Marchand Sports Media

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

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

In the 37-minute sports media podcast, Andrew Marchand and Jon Meterparel fully breakdown Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill’s call at the end of the UConn-Duke classic, full Netflix and NBC MLB reviews and the fan threat as sports are increasingly more difficult to afford and watch.
For access to our twice-a-week podcasts sign-up as a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com

THE RUNDOWN …
* The danger for leagues, teams and networks …
* What NBC got right on its MLB presentation
* Clayton Kershaw’s start
* Stephen A. Smith’s poor judgement
* Neil Walker needed a Red Bull
* How difficult it is to watch all the Yankee games
* Why you have to make it easy for fans today more than ever
* Marchand at Mike Vaccaro’s book signing and a mini-review
* The bad polling around fans watching sports
* The issues with the Nate Burleson “Game Show” CBS NCAA approach
* Meterparel was not a fan of the lack of basketball analysis from Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith
* Meterparel got more texts about the college hoops studio than anything ever in TV
* The comparison of the Jamal Mashburn-led TNT show to CBS’
* The full , fine tooth breakdown of Eagle, Raftery Hill on the clasic call of the UConn-Duke ending
* What grade does the trio receive
* How did the rest of the NCAA Men’s crews fare on the weekend
* Netflix-MLB review
* “Love is Blind” vs. “Opening Day Pregame Show”
* The Rob Manfred interview was …
* What worked on the Netflix stream
* Barry Bonds was …
* Why Netflix needs versatility
* Michael Jordan is on every network, but …
* The Tiger Woods DUI coverage was …
* Papa Clicker Review: The Art of Tennis by Nicholas Fox Weber
* A couple of corrections
* A special cakes are baking for Momma Meterparel
* Sign-up: Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Thursday, April 23rd
* Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com
* On Deck: Mike Soltys is The Main Event

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

In the 35-minute sports media podcast, Traug Keller — who ran ABC Radio Networks, ESPN Radio, ESPN’s Talent Department & ESPN Deportes — talks about managing Paul Harvey, Sean Hannity, Colin Cowherd, Stephen A. Smith, Scott Van Pelt, Mike Tirico and many others through the years. Keller explains where the media business was and where it is going.
For access to our twice-a-week podcasts sign-up as a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com

The RUNDOWN …
* What changed the most in Keller’s more than two decades at ESPN
* Why everyone is now their own program director
* The unbelievable job a current New York radio executive has done
* Why Joe Rogan and Stephen A. Smith are the Paul Harveys of today
* What has changed about new hosts on the air in the current climate
* The advice that Keller gave to ESPN that helped lead to Colin Cowherd’s discovery
* The power of YouTube
* Stephen A’s quality for success
* Tirico could have been a big hit on another medium
* The insecurity of talent
* How Cowherd and Smith were different
* Why Paul Harvey was the GOAT
* Harvey had the ear of presidents
* Stephen A.’s preparation
* Working with Mitch Dolan on Hannity national launch and dealing with Roger Ailes
* Why Keller left ABC Radio Networks for ESPN Radio in 2004
* What was it like reporting directly into a young Mark Shapiro
* Keller’s assessment of Shapiro’s potential
* Why did ESPN New York never go fully local to compete with WFAN
* Keller’s thoughts on the longevity of “The Michael Kay Show”
* The Larry David story on Marchand’s job
* ESPN New York vs. Mike Francesa
* Rush Limbaugh struggled when he first started
* Radio and podcasting need patience
* The reason Keller wanted clean radio
* What happened at the end with Mike Greenberg & Mike Golic
* What Keller is most proud of in his career
* Freddy Rolon, Patrick Polking, Sean Breen, Tim McCarthy and Amanda Gifford and the “We, not an I” approach
* How Scott Van Pelt’s radio impacted his SportsCenter rise
* Why Keller would put Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo back together
* The PTSD of running the Talent Office
* How Nick Khan changed the ESPN game
* What was running ESPN Deportes like
* The Justin Connolly and Rolon connections
* Keller retired and thought he was going to retire, but America Magazine called
* Keller loved it, but now has fully retired
* Ourand’s jealousy
* 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

In the 41-minute sports media podcast, Andrew Marchand & Jon Meterparel grade the announcers from Ian Eagle to Charles Barkley to Nate Burleson and all the teams. Plus, what is hanging over all the networks, who is a big name to watch for NFL studio, Netflix gets Barry Bonds, Laura Rutledge says goodbye to SEC Nation and Zlatan says hello to Fox.
For access to our twice-a-week podcasts sign-up as a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com

THE RUNDOWN …
* Why the NCAA Tournament is the hardest and best assignment
* Grading all 8 CBS & TNT Sports announce teams on Clicker Rating System
* The No. 1 team was …
* The lowest score went to …
* Candace Parker was on Friday, but not Sunday, why?
* Why put together three-person teams on short notice
* Jason Benetti filling in for Brian Anderson and reaction
* Who will analyze a Final Four one day who is not right now
* Who is a “poor man’s Ian Eagle”
* Why one analyst could be a little more positive
* The team that Marchand & Meterparel were divided on
* Which duo could be a riser
* Nate Burleson or Adam Zucker, who ya got
* Which sideline reporter asked good, concise questions
* How the NFL opt-out negotiations hangs over everything
* Emerging big name NFL TV free agent to watch
* Mike Tomlin’s status
* Is Barry Bonds an inspiring choice for Netflix
* Zlatan to Fox and who else it thought about for the World Cup
* Laura Rutledge’s move to leave SEC Nation
* The fallout from the Rutledge move
* The WBC’s big numbers, which we went deep on last week
* What’s Up & What’s down (at the beginning)
* What’s Up: Howie Rose & Steve Lappas
* What’s Down: Tom Brady & Charles Barkley
* Sign-up: Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Thursday, April 23rd
* Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com
* On Deck: Traug Keller is The Main Event

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

One of the biggest characters in all of college basketball is CBS’ Jon Rothstein. On the 42-minute podcast, Rothstein explains his passion for college hoops, his willingness to miss family and friends’ weddings for basketball, the amount of games he watches, where all his sayings come from and how he climbed the ladder of NCAA media.
Rothstein is the guest on “The Main Event with Andrew Marchand.”
For access to our twice-a-week podcasts sign-up as a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com

THE RUNDOWN …
* The incredible amount of college hoops Rothstein watches
* How does wife and child deal with his obsession
* How did his passion for college hoops begin
* The greatness of Christian Laettner’s college hoops career
* The surreal story of being on TV for the first time
* Trying to sell his own advertising for his show and being told to take a hike
* His pride of never having any help from family or connections to break in
* The big decision to turn down a full-time ESPN LA radio show
* While others friends were going on vacation, Rothstein saved up his money to go around the country to visit coaches and college teams
* He finished Ithaca College in three years
* Why he always wore a suit
* His connection building through hand-written notes
* He grew up reading Ian O’Connor and Frank Isola and learned …
* Jim Calhoun, Jay Wright & John Calipari were very accessible for Rothstein early
* World events happened and Rothstein has a tweet about some random college hoops matchup, what is that about
* What is up with all of Rothstein’s sayings …
* Why he has such a good memory for college hoops
* His politics and college basketball bubble saying …
* Who has the best pizza …
* Would he miss his brother’s wedding if it were on Final Four Saturday
* What he told his then girlfriend, now wife, about hoops …
Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com
* On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel