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Welcome back to The Varsity, my twice-weekly private email on
the sports media industrial complex. I am coming to you from my hometown of Washington, D.C., after spending a couple of days in balmy Ponte Vedra, where PGA Tour executives feel they have some momentum after a few rough years. More on that below. (Holiday public service announcement: Marchand’s Santa costume was stolen at the Mall of America over the weekend. Please return, no questions asked. Also: Andrew, where is my soylent half-caf?)

🚨 Pod alert! On this weekend’s Varsity podcast, I’ll be joined by Constance Schwartz-Morini, co-founder of the talent management and production company SMAC Entertainment. You might know her as the driving force behind the post-football careers of Hall of Famers like Michael Strahan and Deion Sanders. Also, be sure to check out
my conversation with Seth Wickersham, ESPN’s “Belichick whisperer,” who opines on the complex Brady and Kraft of it all.

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The NBA’s Long December

With aging and often injured stars—and competition from an
ever-expanding NFL schedule—the NBA is struggling to find an early-season audience. Will Christmas deliver for the league this year?

John Ourand

Every fall, when ESPN executives map out their expectations for autumnal
viewership, their conversations naturally focus on the NFL and college football. After all, ESPN holds the coveted rights to Monday Night Football and has invested nine figures in the SEC, ACC, and Big 12. NBA ratings—despite ESPN’s recently extended, multibillion-dollar deal with the league—are a mere afterthought as the leaves change colors.

Conventional wisdom in the sports media business, of course, is that the NBA season only truly...

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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.

Ace media reporter Dylan Byers lets readers into his notebook as he reports on the biggest stories (and egos) in
the industry.

The Goop Wife

RACHEL STRUGATZ

Stephanopoulos’s Renewal

DYLAN BYERS

A.O.C.’s Silver Linings Playbook

ABBY LIVINGSTON

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