Recent sports media news, including FOX Soccer Channel and Major League Soccer extending their television deal, additional details on Jim Gray‘s confrontation with Dustin Johnson‘s caddy, and a four-year high in ratings for the Pacers on FS Indiana.
- Idle Note: FOX Soccer Channel and Major League Soccer announced a one-year extension of their broadcast deal Friday. FSC will air 31 telecasts during the regular season and three during the playoffs. The announcement comes after negotiations that took “longer than anticipated,” in which MLS at one point sought an increase of over 500% in annual rights fees. (TV By the Numbers, Fanhouse, Sports Business Journal)
- Big Name: More details on Jim Gray‘s incident with Dustin Johnson‘s caddy, Bobby Brown. The altercation between Gray and Brown took place after Gray “questioned Johnson during live play” Thursday about nearly being disqualified for missing his tee time. By doing so, Gray “broke protocol for when players can be interviewed.” Brown reportedly admonished Gray, saying “Dude, you can’t come up like that in the middle of the round. It had taken us 13 holes to get over that, and then you bring it up again.” (AP via msnbc.com; progolftalk.nbcsports.com)
- Ratings: Tuesday’s Heat/Pacers game earned a 4.0 rating on FOX Sports Indiana, the highest for a Pacers telecast on the network in over four years. So far this season, Pacers games are averaging a 2.2 rating on FS Indiana, up 24%. (Sports Business Daily)
