Marchand Sports Media

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ESPN NFL analyst and two-time Super Bowl champion Damien Woody describes how he overcame a childhood stutter to become a longtime TV personality. Sometimes the nice guys finish first.
For access to our twice-a-week podcasts sign-up as a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com

TOPICS ….
* Bill Belichick vs. Rex Ryan and inside their media rules
* Woody on growing up with a severe speech impediment
* His career on the field and off have been more than his wildest dreams
* How his speech impediment impacted who he has become
* Why he became a “gentle giant”
* Why he went on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” where he lost 107 pounds
* Would he do it again …
* Why do offensive linemen lose so much weight after playing
* Woody was in the inaugural NFL broadcasting boot camp
* His big decision about playing or broadcasting …
* The biggest lesson that Belichick mentioned to him that has impacted his broadcasting career
* It is easier to criticize now because he’s further away from playing
* He has seven kids so those free Disney passes come in handy
* His youngest child’s wild football recruitment
* The grand piano and Woody’s plan to play it on SportsCenter
* What would he play?
* The seven-person family road trips …
* How close to he came to going to FS1 to pair with Craig Carton
* Any interest in games
* Does the “Same Old Jets” really exist
* What’s next …
* His 14-year-old is just like dad
* Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber Sign-Up on Thursday, April 23rd
* Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com
* On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.andrewmarchand.com

Andrew Marchand & Jon Meterparel analyze the simplicity of The Masters and what went wrong on No. 18. Plus, Mark Jones is done at ESPN, the Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel situation, the DOJ looks into the NFL, Brendan Carr tweeting Marchand, Joe Buck wants to stay at ESPN and more on the 32-minute podcast.
For access to our twice-a-week podcasts sign-up as a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com

Topics …
* What networks could learn from The Masters’ presentation
* The “Electronic Wizard” gets his due
* The 1986 Masterpiece
* Roger Goodell is in a place you never want to be in
* CBS was lost on the 18th hole
* Assessing CBS’ overall coverage of The Masters
* Dottie Pepper and who excelled during the tournament
* What Amazon Prime Video did right on its Masters’ debut and how it applies to its other sports
* What do we make of Mark Jones’ more than three decade run of ESPN
* Mike Breen criticizes the NBA over first round broadcast setup
* This is the money-making part of the ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock & Amazon Prime Video deals
* What to make of the Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel situation and investigation
* FCC Chairman Brendan Carr tweeting Marchand’s Athletic column on Amazon, The Masters & the Super Bowl
* Does the DOJ probe hurt the NFL’s leverage in TV renegotiations
* Jay Marine and the “fullness of time” Super Bowl
* What to make of Joe Buck telling Richard Deitsch he wants to finish his career at ESPN
* The interesting move of Ex-Washington Postie Ben Strauss turning up at ESPN and doing some media stories
* Who was the 2018 World Series MVP
Other elements ….
* Turk Wendell gave Marchand a yellow card in the Mets’ clubhouse
* Meterparel’s famous fantasy baseball league
* Meterparel and the Ithacan
* New potential show feature
* Sign-up: Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Thursday, April 23rd
* Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com
* On Deck: Damien Woody is The Main Event

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.andrewmarchand.com

The billion dollar game of chicken between the NFL and its TV partners is on. In ‘NFL Media Rights Projection 2.0,” Andrew Marchand is joined by Puck’s John Ourand for his monthly appearance and the duo explains the latest on the NFL Talks and where they are trending.
In the 36-minute podcast, Marchand & Ourand also go into Ourand’s ESPN’s mini-layoff report and have some fun with Ourand’s Chris Berman nickname.
For access to our twice-a-week podcasts sign-up as a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com

The Topics ….
* How the networks’ attitude might be changing in the game of chicken
* Why CBS is a different scenario compared to the other networks
* Where the leverage points stand in negotiations and budgets
* Why FCC and Congress are worth watching
* Kitchen tabling the process of stripping the NFL anti-trust exemption
* How much credence does this idea have
* Why Hollywood and other sports are so nervous about the new NFL talks
* Gaming out a post-CBS deal with Fox and others up next
* The rights holder would pay more if they got this criteria from the NFL
* The four-corners strategy
* Why would you go early if you are the networks and why not
* The NFL is a league of its own on TV, which is why these talks are so important
* Marchand & Ourand make predictions on who has deals before next season’s kickoff … and they disagree
* Is YouTube leverage as a free service or not ….
* Marchand’s Ourand social media strategy
* What is Ourand’s thought process in reporting that 30 non-on-air ESPN folks will be let go
* ESPN and the YouTube TV factor …
* Assessing the Chris Berman-like “Grande Ourand” nickname
* Ourand flip flops on predictions
* The Best Berman nicknames & bloopers
* ICYMI Pod: NFL Media Rights Projections 1.0
* Sign-up: Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Thursday, April 23rd
* Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com
* On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.andrewmarchand.com

