NFL Network Talents Learn Their Fate After ESPN Takeover
The line of fans for Paul Skenes bobblehead day at the Pirates’ PNC Park in April stretched all the way across the Roberto Clemente Bridge and several blocks into downtown Pittsburgh. All told, some fans waited more than five hours to secure one of the 20,000 bobbleheads, collectibles that have frequently surpassed $100 each in subsequent eBay sales.
Inside the ballpark, however, Skenes himself was barely moved by the fervent show of fans, particularly in a market that has seen just three winning Pirates seasons in the past three decades. “It’s a bobblehead. It’s not my thing,” he said after the game, a 3–0 loss to the Guardians.
Such is the dynamic surrounding the 22-year-old Skenes, one of the most electrifying young talents to hit Major League Baseball in the past generation, but also one of the most even-keeled. Though no longer a rookie—Skenes pitched enough in 2024 to exhaust that status and won National League Rookie of the Year—he has yet to reach the one-year anniversary of his major league call-up and has logged just 170.2 innings.
What a 170.2 innings, though. In that short time with the Pirates, Skenes became just the fifth rookie pitcher to start an All-Star Game. He also won nearly three-quarters of his decisions, became a Cy Young Award finalist, and captivated fans across the country with a lethal mix of a blazing fastball and his “splinker,” a unique hybrid of a sinker and split-finger fastball.
“Paul’s a great example of a young star who’s risen quickly and whose performance on the field, and in his instance on the mound, has really elevated him to make him one of our more popular players, particularly among our young fans,” MLB director of global brand management Steven Tyler tells Front Office Sports.
Several additional factors are propelling the Skenes hype train. The first is a palpable hunger both among fans and within MLB headquarters for more standout starting pitchers in an era of stringent pitch counts and rising hurler injuries. The second is Skenes’s girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, a former LSU gymnast who also became a prominent influencer in both social media and NIL (name, image, and likeness) rights in college sports. The third is Skenes’s six-foot-six frame that puts a bit of a superhero spin on his on-field exploits.
Combined, Skenes is a tailor-made phenom for the modern age. He is now a part of MLB’s “Heroes of the Game,” an anime-inspired brand campaign that is led by an array of established stars such as the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, Yankees’ Aaron Judge, and Mets’ Juan Soto.
“Fans are really excited that we have a dominant, young starting pitcher,” Tyler says. “From our angle, it’s about adding fuel to the fire and helping promote this young star player.”
In a string of recent profiles, including in men’s style publications, Skenes stays on message and focuses on his craft and tasks such as “mastering the silence.” He also has largely shunned corporate endorsements. Almost a real-life personification of the Crash Davis rules of interviews from Bull Durham—itself a moment of irony given Kevin Costner sat just behind Skenes at the recent Super Bowl LIX—Skenes exudes a quiet, reserved confidence far beyond his age.
“There was a shot of him [in a recent game against the Dodgers],” said MLB Network’s Lauren Shehadi during an episode of MLB Central, recalling the high-profile pitching matchup between Skenes and the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto shown nationally on the network. “[Skenes is] high-fiving his teammates, and there was a look of expectation. He wasn’t relieved he pitched well at Dodger Stadium. He wasn’t happy that he pitched well at Dodger Stadium. He expected it.”
That coolness contrasts sharply with the missteps that have otherwise surrounded the Pirates. Again languishing in last place in the National League Central division, the Pirates’ young 2025 this season has involved controversies such as the commemorative PNC Park “Bucco Bricks” ending up at a recycling facility and a sign inside the ballpark honoring the late franchise icon Roberto Clemente getting replaced by an alcohol advertisement. Fans again have taken to occasionally chanting at games for owner Bob Nutting to sell the club.
Skenes, conversely, gives the Pirates’ faithful something to cheer for the first time in many years. While corporate America hasn’t found a broad entry point to the superstar, at least not yet, Dick’s Sporting Goods recently paid $1.1 million for a Skenes baseball card, the most ever paid in public auction for a Skenes card and the most in the Topps Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card program. (The card features a uniform patch Skenes wore during his MLB debut last May.)
A Pittsburgh-based sporting goods retailer, Dick’s will display the item at a local Dick’s House of Sport store, and use it to herald a growing interest in selling trading cards and memorabilia.
“Acquiring the Paul Skenes MLB Debut Patch card enables us to celebrate his incredible talent while giving our athletes a unique opportunity to experience a piece of baseball history up close,” said Dick’s executive chairman Ed Stack. “We’re thrilled to bring this special card home … where it can inspire the next generation of athletes and collectors.”
In the meantime, the Pirates said all those who lined up for the Skenes bobblehead and didn’t get one will get a voucher to ultimately receive one.
Skenes was focused elsewhere: “Wish we would’ve gotten the win.”
