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Sources: MLB Net May Have Interest In Jayson Stark; ESPN, Tebow Agree On Extension

MLB Network "might be interested" in signing baseball reporter Jayson Stark, but so far he "hasn't made any decisions about his employment future" after being let go by ESPN last month, according to sources cited by Rob Tornoe of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Appearing on Philadelphia-based WPEN-FM last week, Stark said, "I’m definitely going to stay in baseball. In fact, there’s a very strong possibility I’ll do something very similar to what I did before. I just don’t know yet. I’m going to take my time and not rush into anything." Stark was "caught off guard when told that after 17 years, he was no longer an employee of ESPN." Stark: "I didn’t see it coming. I was really surprised by it." Stark said that he "didn’t know why ESPN let him go." He added that he was "overwhelmed with the response he’s received." Meanwhile, sports business reporter Andrew Brandt, who joined ESPN as an analyst in '11, also "was a victim" of the net's layoffs. On his weekly podcast "The Business of Sports With Andrew Brandt," he noted he "thought he was safe" as he prepared to be part of ESPN's NFL Draft coverage. He had "just re-signed his contract in February, and he was scheduled to appear on 'Outside the Lines.'" Caught "off guard by the news, Brandt interrupted" ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer for Studio Production Jack Obringer when he was being told he was let go. Brandt said, “But Jack, you guys just re-upped me in Feburary.” Obringer responded, "And we will honor that" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/9).

CHECK THE TIMING: ESPN yesterday announced it has agreed to a multiyear contract extension with Tim Tebow to continue as a college football analyst on SEC Network's traveling pregame show "SEC Nation" (ESPN). In N.Y., Mark Sanchez writes under the header, "Tim Tebow Becomes The Face Of ESPN's Layoff PR Spin." ESPN, in "trying to shift the story of Bristol bloodshed to a narrative focusing on the survivors, is hollering out each bit of extension news." In the past week the net has announced extensions for Eduardo Perez, Will Cain, Adam Amin, Julie Foudy and Don Van Natta Jr. (N.Y. POST, 5/9). NBC's Mike Florio said, "While you are ushering out recognizable names with all sorts of stories that are pointing out that these decisions weren't based on merit ... it's awkward to be extending contracts." Florio: "It's just such a weird and strange time for ESPN and some think it will get weirder and stranger as people continue to cut the cord on cable" ("PFT," NBCSN, 5/9).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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