Dianna Russini Will Seek Credential for Super Bowl Radio Row

Dianna Russini will seek a press credential for Radio Row during Super Bowl week in February in Los Angeles as part of her return to sports media, a source tells Front Office Sports.

It’s not clear whether the NFL will approve her request. Russini debuted a new weekly NFL web show this week hosted on BetUS, an offshore sportsbook. The NFL generally stays away from offshore betting companies, and its gambling policy prohibits personnel from participating in any form of illegal gambling; the league has said it works with policymakers and law enforcement to “eliminate betting markets that are contrary to public policy or which present the greatest opportunity for manipulation.”

Russini’s approach will be to cite her affiliation with iHeartMedia, for which she told People she will debut a podcast with Jon “Stugotz” Weiner, rather than her association with BetUS, according to the source.

She may need to take a similar approach with NFL teams if she hopes to cover games in person. Executives for multiple teams tell FOS they would not grant a request by Russini for a credential to cover one of their home games or to report from their facility during the practice week if she were to apply under the BetUS banner.

Those executives cited Russini’s association with the offshore sportsbook as the issue, rather than the tabloid scandal involving Patriots coach Mike Vrabel that led to her resignation from The Athletic in April.

But that stance is not universal among teams. One NFL team told FOS it would credential Russini and grant her access, and another indicated it would consider it. A third team said it would consider a request made through iHeart but not BetUS.

All the executives spoke to FOS on the condition of anonymity, given the controversy surrounding Russini since this past spring.

It’s unclear whether Russini is interested in covering any games in person leading up to the Super Bowl. For now, according to the source, she’ll focus on her BetUS show and the iHeart podcast with “Stugotz.” 

Russini and her publicist, Melissa Nathan, declined to comment.

Radio Row is the beating heart of media coverage during Super Bowl week, where hundreds of domestic and international media companies set up shop to interview ex-players, coaches, and visiting celebrities hawking this or that product or service.

Several NFL teams’ flagship radio stations—including those of the Packers, Commanders, Bengals, and Panthers—are iHeart stations, and iHeart has a prodigious annual presence on Radio Row. 

The NFL’s media accreditation process for Super Bowl LXI, scheduled for Feb. 14 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, is underway, and the application deadline is Dec. 4. The NFL told media outlets that applications must be submitted by a sports editor, sports director, or photo editor.

The NFL issues separate credentials for access to the Super Bowl media center and activities during the week, and for the game itself. It also evaluates requests for positions on Radio Row in the media center during Super Bowl week. 

The NFL did not respond to requests for comment by FOS. The league controls credentialing for major NFL events such as the Super Bowl, the NFL Scouting Combine, the NFL Draft, and league meetings, while individual teams are in charge of credentialing for regular season games and access to their practice facilities. 

‘This B.S. Outlet’

One NFL team executive cited BetUS and told FOS that it “wouldn’t credential her, probably, because of the outlet. If she got back with The Athletic, we’d probably have to credential her.”

Under those circumstances, the executive said, that team would “probably have to put everyone on notice” but would “probably do it.”

The executive described BetUS as “this b.s. outlet” and said the team would deny any request by Russini because of her tie to the betting company. That stance would not change, the person said, if Russini were to cite iHeart instead of BetUS.

An executive with another team told FOS it would not approve a credential request by Russini associated with her BetUS affiliation. That official mentioned that Russini is “with an illegal sports betting outlet.” The team also has a partnership with another sports betting company. But that executive said the team would consider a credential request made through iHeart, saying iHeart “is an outlet we’d consider a legitimate outlet.” The team would “need someone from iHeart to reach out and request access” and “send a pitch,” according to the executive.

An official with a third NFL team told FOS it would “research the media organization” and ask about “coverage plans” before making a decision on any potential credential request by Russini. That executive said the team was “not trying to pile on” amid the negative attention given to Russini.

An executive with a fourth team told FOS that it would be willing to grant a credential request and access to Russini. “I don’t see why not, depending on what the request would be,” that executive said.

Several other teams did not respond to inquiries by FOS on the potential credentialing and access issues.

To be sure, Russini doesn’t need any credential to report news about NFL teams, games, or the Super Bowl. She reported Tuesday on Twitter/X about the Vikings quarterback-related trade discussions with the 49ers and Raiders just ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline. That tweet, saying the Vikings had checked in with the 49ers about Mac Jones but were focused on trying to get Kirk Cousins from the Raiders, has received nearly 5 million views. The Vikings completed a major trade later that day to get Cousins.

From The Athletic to BetUS 

FOS first reported last Friday that Russini’s return would come in association with BetUS. The company made its official announcement Monday.

Her debut show Wednesday was delayed by approximately 45 minutes. A spokeswoman for Russini told FOS that day the debut show was “delayed due to volume of traffic on the web site.” Russini focused on football during the show and never directly referenced Vrabel, although she did allude to her time away from sports media.

Russini resigned from The Athletic after Page Six published photos showing her and Vrabel holding hands and hugging at an adults-only resort in Arizona in March.

An investigation by The Athletic, owned by the New York Times, concluded 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” and recommended the addition of editor’s notes to three videos and one story. The investigation did not seek to determine whether the two had a romantic relationship. It found that while she was effusive at times in her praise of Vrabel, her coverage mirrored the tone of the coverage by other outlets.

Vrabel, who was named the NFL Coach of the Year after leading the Patriots to a Super Bowl appearance last season, initially insisted the photos were “completely innocent” but later admitted they led to “some difficult conversations with people I care about” over a “personal and private matter.” The coach was absent from the Patriots on the final day of the NFL Draft to attend counseling.