Stadium News
Breaking News from the Bench to the Bleachers
ESPN will televise Super Bowl LXI next February. And in true ESPN fashion, you’re going to hear it a lot from ESPN that ESPN is televising their first Super Bowl on ESPN. Now, if you want to get technical, the ESPN broadcast is actually going to be a simulcast on ABC, which has televised many…
Charles Barkley might be on the verge of mending his relationship with Michael Jordan, but his seemingly one-sided feud with Tiger Woods remains. Barkley recently revealed he’s speaking with Jordan again after their friendship deteriorated over a decade ago. The falling out stemmed from Barkley publicly criticizing Jordan’s work as owner and head of basketball…
When Mike Vrabel announced he would enter counseling on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, it sent shockwaves through the football world. And the announcement’s abrupt timing and surprise led to speculation that a new bombshell report was about to drop on his relationship with Dianna Russini. That speculation indeed proved true. On Thursday afternoon,…
The Phoenix Suns find themselves in a 2-0 hole against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, and Devin Booker believes the referees have something to do with it. Booker scored 30 points to go along with six rebounds Wednesday night, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Suns from losing Game 2 of their playoff…
WrestleMania 42 has come and gone and Pat McAfee has said that he is no longer part of the wrestling business after taking a starring role in WWE’s showcase event. And according to top wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer, it was his decision. McAfee was controversially inserted into the main event match between WWE champion Cody…
A version of this column originally appeared in Thursday morning’s edition of The A Block, Awful Announcing’s daily newsletter with the latest sports media news, commentary, and analysis. Sign up here and be the first to know everything going on in the sports media world. In last Thursday’s newsletter, I shouted out crisis and reputation strategist…
There is never a dull moment in college football, especially when it comes to the growing civil war between the SEC and the Big Ten over the future of the sport. For months now, the two superconferences have been on opposite sides of the debate over where the College Football Playoff and the sport’s postseason…
Mike Vrabel made a stunning revelation that he would be entering counseling during Day 3 of the NFL Draft. And nobody can quite believe what to actually make of it. The news was shared in quotes given to ESPN’s Mike Reiss in an article published at midnight on the eve before the draft. Vrabel first…
After denying that the story was even a thing, the New England Patriots are in full damage control mode trying to deal with the fallout of Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini’s excursion to an Arizona resort. Both Vrabel and Russini tried to deny that any improprieties happened as the two married individuals were photographed together…
There is a very small and elite list of the most momentous changes that have transformed the world of sports as we know it. The establishment of the three-point shot, the legalization of the forward pass, and now the New York Yankees wearing alternate uniforms. There hasn’t been a moment like this in baseball since…
Pablo Torre Finds Out has become the go-to destination for investigative sports journalism. His topics range from serious to lighthearted. One of his most recent episodes on the New York Knicks is a must-listen. PTFO collaborated with WIRED on a feature about Knicks owner James Dolan’s surveillance system at Madison Square Garden. In the episode,…
On this week’s episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast, Brandon Contes interviews former ESPN host Trey Wingo. Wingo discussed a wide range of topics, including his time covering the NFL Draft for ESPN, working with Mel Kiper Jr., building NFL Live, ESPN’s merger with NFL Network, LIV Golf, the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods, and more.…
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel will not be present with the team during Saturday’s third and final day of the 2026 NFL Draft. Instead, the embattled head coach, who is in the midst of a scandal over photos of him with former The Athletic NFL insider Dianna Russini, will be in counseling. “As…
NBA legends Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley had been estranged for years. But they have an unlikely friend to thank for helping them bury the hatchet – former MLB All-Star Vince Coleman. Barkley and Jordan were great friends during their playing days. However, the pair had a falling out in 2012 after comments the TNT…
The long-rumored sale of the Portland Trail Blazers finally went through this season, as private equity investor and Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon took over the team just in time for the playoffs. Almost immediately, Dundon began cutting costs. Reports surfaced on the team’s slimmed-down travel accommodations and its meager budget for its next head…
The New York Mets finally got superstar Juan Soto back in the lineup on Wednesday night as they try to end their horrific 12-game losing streak. But this is the Mets, so not even getting the $765 million man in the lineup is going to lead to positive headlines. Soto hasn’t played since April 3…
ESPN’s first foray into live WWE programming on its linear networks produced some solid returns. WrestleMania 42 coverage on ESPN and ESPN2 last weekend averaged 1.72 million viewers across simulcast windows on Saturday and Sunday evening, per Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports. Those figures do not include viewers watching on ESPN Unlimited, the only…
There’s very few people in sports that would ever be in the position to stop a press conference dead in its tracks because he has to go say hello to a former President of the United States. But you can bet that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is one of them. Jones was treating the…
As the WNBA broadens its reach this season with seven national distribution partners and a record 216 national broadcasts, it is going all-in on its golden goose, the Indiana Fever. With a new collective bargaining agreement in place, two new expansion franchises beginning play, and multiple young stars drawing national attention, the 2026 season is…
Further evidence suggesting NFL reporter Dianna Russini and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel were alone at an Arizona resort, rather than with a group of friends, has been released by Page Six, the outlet that initially published the bombshell photos implicating the pair. In a set of newly released photos, Russini and Vrabel…
Despite NBC president Jon Miller recently discussing interest his network fielded from streaming services looking to buy the upcoming Big Ten Championship game, it appears as if the network didn’t have much choice in the matter. According to a report by college football insider Brett McMurphy of On3, “NBC had no authority to keep Fox…
Wednesday was media day for the Indiana Fever, and superstar player Caitlin Clark decided to moonlight as a member of the assembled press herself. As she wrapped up her press conference, Clark asked a favor of the more than 30 reporters that had gathered to ask her questions before the upcoming WNBA season. “Can you…
There’s a right way for golf fans to act, and a wrong way. And apparently, American golf fans acted the wrong way at the RBC Heritage, according to Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo. As a group of rowdy, beer-wielding golf fans chanted “USA, USA, USA” at English golfer Matt Fitzpatrick Sunday afternoon during the RBC Heritage…
NBC Sports president Jon Miller offered a candid account this week of how the network convinced Major League Baseball to accept a below-market deal to return to broadcast television. Speaking with Puck’s John Ourand at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas, Miller confirmed that NBC was not the highest bidder when MLB…
