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Afternoon Edition

December 23, 2024

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ESPN’s existential question is how to make up for declining cable revenue as cord-cutting becomes increasingly widespread. It’s putting its chips on a direct-to-consumer product currently called Flagship, and promotion has begun.

As the year nears its end, we have a question for you: What are your biggest predictions for the business of sports in 2025? Send us a sentence or two by replying to this email. The best submissions will be featured in a future newsletter.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

ESPN Teases Vision for Its Biggest Bet: 2025’s ‘Flagship’ Platform [[link removed]]

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ESPN and Disney have already laid down the gauntlet [[link removed]] on the sports media giant’s forthcoming direct-to-consumer streaming service, currently called Flagship, which has been branded as no less than “the best product the consumer has ever seen in sports.” Now, ESPN is beginning to make that case to the public.

The network has begun a marketing effort that encourages fans to “tap in” to its broad range of services, which ultimately will be blended into Flagship, the product’s internal working name.

“Tap into the thing that becomes your thing, that becomes everything,” reads ESPN’s Malika Andrews, best known for her work on NBA Countdown and NBA Today, in a voiceover for one of the campaign’s ads. “Tap into an entire world of sports.”

That campaign builds on Disney CEO Bob Iger’s heady comments last month to financial analysts that also included an assertion that the direct-to-consumer platform will be “the most compelling way ESPN has ever served the consumer.” Similarly, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said at an October conference at Columbia University [[link removed]] that the service will be a distillation of all the company’s offerings and capabilities, including multiscreen viewing, full integration with ESPN Bet, ticketing, merchandising, and fantasy content.

“The shoulder experience around the video will be much more interactive and it will be much more personalized,” Pitaro said.

As a result, the marketing looks to reframe ESPN as much more than a linear network and instead a digital-first hub of an entire range of sports touchpoints.

Future Timetables

The new service has long been targeted to debut in time for the 2025 college and pro football seasons, and that remains the plan. Well before that, though, there will be plenty of discussion about Flagship.

A multimedia ad campaign also will see the “tap in” message displayed in and around many major venues and events. That will include ESPN’s Christmas Day coverage of the NBA this week, and subsequent key events such as NFL and college basketball games.

More details, including the final, public name of the service and its monthly costs, will be finalized and marketed at various points next spring and summer.

Updates From the Boss

Pitaro, meanwhile, also issued on Monday ESPN’s “Year in Review for 2024,” [[link removed]] detailing a lengthy list of accomplishments that includes the creation of an ESPN tile on sister streaming property Disney+ [[link removed]], large-scale rights deals for the NBA [[link removed]] and expanded College Football Playoff [[link removed]], and a separate pact to present the iconic Inside the NBA studio show [[link removed]], among many others—while also celebrating the network’s 45th anniversary.

“As I like to say, I like our hand,” Pitaro said.

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl Signs Starting QBs to NIL Deals As Landscape Shifts [[link removed]]

The Tennessean

The expanded College Football Playoff [[link removed]] isn’t the only thing that’s evolved in the sport’s shifting landscape.

Non-CFP bowl games, which are being played throughout the holiday season, continue to mark new territory by paying some participating players via NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals.

The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl recently announced NIL deals, via the game’s title sponsor, for the starting quarterbacks of both teams playing in the Dec. 31 matchup in Orlando. South Carolina freshman LaNorris Sellers and Illinois junior Luke Altmyer are the lucky duo cashing in. Financial details were not released.

While neither Sellers nor Altmyer were major candidates to opt out of their bowl game—a common practice [[link removed]] for NFL Draft prospects and transfer portal players these days—the growing influence of NIL deals could keep some bowl games more relevant by retaining star players. Last year, Cheez-It was one of several snack brands that made a profitable mark [[link removed]] with wild activations around bowl sponsorships.

Players from Miami (Ohio) and Colorado State are also set to receive NIL deals around their clash in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop (try saying that three times fast) on Saturday. In May, after taking over as the game’s new title sponsor, the rapper announced he had lined up several sponsors to fund NIL pacts for this year’s bowl game. Specifics of those NIL deals have yet to be made public.

NIL deals at bowl games are required to be a shared initiative between the bowls, the participating institutions, and their conferences. Traditionally, bowl games pay participation fees—sometimes several million dollars for premier games—to each school’s conference. That money could be shared with players directly [[link removed]], though, Bowl Season executive director Nick Carparelli previously told Front Office Sports.

“If the conferences and the universities were to tell the bowl games, ‘Hey, we would like these payments to go directly to the student-athletes through NIL,’ then that would be very easy for the bowl games to execute,” said Carparelli, whose organization oversees more than 40 bowl games each year.

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LOUD AND CLEAR Seidler Legacy: Padres’ Continuity

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“John shares Peter’s vision and will continue to strengthen and nurture this great franchise.”

—The Padres, in a statement on the planned installation of John Seidler as the club’s designated control executive, succeeding his late, younger brother Peter. Under the leadership of Peter Seidler, the Padres spent on payroll at levels far exceeding anything in franchise history, and well beyond the confines of what the San Diego market would seemingly support, in turn raising scrutiny on what John will do. Read newsletter writer Eric Fisher’s examination of the Padres’ ownership transition [[link removed]].

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Down

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Missouri ⬆ Former Penn State quarterback Beau Pribula is expected to transfer to the Tigers, according to ESPN. Pribula, a sophomore who backed up Drew Allar this season, entered the transfer portal before the College Football Playoff. ESPN rated Pribula as a four-star recruit in 2022. Mizzou has an advantage in the name, image, and likeness era of college football due to a state law. The school was able to create a marketing agency called Every True Tiger [[link removed]] to funnel NIL money to its athletes.

LIV vs. PGA Tour “Showdown” ⬇ The made-for-TV event [[link removed]] pitting Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy against Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, officially named the “Crypto.com Showdown,” drew 625,000 viewers on TNT and TBS on Tuesday, which would be the second lowest when pitted against “The Match,” [[link removed]] another exhibition golf series on TNT, according to Sports Business Journal.

News Corp. ⬆ DAZN purchased Foxtel Group, an Australian pay-TV and subscription service, from the Rupert Murdoch–backed company for $2.1 billion. The purchase valued Foxtel at seven times its 2024 EBITDA [[link removed]].

John Wall ⬆ The five-time NBA All-Star made his broadcasting debut [[link removed]] at the G League Winter Showcase over the weekend. While Wall, 34, is already making moves for his post-playing career, he has not retired from basketball. He is still hoping to return to the NBA, according to the Associated Press, though he has not played since the 2022–2023 season. Wall, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft, has earned $276.5 million during his NBA career [[link removed]].

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Conversation Starters Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Shepard included his daughters during his player intro on Sunday Night Football. Take a look [[link removed]]. Penn State women’s volleyball coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley became the first woman to ever win an NCAA Division I volleyball title. Check out [[link removed]] the championship-clinching point. Texas safety Michael Taaffe won a state championship with Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik at Westlake High School in the Austin area. On Saturday, Taaffe and the Longhorns beat the Tigers in the CFP [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Late Cowboys Surge Not Enough to Prevent Week 17 Schedule Flex [[link removed]]by Eric Fisher [[link removed]]America’s Team is placed in a lesser broadcast slot. What’s Next for League Expansion After a Busy 2024 [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]New teams are coming in major U.S. leagues, especially in women’s sports. NFL Network Undecided About Running More Ads on ‘RedZone’ [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]Ads never materialized in Week 16, but a decision has not been made. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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