Meadowlark Media and DraftKings are staying in business together.

The companies have completed a new deal, sources told Front Office Sports. The arrangement will see DraftKings sponsor several of Meadowlark’s primary shows, including The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, South Beach Sessions (Le Batard’s longform interview show), and Nothing Personal with David Samson (the daily sports business show from the former Marlins president). In addition to sponsoring the shows, DraftKings will be overseeing its ad sales and distribution. 

Financial terms of the contract were not immediately available. Representatives for DraftKings and Meadowlark declined to comment. 

One source said it is expected that Pablo Torre Finds Out, which has been all over the twists and turns of the Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson relationship in recent weeks, will remain with Meadowlark but seek a new licensing partner. 

It is a positive sign for Meadowlark’s business going forward that it has fortified around its core shows. 

Meadowlark was founded in 2021 by Le Batard and former ESPN president John Skipper. DraftKings has been the presenting sponsor of Meadowlark’s programming from the start. FOS reported earlier this month that Skipper is leaving the company. 

There have been some other changes with the business in recent months. God Bless Football, the podcast from Jon “Stugotz” Weiner and Billy Gil, is now independent. Shutdown Fullcast, a college football podcast from Spencer Hall, Ryan Nanni, Jason Kirk, and Holly Anderson, exited Meadowlark last year. Charlotte Wilder left Meadowlark this past January.

A seemingly straightforward executive move in sports media has snowballed into a lawsuit between two titans.

ESPN parent company Disney has sued YouTube TV and longtime Disney exec Justin Connolly over his move to the Google-owned streamer to a newly created role as global head of media and sports. 

Connolly spent nearly three decades with Disney, beginning as a financial analyst and ultimately becoming one of the company’s most senior executives, most recently as president of Disney Platform Distribution, overseeing direct-to-consumer services and content agreements across entertainment, studios, and sports, and working closely with ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro. 

Just last week, Connolly attended the press briefing in New York City at which ESPN introduced its forthcoming direct-to-consumer service. 

Disney alleges that both YouTube and Connolly engaged in breach of contract, tortious interference of contractual relations, and unfair competition. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claims Connolly signed a three-year employment agreement last November covering all of 2025–27, with a one-time termination right becoming effective March 1, 2027.

“YouTube committed intentional acts designed to induce Connolly to breach the employment agreement,” Disney said in the suit.

Amid the legal action, YouTube announced Connolly’s move internally Thursday. A former Disney executive source tells FOS Connolly “knows all of the economics of ESPN—his information is priceless,” which explains why Disney is so up in arms over his exit.

If completed, the shift carries plenty of implications. Already the distributor of the residential version of NFL Sunday Ticket, YouTube’s fast-growing sports ambitions can also be seen in a recent deal to carry the league’s return to Brazil on Sept. 5 with the Chiefs and Chargers.

That game is poised to set a league streaming record, and the free distribution there is aimed at tapping into YouTube’s massive global audience of more than 2.5 billion monthly active users. Connolly is set to build on that by leading YouTube’s partnerships with media companies and sports leagues, including for YouTube TV, the country’s largest internet-based television service.

Meanwhile, Disney has its own set of major initiatives, including the debut later this year of the ESPN DTC service, as well as several other major distribution agreements to complete—most notably with YouTube. Connolly was set to lead that negotiation for Disney before the move to join YouTube. To that end, Disney said in the lawsuit that Connolly’s news arrived at a “critical time” in his tenure there.

“It would be extremely prejudicial to Disney for Connolly to breach the contract which he negotiated just a few months ago and switch teams when Disney is working on a new licensing deal with the company that is trying to poach him,” the suit reads in part.

Connolly was a finalist to succeed John Skipper as ESPN’s top executive in 2018, with that job ultimately going to Pitaro.

Representatives for Disney and YouTube did not immediately respond to FOS requests for comment Thursday evening.

An ESPN stalwart’s run is coming to an end.

SportsCenter anchor Stan Verrett’s time with the network will conclude later this summer, sources told Front Office Sports. There are plans for Verrett to anchor the news-and-highlights program in the coming months, and to appear at stops when SportsCenter does a promotion of “50 States in 50 Days”—an event that kicks off June 27 to promote the company’s upcoming direct-to-consumer launch—but the network does not plan to renew his contract, sources said. 

“We’re grateful for Stan’s many contributions and all he has brought to SportsCenter over the years,” Dave Roberts, EVP and executive editor of sports news and entertainment, said in a statement. “We thank him and wish him continued success.”

Verrett joined ESPN in 2000 as an ESPNews anchor and became the cohost of the 1 a.m. ET edition of SportsCenter in Los Angeles alongside Neil Everett in 2009. Everett retired from ESPN in 2023, and Verrett had been hosting the late-night show with Linda Cohn until earlier this week. 

ESPN announced in March that it would be migrating this edition of SportsCenter from Los Angeles to its headquarters in Bristol, Conn.  

Prior to ESPN, Verrett was an on-air talent at NBC affiliate WDSU-TV in New Orleans.