The St. Louis Cardinals will remain with Diamond Sports next season; the Philadelphia Inquirer columnist involved in recent controversy will remain on the beat; UFC exploring new media partners in its next deal; and more.
Cardinals renew with Diamond Sports
The St. Louis Cardinals and Diamond Sports Group announced Thursday a multi-year rights agreement to keep Cardinals games on FanDuel Sports Network Midwest — previously Bally Sports Midwest — where they have been exclusively televised since 2010. The agreement includes in-market direct-to-consumer streaming rights for the first time.
The Cardinals were one of the 11 MLB contracts Diamond dropped in its bankruptcy proceedings, but now join the Miami Marlins in renewing with the company (the Atlanta Braves will also remain with Diamond, but their contract was never dropped). After MLB took over the local rights to the Brewers, Twins, and Guardians, six teams still remain without a local TV home for the 2025 season (Angels, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, and Tigers).
Hayes will remain on Sixers beat
Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes, who was involved in an altercation last week with 76ers center Joel Embiid, will continue to cover the Sixers this season, a representative from the paper confirmed to TMZ Sports. The NBA suspended Embiid three games for the incident, in which Embiid shoved Hayes in the locker room postgame, which was sparked by Hayes’s column criticizing Embiid’s absence from games at the start of the season. Embiid began serving his suspension Wednesday and is expected to make his debut Sunday against the Hornets.
Netflix a possibility in next UFC deal
In an interview with CNBC, TKO Group COO Mark Shapiro said that Netflix could be in the market for a package of UFC rights following the expiration of the current deal with ESPN. UFC and ESPN are in an exclusive negotiating window until April 15, during which the league cannot officially negotiate with Netflix. TKO also owns WWE, which will begin streaming its “Raw” series exclusively on Netflix in January. Netflix will also carry two NFL games on Christmas Day this season.
Plus: MWC, Brendan Brown, Ben Herbstreit
–The Mountain West conference is continuing to explore expansion candidates, including FCS North Dakota State, according to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy. The league was also interested Northern Illinois and/or Toledo from the MAC, but interest from those two schools has since diminished. The league recently added UTEP and Hawaii as full members to complete the the NCAA’s requirement of eight football-playing full members, and have also added Grand Canyon University as a non-football program. The league is set to lose Boise State, Utah State, Fresno State, Colorado State, and San Diego State to the Pac-12 in 2026.
–Former Knicks radio broadcaster Brendan Brown died at the age of 54 on Sunday. The news was first reported by the New York Post. Brown, the son of ESPN NBA analyst Hubie Brown, worked for MSG Network from 2008-2023, when he was removed from the broadcasts following allegations of harassment.
–ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit announced on X Thursday that his dog Ben has died after fighting cancer. Ben had become a beloved figure online and on college campuses since joining Kirk on his College GameDay and Thursday Night Football travels last season, and even appeared in the booth several times.
