ESPN’s Aikman & McAfee Messes

Big East commissioner Tim Brosnan joins John to discuss what it means to be a basketball-first conference when football is calling the shots across college sports. Brosnan argues that what college sports really needs is guardrails rather than legislation, sounds the alarm on donor fatigue, and explains how streamers like Netflix and YouTube are giving conferences like the Big East new ways to reach fans.

In this special episode, John takes the stage with fellow Maryland journalism alums Monica McNutt, Frank Isola, Tim Kurkjian, and Jimmy Roberts for a panel moderated by Kevin Blackistone on the biggest challenges and pressures facing journalists today. They get into journalistic integrity, surviving the “hot take” era, staying authentic, and much more.

George Pyne, Bruin Capital C.E.O. and former IMG president, joins John to explain why the rights game has never been more nuanced, and why sports has become a safe harbor for money fleeing an increasingly commoditized entertainment business. He also lays out what the NBA should know before it plants a flag in Europe, and makes the case that the chaos in college sports is simply the growing pain of its own success.

Varsity favorite Andrew Marchand joins John to dig into his recent reporting on what’s really going on behind the scenes of the Aikman-Buck beef. Marchand handicaps the chances Aikman is back at ESPN next season, and what happens to Monday Night Football if the duo splits after the Super Bowl, ending a 25-year run in the booth together. He also weighs in on Pat McAfee’s latest controversy, Ernie Johnson’s retirement from Inside the NBA, and more.

In this special recording live from Puck’s In the Arena earlier this month, LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman and NBC’s Molly Solomon join John to discuss the vision and the logistics of pulling off L.A. ’28—the first time the Summer Olympics come back to American soil since Atlanta in 1996. They chew over which new sports could capture the public’s imagination, the parlor game of who lights the Olympic flame, what it takes to stage the biggest live event on Earth, and plenty more.

In this special live recording from In the Arena, NCAA president Charlie Baker joins John to discuss the state and future of college athletics—which Baker describes as uncertain rather than chaotic, amid a swirl of court rulings, N.I.L., and revenue sharing. He also weighs in on the Protect College Sports Act, NCAA Tournament expansion, whether SEC and Big Ten self-governance concerns him, and more.

Wolfe Research’s Peter Supino joins John to discuss what comes next for Netflix’s sports strategy in the wake of Bela Bajaria’s abrupt exit. Peter explains why Netflix should partner with rivals like Peacock and pivot from one-off sports events to full-season slates—and lays out his case for why the streamer should buy NBCUniversal outright. They also dig into the sports-media fallout from the Skydance merger.

Axios’s Sara Fischer returns to the pod to discuss Bela Bajaria’s exit from Netflix and whether her successor, former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice, will lean more heavily into live sports. They also get into ESPN’s Super Bowl debut, sports rights in a Skydance world, the dramas playing out across the NFL’s broadcast booths, and more.

ESPN’s Jay Bilas joins John for a temperature check on the college sports landscape. Jay argues that the talent has never been better, and scrutinizes the NCAA for blaming the disorder it created while refusing to fix it—and hoping Congress will instead. He shares the reforms he’d like to see, his critiques of the Protect College Sports Act, and why he believes the NCAA neither needs nor deserves an antitrust exemption.

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski joins John to preview the NHL season and assess the league’s business outlook. They get into the new 84-game schedule, league expansion, the NHL’s international ambitions, Bettman succession plans, and more.