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In Tulsa, John Hoover noted the Univ. of Oklahoma's regents at a meeting tomorrow are "expected to authorize president David Boren and his designees to negotiate with 'current and potential licensees in order to increase distribution of the University's media content.'" A source said that the Fox Sports distribution model "was 'attractive to OU'" because Sooner programming "will be seen on cable and satellite TV throughout Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana -- an audience of just more than 10 million people." By contrast, the Longhorn Network is "currently available to about 4 million people, of which, some 3.7 million have Verizon's FiOS television service." A source said that it is "unknown at this time if Fox Sports will pick up an OU football game for Tier 3 distribution, but said it wasn't any kind of hangup in the negotiation process" (TULSA WORLD, 1/22).

LATEST IN TWC/MSG FUED: In N.Y., Matt Flegenheimer notes while some "higher-profile games are available to Time Warner Cable customers if they are broadcast on national television," TWC and MSG have "accelerated their public relations efforts in recent weeks." The cable company’s employees have "worn Knicks jerseys at Time Warner Cable retail centers in the city," while TWC has "organized a sweepstakes to send 10 fans, and one guest each, to the Knicks’ road game on Tuesday" against the Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena. MSG, meanwhile, has "hosted a series of viewing parties at bars across the city -- most of which have DirecTV." But Flegenheimer notes for "many fans, driven from their couches, paying for a ticket has proved more palatable" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/23).

NOT ABUSING PLATFORM: In Pittsburgh, J. Brady McCollough noted Jay Bilas' platform as an ESPN college basketball analyst is "big enough on some nights that he can be heard by millions, and Bilas does not want to abuse that power." He is "meticulous in his preparation and fearless in saying what he thinks about any topic -- a refreshing quality in a world where talking heads just keep talking louder and louder." Bilas "rarely turns up the volume, and his words hold more weight among fans with each passing year" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 1/22).

ROUND OF VENTURE FUNDING: Toronto-based Polar Mobile, which has developed mobile applications for numerous entities including SI, The Hockey News, NFLPA and MLBPA, among others, has closed on a $6M round of venture funding led by private equity outfit Georgian Partners, also based in Toronto. The funds will be primarily used to develop MediaEverywhere, a new Polar product designed to distribute content across a wide variety of platforms. Polar also intends to double its employee base to 80 people and open offices in N.Y. and London (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).

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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