Netflix said to be sitting out on this round of NFL Draft bids; a member of UConn’s PR staff is said to have threatened a reporter; Juju Watkins out for the season; and more.
Netflix will not bid on NFL Draft rights
Netflix has declined to bid on rights to cover the NFL Draft, according to Front Office Sports. The current contract with ESPN ends after next month’s event. The three-day football, storytelling, and entertainment spectacle had seemed to some observers a good fit with the streamer’s sports strategy, which had prioritized one-off marquee events like the NFL’s Christmas games and a celebrity boxing event, rather than full-season coverage.
Fox Sports, Google (YouTube TV) and incumbent ESPN all submitted bids last year for multi-year rights to the Draft, according to previous reporting.
ESPN, which has carried the draft annually since 1980, is often credited with transforming the NFL Draft from a procedural meeting into a multi-day media circus. Fox Sports previously carried NFL Network’s coverage in 2018 on a one-year deal. Google currently carries the NFL Sunday Ticket package but has not previously covered the league’s marquee offseason event.
UConn rep is said to have threatened reporter after viral Hurley clip
UConn men’s basketball communications director Bobby Mullen is said to have threatened a reporter who publicized footage of Huskies head coach Dan Hurley giving an expletive-laden outburst following the team’s NCAA Tournament loss on Sunday, according to the reporter’s employer, WJZY in Charlotte. The video, which was recorded in the hallway leading to the locker room at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, shows Hurley loudly and crudely criticizing the game’s officials. CSL’s Joey Ellis posted the video to X, where it has been viewed more than one million times.
On Monday, CSL reported that Mullen reached out to Ellis directly, asking that the video be taken down. Mullen then reportedly threatened Ellis, saying he would “ruin his life” if he did not remove the video. In a later statement to CSL, Mullen accused the reporter of being “in an area he should not have been,” and having “recorded on his cell phone a private comment made to members of another coaching staff.”
Later Monday, Mullen shared CSL’s report on social media, adding in a now-deleted post, “PR man yells at reporter. News at 11. I have a journalism degree and I know the difference between reporting and seeking out ‘gotcha’ moments. My temper flared a bit in a moment of weakness after a loss, but I think the journalists I work with regularly would vouch for me,” according to a report by On3.
USC’s Watkins out for the season
USC guard Juju Watkins suffered a season-ending injury in the first quarter of the team’s win over Mississippi State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, according to a team spokesperson. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported she suffered a torn ACL in her right knee. Watkins will miss the remainder of the NCAA Tournament, and her status for next season in college or the WNBA is unclear.
Watkins, the apparent successor to Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, had been heavily promoted throughout ESPN’s coverage of the tournament. While Watkins’s absence (and perhaps more significantly, Clark’s) will put a dent in ratings for the rest of the tournament, the remainder of the field is certainly not without star power. UConn’s Paige Bueckers, LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson, and TCU’s Hailey Van Lith are all set to play in Sweet Sixteen games this weekend. (Full schedule here)
Without Watkins, USC remains on a collision course with UConn on Monday night, but must first get past Kansas State in the Sweet Sixteen on Saturday.
Plus: Granderson, TGL, Opening Day, Saint Francis
— TNT Sports announced Tuesday a contract extension with MLB analyst Curtis Granderson, who will continue working with TBS’s regular season and postseason studio shows. Granderson first joined the network in 2022.
— Scott Van Pelt will host SportsCenter live from the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gradens, FL Monday and Tuesday night for the finale of the inaugural TGL golf season. The Atlanta Drive GC took match one on Monday night, and will attempt to win the SoFi Cup Tuesday night in match two and three against the New York Golf Club.
— ESPN’s Opening Day coverage of what could be its final season of MLB rights will be simulcast on ESPN+ and Disney+, it was announced Monday. Brewers-Yankees will be at 3 PM with Joe Buck on the call, followed by Tigers-Dodgers at 7 PM with Karl Ravech and the Sunday Night Baseball team providing commentary. The games will be the first MLB games available on Disney+.
— Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania has announced plans to transition its athletic programs from NCAA Division I to Division III, citing changes to the national state of collegiate athletics. The Red Flash men’s basketball team was the 2025 NEC Tournament champion, and reached the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated by Alabama State in the First Four round last week. Beginning in fall 2026, Saint Francis will compete in the DIII Presidents’ Athletic Conference.
