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Welcome back to The Varsity, my twice-weekly private email on the money, power, and egos that dominate the sports industry. Happy Summer Solstice to all my druid and pagan friends!
Listen, I cut Marchand a break last week and didn’t make a crack at his expense… just because I’m that kind of guy—nice, thoughtful, filled with brotherly love, appreciative of a pointillist in his Blue period, etcetera. But the wolfpack readership of The Varsity would not accept an issue without a Marchand crack! All right, I’ll let you all eat your cake: Forward this email without permission and Marchand will be at your front door lip-synching along to the Eras Tour in all its glory.
Let’s get to it…
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| Player of the Week: Rick Cordella |
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| We’ve entered the doldrums of the sports media calendar. The NBA Finals are over, we’re a month away from NFL training camp, and baseball is working its way into the dog days of summer. That’s why it was such a good decision by Rick Cordella, the president of NBC Sports, to... |
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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| New AI-tailored content experiences
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WSC Sports, a trusted partner to the NBA, LaLiga, Big Ten Network, Bleacher Report and 460+ other sports organizations, recently announced the release of three new products that empower sports organizations in meeting the changes desired by fans:
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- Expansion of media rights owners’ reach delivered through fully controlled access to pre-agreed, third-party sports properties generating new traffic, exposure, and revenue streams.
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| Stephen A.’s $18 Million Offer |
| ESPN and Pitaro have put an $18 million-per-year offer in front of their generational star. It’s an insane amount of dough for a TV personality… but it still might not be enough. |
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| A generation ago, when he was just a rake in his progress on the set of The Sports Reporters, no one would have guessed that the New Yorker turned Philly sportswriter Stephen A. Smith would one day become the biggest name on ESPN—the heir to Schaap and Berman, Patrick and Olbermann, Mike and Tony, etcetera. But Smith has undeniably become that star, volubly manifesting his talents from First Take to the network’s NBA coverage. As David Zaslav knows from the success of Inside the NBA, it is hard to make a studio show stand out. And Smith has proven that he can help differentiate a TV show in a way that boosts ratings and captures sponsorship dollars. In the process, Smith has become that rare talent who is... |
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| FOUR STORIES WE’RE TALKING ABOUT |
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| Shari’s Bad Blood |
| Charting the mounting animosities surrounding Paramount. |
| WILLIAM D. COHAN |
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