SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote there was "nice work" Saturday night by Fox Sports host Mike Hill, analyst Bruce Feldman, producer Scott Riddell and coordinating producer Bardia Shah-Rais, who had to "fill around 90 minutes" of time when the Ohio State-Oklahoma game was delayed due to rain. Meanwhile, ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit took Fox' broadcast "to task for not recognizing" that OU RB Joe Mixon "dropped the ball prior to crossing the goal line on a kickoff return" (SI.com, 9/18).
POCKET ACES: ACE Media, the NFLPA's content company, produced, created or facilitated 764 different content projects for more than 375 athletes in its first year of operation. The NFLPA launched ACE, short for Athlete Content and Entertainment, to create and identify opportunities for its NFL player members, and other athletes, on television and internet shows, films, books, and other platforms, a year ago today. The company has also worked with 20 different companies in its first year, including E!, Spotify, Players Tribune, Bleacher Report, Fanatics, and Above Average, as well as working with the NBPA on its “Players Voice Awards” (Liz Mullen, Staff Writer).
BUY, SELL OR HOLD? The GLOBE & MAIL's Andrew Willis writes the impending free agency of Blue Jays RF Jose Bautista and DH Edwin Encarnacion is an invitation for Rogers CEO Guy Laurence to "rethink how a baseball team and Rogers’s stable of media assets fit the future of a wireless and cable company that has made good strides on customer service, but has struggled with growth." The "most shareholder-friendly move" would be to re-sign Bautista, the "face of the team, then take money off the table by selling or spinning out Rogers’s sports and media assets, all of which are held in one division." Willis: "Here’s a strategy for Mr. Laurence: Lock up content for Rogers networks by signing long-term broadcast contracts with the Blue Jays, Raptors and Maple Leafs. Then unlock billions in shareholder value by moving the teams, or even Rogers’s whole media stable, into the hands of the Rogers family, or spin these assets out as a public company" (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/18).
