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It’s been a big year for talent movement in the sports media industry, particularly around the NBA where Amazon and NBC took over for TNT as league rights partners. In no particular order, are the 13 biggest stories of the year in this department.
1. Amazon and NBC Bulk Up on NBA Talent
Amazon and NBC starting their new NBA deals led to a talent gold rush. Amazon brought in Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, Stan Van Gundy, Taylor Rooks, Dirk Nowitzki, Udonis Haslem, Blake Griffin, Steve Nash, Michael Grady, Dwyane Wade, and Candace Parker. NBC hired Reggie Miller, Jamal Crawford, Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady, and Vince Carter—in addition to landing Michael Jordan as a special contributor.
2. Barkley, Shaq, Kenny, and Ernie Head to ESPN
Although the deal for ESPN to sublicense some Big 12 football and basketball games to TNT Sports in return for Inside the NBA was agreed to last year, we finally got to see what that looks like this past October. Basketball fans were pleased to see nothing has changed with the iconic studio show, and Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith are still bringing their same irreverence and hijinks to ESPN—even after Barkley repeatedly said he would never work for ESPN.
3. Barstool and Fox Link Up
After a programming and executive shakeup at FS1, Barstool Sports became the morning programming on the network, featuring a rotating group of co-hosts including Barstool founder Dave Portnoy, Dan “Big Cat” Katz, PFT Commenter, T-Bob Hebert, Brandon Walker, and Mark Titus. Portnoy also became a mainstay on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff college football pregame show in the deal.
4. Netflix Adds Barstool, Spotify, and Volume Podcasts
At the beginning of the year, it would have been inconceivable that several of the biggest sports podcasts would leave YouTube to have their video exclusively hosted by Netflix. But that’s exactly what happened with Pardon My Take, the Ryen Russillo Show and Spittin’ Chiclets from Barstool, the Bill Simmons Podcast and multiple others from Spotify, as well as multiple shows from The Volume in conjunction with a deal with iHeart.
5. Stephen A. Smith Signs 9-Figure ESPN Deal
Sometimes the biggest move is to stay in the same place. Smith signed a five-year extension with ESPN, worth more than $100 million, that enabled him to ink another big-money deal with SiriusXM for his eponymous digital show.
6. Cowherd Leaves DraftKings for Hard Rock
Cowherd’s Volume podcast network includes shows hosted by Nick Wright and Sophie Cunningham, as well as the digital rights to Cowherd’s eponymous show on FS1 and iHeart. This was the first big move by Hard Rock digital, signaling its goal to be a major player in the space.
7. Eisen Returns to ESPN
Who says you can’t go home again? Rich Eisen brought his show back to ESPN and Disney platforms after more than 20 years away. The host’s show previously aired on Roku. Eisen also remains the lead anchor at NFL Network, a role he has held since he originally left ESPN for the network’s launch.
8. Russillo Leaves The Ringer
Ryen Russillo, consistently one of the top-ranked sports podcasters on Apple and Spotify, had been with The Ringer since 2019. In launching a new business backed by Barstool and Portnoy, he hoped to supercharge the video component of his show. The show is included in the multi-year Barstool-Netflix deal worth eight figures annually.
9. Watt Moves From the Studio to the Booth at CBS
In year one paired with Ian Eagle on CBS’s second-top NFL announce team, JJ Watt has made a seamless transition from studio to booth. The duo has great chemistry and a big-game aura.
10. Bussin’ With the Boys Leaves Barstool for FanDuel
Former NFL’ers Will Compton and Taylor Lewan got a big payday in landing the FanDuel sportsbook as its presenting sponsor.
11. Brees Replaces Sanchez at Fox Sports
After Sanchez was arrested and charged with a felony following a violent incident while on assignment for Fox in Indianapolis, Brees slid into Sanchez’s pairing with Adam Amin. Brees, the former 13-time Pro Bowl quarterback who won a Super Bowl with the Saints, was previously a color commentator and studio analyst at NBC Sports.
12. Peter Schrager Leaves NFL Network for ESPN
Peter Schrager jumped to ESPN in April and was an immediate fit, getting plugged into all of its studio programming. He also launched The Schrager Hour podcast, in collaboration with ESPN and Omaha Productions.
13. Elle Duncan Leaves ESPN for Netflix
Duncan is slated to become the host of Netflix’s coverage across several sports. In leaving ESPN, she opened up roles for Christine Williamson to co-host 6 p.m. SportsCenter with Kevin Negandhi and be the top host of the network’s women’s college basketball coverage, including the Final Four. Malika Andrews is poised to become the new top host of ESPN’s WNBA studio team.