In the 32-minute sports media podcast, Andrew Marchand & Jon Meterparel go inside Adam Schefter-Ian Rapoport’s meet-up at the NFL Owners Meetings. Marchand & Meterparel tell you the favorites for ESPN’s NFL No. 2 booth vacancy. And the Mike Tomlin Sweepstakes and who is in and who is out. Plus, the NBA’s big national broadcast problem with its missing stars.
For access to our twice-a-week podcasts sign-up as a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com

The Topics …
* The Schefter succession talk is ….
* Adam Silver vs. Rob Manfred comparison
* Where do Ian Eagle, Grant Hill and Bill Raftery rank in all-time college hoops TV history
* Why are the “Chainsmokers” doing a concert between Final Four games
* On a Fox MLB booth: One up, One down
* Yahoo’s Tom Haberstroh’s tremendous article about how the terrible number of stars playing on ABC/ ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime Video
* Don’t teach people not to care, which the NBA is in danger of doing
* Who are the favorites to be in ESPN’s No. 2 NFL booth
* A name ESPN is considering after some felt it wronged him
* More on Schefter, Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo
* The Tomlin Sweepstakes: Who is in the lead and who is likely out
* The big money ask …
* Reacting to Netflix’s Elle Duncan’s comments about the platform being criticized for its MLB coverage
* What ESPN’s Super Bowl coverage should learn from Netflix’s Opening Day
* Analyzing the Men’s and Women’s Final Four coverage
* Amazon Prime Video will have The Masters this week for the first time
* Do we care about the new “Hard Knocks” …
* If John Ourand had a Chris Berman nickname, what would it be ….
* Sign-up: Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Thursday, April 23rd
* Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com
* On Deck: John Ourand is The Main Event

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.andrewmarchand.com

In the 39-minute sports media podcast, legendary ESPN PR man, Mike Soltys, goes deep about the first days of ESPN, “the believers vs. the crazy idea” folks, a young Chris Berman, top executives shaping the network and how the greatest sports media PR quote in history came to be.
Soltys is one of the producers on “Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN,” that debuts on Monday, April 6th. It’s also an audiobook.
For access to our twice-a-week podcasts sign-up as a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com

FULL RUNDOWN …
* ESPN, ‘Sports Heaven’ & the greatest media success story ever told
* What was the feeling around ESPN in 1979 when it launched
* The “believers” vs. the “crazy idea” square-off
* Bill Rasmussen, who founded ESPN, got fired and …
* Why Bristol, CT as ESPN’s headquarters & the advantage of the location
* George Bodenheimer & culture
* The odd office Soltys started his career in
* The story behind how SportsCenter became SportsCenter
* The alternative names for SportsCenter
* How Rasmussen’s first idea was just to only do Connecticut sports
* And then an RCA satellite salesman came by and …
* Technical difficulties …
* What was Chris Berman like in the early years
* Running to the banks to deposit checks to make sure they worked
* The NFL and MLB made it feel like ESPN had arrived
* George Brett bringing back Chris Berman’s nicknames after an executive killed them
* How SC Top 10 is still a big deal
* The $51M NFL deal for the Sunday Night package in 1987
* Who are the three most important people in ESPN’s history
* The Bodenheimer-Jimmy Pitaro comparison
* John Skipper was the most fun top exec — and Cuba
* Steve Bornstein fought to keep SportsCenter going
* The credibility of Chet Simmons as ESPN president
* ESPN tried putting business news into its programs, and Soltys wasn’t a fan of it
* Richard Branson and the spirit of just trying stuff
* The ESPN-ABC Sports war
* Rudy Martzke, Phil Mushnick, Richard Sandomir, et. al. …
* How Mark Shapiro brought the media attention to another level
* All the major newspapers had a sports media columnist and “the straws that stir the drink.”
* Martzke’s Sunday greeting to Soltys after church
* Soltys, Keith Olbermann and the greatest sports PR quote in history
* Soltys liked working with Olbermann
* The quote was buried in the USA Today column
* “He didn’t burn bridges here, he napalmed them”
* The media relations game and Martzke
* What’s next for the documentary
* The 1979 culture of ESPN is still alive in 2026
* “I’ll work for free,” were the magic words
Some Related Podcasts (there are more)
* Chris LaPlaca, Mark Shapiro, Adam Schefter, Greg Hughes, Traug Keller
* Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber Sign-Up on Thursday, April 23rd
* Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com
* On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel