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Dianna Russini is poised to make a sports media comeback soon, Front Office Sports has confirmed, several months after resigning from The Athletic in the aftermath of Page Six publishing photos showing her with Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel at an adults-only Arizona resort in April.
After ProFootballTalk first reported that Russini has told people around the NFL that she is expecting to return to the industry next week, several options have emerged for what comes next.
Russini is expected to launch new content sponsored by gambling operators, sources said, adding that there have been talks with Jake Paul’s Betr platform as well as offshore sportsbook BetUS. One source said that Russini has also had talks with iHeart.
FOS discovered a new X/Twitter page titled “Russini Report,” created in October, that only has three followers—Andres Vargas, a content creator and spokesperson for BetUS, and Crossing Lines, a show sponsored by BetUS featuring ex-Barstool personality Jeff Nadu and co-host Donnie Seymour. An additional video manager, named Natalie, also follows the page from a protected account. The “Russini Report” page indicates a show will air live on Wednesdays encompassing pro football news, injuries, and analysis. The page previously indicated the show would be “powered by BetUS,” but that language has since been edited out.
Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman is also an endorser of BetUS, which is headquartered in Costa Rica.
On Wednesday, Page Six reported that Russini will be “headlining her own show” on a digital platform. “It’s been in the works for a while and she can’t wait to get back to what she loves,” a source told Page Six.
Russini stopped responding to messages when presented with BetUS, Betr, and iHeart as places she has had talks with. Her agent, Matt Olson of CAA, referred FOS to the publicist Melissa Nathan, who declined to comment. Spokespeople for BetUS, Betr, and iHeart did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Vargas.
Jon “Stugotz” Weiner, a host for iHeart and its subsidiary Fox Sports Radio, has previously said he would welcome the chance to collaborate with Russini again. Russini was a frequent guest on Weiner’s previous show, The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz, and also joined Weiner on his God Bless Football show during Super Bowl week this past February. If Russini reaches a deal with iHeart, it is not expected to encompass Fox Sports Radio, one source said.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy also previously said he would consider hiring Russini, but he told FOS this week that she is not going to work for Barstool now. Sources told FOS that Kalshi, Underdog, and FanDuel are not in the running to sponsor her content at this time.
After Russini and Vrabel were photographed hugging and holding hands, the two issued statements saying that their relationship was platonic, not romantic. Russini resigned from the New York Times-owned Athletic about a week later, and Vrabel missed one day of the NFL Draft to attend counseling.
One source told FOS he expects Russini to lean into her NFL Insider role. The question is how much cooperation she will get from NFL players and coaches, as well as the league itself, with the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl only months away. “All she needs is one big scoop to show she has motion,” says the source. FOS previously reported that Russini was planning a sports media comeback.
In September, The Athletic released an investigation saying that Russini “should have disclosed to The Athletic the nature of her relationship with [Mike] Vrabel to allow editors to assess the kinds of stories on which she should have been working.”
The investigation did not seek to discover whether the two had a romantic relationship, and while it noted that Russini was “effusive” in her praise of Vrabel at times, it mirrored how he was covered by other outlets.
Ultimately, the investigation recommended editor’s notes be added to three videos and one story in which Russini covered Vrabel during her time at The Athletic.
