the industry.
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