NBC reportedly killed a Bob Costas essay about NFL concussions because it was negotiating for Thursday Night Football rights. Also: a bite-sized return for Baseball Tonight; an extension for Cassidy Hubbarth; the latest on the Fox RSN bidding.
NBC killed Costas concussion essay due to TNF negotiations
NBC Sports president Mark Lazarus and executive producer Sam Flood rejected a 2015 Bob Costas essay addressing the NFL concussion issue, citing NBC’s then-ongoing negotiations to acquire NFL Thursday Night Football rights, ESPN’s E:60 reported Sunday. Costas, then NBC’s NFL studio host, would have read the essay at halftime of a Sunday Night Football game.
As previously noted, the E:60 piece focused primarily on NBC removing Costas from his Super Bowl 52 assignment because of comments he made about NFL concussions at a University of Maryland roundtable. In the piece, Costas says he was told that hosting the Super Bowl was “a six-hour, daylong celebration of football,” and that he was “not the right person to celebrate football.”
In a statement to E:60, the NFL said that it did not ask NBC to remove Costas from the Super Bowl. The NFL has previously pressured ESPN to cancel the 2003 series Playmakers and to cut formal ties with a PBS documentary about the league’s concussion issue. NBC, for its part, released a statement to ESPN expressing disappointment that Costas had “chosen to mischaracterize and share these private interactions.” [ESPN 2.10]
Baseball Tonight is back, in miniature form
ESPN announced Monday that it is bringing back a daily edition of Baseball Tonight in the form of a recurring SportsCenter segment called the “Baseball Tonight Minute.” As Awful Announcing reported last month, ESPN will not carry a daily Major League Baseball studio show this season. Baseball Tonight was scaled back to Sundays only in 2017, save for the postseason. [ESPN PR/Twitter 2.11]
Hubbarth scores ESPN extension
ESPN has reached a contract extension with NBA and college football reporter Cassidy Hubbarth, it was announced Monday. Hubbarth, who according to the New York Post fielded offers from Yahoo! Sports and Turner Sports, will continue in her current roles. She will also begin hosting ESPN’s Hoop Streams, an NBA pregame show that airs exclusively on the social networking website Twitter. [ESPN PR 2.11, NYP 2.11]
Angels owner reportedly interested in Fox RSNs
Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno is weighing whether to purchase up to four of the 21 Fox-owned regional sports networks being sold to and divested by Disney, Fox Business reported Sunday. The RSNs in question are Fox Sports Prime Ticket, Fox Sports West, Fox Sports Arizona and Fox Sports San Diego.
Major League Baseball itself has placed a $10 billion bid for the RSNs, per the same report, while Braves owner Liberty Media and Twins owner Jim Pohlad are part of a consortum bidding for the properties. [Fox Business 2.10]
