Geno Auriemma is open to broadcasting post-coaching if he can handle the schedule; Versant is purchasing Full Swing in an all-cash deal; and Rogers is shuttering six radio stations, including two sports talk-formatted outlets. Plus news on the NFL, ABC, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and Jo Durie.
Auriemma open to broadcasting career post-coaching if he can handle schedule
UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma, who is returning to the broadcast booth for a one-off assignment Tuesday night, said in a recent interview with Richard Deitsch on “The Sports Media Podcast” that he “would love to” go into broadcasting after his coaching career if he is able to handle the schedule. Auriemma has won 12 national championships leading the Huskies and has been coaching the team for more than four decades. Throughout that time, he has occasionally held on-air roles at ESPN, including on the network’s inaugural WNBA telecast in 1997.
Auriemma said he is curious about the prospect but yet to decide if he wants to allocate the time necessary to be in the role. “Like, ‘Is this another full-time job?’ Lots of traveling, like all the things that I’m doing now. ‘Are you going from stadium to stadium doing games?,’ and, ‘Is that all you want to do — go and do a bunch of WNBA games or do a bunch of college women’s games?'”
Although he has not regularly been part of WNBA broadcasts, he did have select appearances on ESPN for games over the league’s first decade. That includes serving as a game analyst on the first and third games of the 1998 WNBA Finals and studio roles alongside Pam Ward and Nancy Lieberman for the WNBA Finals in 2004 and 2005.
Auriemma is returning to the airwaves on Tuesday night for a special anniversary game commemorating the WNBA’s debut alongside Robin Roberts and Beth Mowins.
Versant reaches all-cash deal to purchase Full Swing
Versant announced Monday that it will purchase Full Swing from Bruin Capital in an all-cash transaction worth about $530 million. The interactive brand has created golf simulation technology that is used for the TGL, and it also offers products in other sports. The pending acquisition, which is expected to close in the second half of the year, will add Full Swing to a growing suite of golf-based properties at Versant, some of which include Golf Channel, GolfNow and Golf Pass.
The deal further expands the portfolio of the media conglomerate beyond its linear networks as it looks to further diversify its revenue streams. Versant CEO Mark Lazarus and USA Sports president Matt Hong have expressed a goal of reaching an equal revenue spilt between linear and non-pay television sources, which is currently split 80-20, respectively. The company generated $192 million in platforms revenue last quarter (11.4% of total revenue), indicative of a 9.5% year-over-year rise.
“Full Swing is exactly the kind of strategic platform that reflects how we are building Versant: investing in our core markets, extending the reach of our iconic brands and creating new ways to serve passionate audiences,” Lazarus said in a statement. “Sports are becoming more interactive, more data-driven and more connected, and Full Swing allows us to build on that momentum. Starting from our strength in golf, we see an opportunity to scale a multi-sports technology platform for athletes, coaches, consumers, and fans.”
Bruin Capital previously acquired Full Swing five years ago at a valuation of $160 million, according to a report by Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico. Full Swing CEO Ryan Dotters is going to join Versant and will report to Will McIntosh, the company’s president of digital platforms and ventures. Dotters said the move will provide “the scale and distribution” for its technology to reach more people while maintaining its overall focus. Since launching as a publicly-traded company earlier this year, Versant has reached agreements to acquire other platforms outside of television, including StockStory, INDY Cinema Group and Free TV Networks.
Rogers shuttering sports radio stations in Calgary, Vancouver
Rogers Sports & Media is shutting down six radio stations in four markets, including two sports-formatted outlets in Sportsnet 960 in Calgary, Alberta and Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, B.C, it was announced Tuesday. The decision, which coincides with declines in both audience and overall revenue, leaves those markets without sports radio content from Rogers. Connie Thiessen of Broadcast Dialogue reported that the closures, which also include 1130 NewsRadio in Vancouver, 660 NewsRadio in Calgary, NewsRadio 95.7 in Halifax and 570 NewsRadio in Kitchener, are impacting 230 positions.
“After a thorough review of our radio stations across the country, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to close Sportsnet 960 in Calgary and Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver,” Rogers Sports & Media said in a statement provided to Sports Media Watch. “We are grateful to our listeners and to our team for their contributions to the local community.”
While Vancouver Canucks live game broadcasts will be produced on another station in market owned by Rogers Sports & Media, the company is no longer producing radio broadcasts for the Calgary Flames. Canucks games moved to Sportsnet 650 in 2017 after previously airing on TSN 1040 (which shut down four years later). Flames games have aired on 960 AM for 25 years, including when the station underwent a rebrand in 2011. Both organizations signed multiyear extensions with Sportsnet in recent years, deals that retain regional television broadcasts for the Canucks through the 2032-33 season, and the Flames through the 2034-35 season.
With the closures, Sportsnet 590 The Fan in Toronto, Ontario is the only sports talk-formatted radio station remaining in the company’s portfolio. The station features an offering of live and local programs, including “Real Kyper and Bourne,” “Blair and Barker” and “The FAN Morning Show.” Toronto Blue Jays, Raptors and Maple Leafs live game broadcasts often occupy the evening hours, and Westwood One programming is usually simulcast at night. Bell Media continues to operate sports radio stations in Toronto, Montréal and Ottawa, which also carry local programming and live game broadcasts.
Plus: NFL, ABC, MLSE, Jo Durie
- ESPN is placing 12 out-of-market games of its NFL preseason inventory on the ESPN App, up from five last year. The games, which will require an ESPN Unlimited subscription, will take place over a three-week span — including two Saturday tripleheaders in the opening two weeks of the preseason. The flagship ESPN linear network will air one preseason game (Raiders-Texans on August 20) and ESPN-owned NFL Network will air 19.
- ABC submitted reply comments to the FCC on Monday after it was forced to file early renewals for eight of its owned broadcast stations earlier this year. “This is a Nation shaped in no small part by anonymous pamphleteers of no credential at all,” the filing reads. “The right to inform the public has never depended on a regulator’s imprimatur. And if that has always been true, it is only more so today. Technological and business developments have multiplied the channels through which Americans learn about the world — podcasts, streaming programs, and online platforms that answer to no traditional newsroom. A moment when more voices reach the public than ever before is precisely the wrong time for the government to begin demanding an official credential before a speaker may be treated as a journalist.”
- Rogers Communications will acquire full ownership of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment under a C$4.35 billion deal ($3.06 billion USD) to acquire the 25% stake held by Kilmer Sports, it was announced Monday. The media conglomerate, which already holds 75% of the company with ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and Scotiabank Arena, said that it expects this deal to close in the fourth quarter of this year. Rogers previously split majority ownership of MLSE with Bell Media, but it bought out its 37.5% stake for C$4.7 billion two years ago. Rogers had an option to purchase the remaining 25% of MLSE from Kilmer, as reported by Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico.
- Longtime BBC tennis commentator Jo Durie posted on social media that Saturday’s contest from Centre Court at Wimbledon was the final match she would call. Durie, who is a former quarterfinalist in the tournament and two-time WTA title winner, has been broadcasting tennis matches for BBC since retiring from her playing career in 1995. In her social media post, Durie thanked the other commentators and said she would continue watching the sport.
