Welcome back to “On the Air,” in which Sports Media Watch Podcast co-host Armand Broady will offer in-depth breakdowns of broadcasters’ on-air performance and career journeys, plus chronicle broader trends in the industry.
Earlier this week, ESPN announced the hiring of Katie Feeney, a sports and lifestyle content creator with more than 14 million followers across social media. She will deliver daily vertical video content across ESPN’s social and digital platforms, and contribute to “College GameDay,” “Sunday NFL Countdown” and “Monday Night Countdown.”
“Feeney will bring her signature first-person, lifestyle-driven approach — a blend of on-site access, fashion, and culture — to fans,” the network said in a news release.
At just 22 years old, Feeney is, as described in a recent article in The Washington Post, “the future of sports media.” That future means fewer and fewer early morning walks to the front door to pick up the newspaper and more and more scrolling on TikTok.
While there will always be a place for it, sports journalism as we’ve known it is giving way to a glut of talking heads, podcasters and social media influencers. Consider the cancellation of shows like “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” or “On the Record with Bob Costas.” Consider the dearth of longform network reporting on sensitive subjects like domestic violence, concussions, hazing and sports betting. Not that long ago, ESPN viewers could watch “Outside the Lines” primetime specials devoted to in-depth examinations of serious sports-related issues. Those days are gone.
For better or worse (sometimes both), social media has been steadily influencing how we consume sports television for years. It is hard to think of a sports studio show that doesn’t heavily rely on social media for content. A simple video of a practice from a fan’s X account can turn into a 10-minute debate on a daytime talk show. Some of the most comical moments on “Inside the NBA” over the last decade have come from viewer tweets.
But the Feeney hire feels like a more emphatic statement. Perhaps the reason is — as Ben Strauss noted in the Post article — Feeney is already a social media superstar. In 2025 alone, she has been to star-studded championship events like the Super Bowl, the Masters, the Final Four and the Indianapolis 500. It may seem fanciful to those of a certain age, but the social media landscape has matured to such a degree that Feeney may be more popular to some than certain well-known athletes and sportscasters.
When ESPN rose to its heights in the 1980s and 1990s, it inspired a host of college students from across the country to seek to become the next Dan Patrick, Chris Berman or Stuart Scott. Years later, ambitious debaters aspired to deliver their fiery takes on the small screen à la Stephen A. Smith or Skip Bayless. But a new generation of sports content creators is on the horizon, with Feeney as one of its most prominent faces.
ESPN is hoping Feeney’s hire helps remedy a problem all sports networks are facing. With an abundance of content available across an oversupply of platforms — not to mention the viewers’ shrinking attention span — how can Feeney attract younger generations who have little to no desire to watch a full three-hour football contest? Does ESPN believe a segment or two of Feeney talking fashion on “Countdown” will entice viewers to stick around and watch a regular season Monday night game? Social media engagement data is undoubtedly important, but the game is the thing, and Disney/ESPN wants some return on its multibillion dollar investment if this approach is to become a long-term strategy.
It is ESPN’s job to figure out the best ways to capitalize on Feeney’s popularity. Perhaps the juice will ultimately prove to not be worth the squeeze, but ESPN’s desperate effort to bring in new viewers signals yet another shift in how sports television is presented.
Plus: Moving on from Brady vs. Olsen
Fox has announced its NFL broadcast teams for the 2025-26 season. Tom Brady is back in the lead booth with Kevin Burkhardt, and Greg Olsen rejoins Joe Davis on the #2 crew.
Olsen is already one of the most proven and respected analysts in television, yet the comparisons of Olsen and the man who famously replaced him in Fox’s top booth persist. Olsen addressed the topic again recently on the “Bussin with the Boys” podcast.
“Tom and I’s relationship both professionally and personally is really good,” Olsen said. “We’ve spent the day golfing together. I have zero animosity for Tom. I don’t sit there saying ‘I hope their broadcast stinks’ at all. That is independent from my personal aspirations of — I want to take this to the highest level I can. I want to call Super Bowls. Those things can both simultaneously exist. My ascension individually does not have to come at the expense of him. If he has a long career in this industry, so can I.”
Given Brady’s superstardom and the circumstances surrounding his hire, the questions make some sense, but it is time for sports media enthusiasts to move on from the Brady vs. Olsen content. Olsen is the superior broadcaster, but unless Brady steps down or Olsen becomes lead analyst for another network, there isn’t much news here.
Tom Brady has $375 million reasons to stay on Fox’s lead crew. It is the hope of this column — and many others — that Brady improves in his second year, and that Olsen continues delivering award-winning game analysis.
