ESPN has announced a contract extension with Formula 1; Dan Le Batard will be returning soon; Deadspin’s entire staff resigned this week; Barry Frank has passed away.
ESPN, F1, extend deal
ESPN announced Friday that it has reached a three-year media rights extension to continue airing Formula 1 races through 2022. The company returned to F1 last year, succeeding NBC Sports as the series’ U.S. broadcast partner. Under the agreement, ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 will continue to simulcast commercial-free F1 coverage from British broadcaster — and NBC sibling — Sky Sports. [ESPN PR]
Le Batard returning Nov. 11
ESPN broadcaster Dan Le Batard, who has been absent from his TV and radio duties for the past month, is expected to return November 11, according to the Miami Herald. Le Batard has been on a pre-wedding honeymoon, but more recently was said to be dealing with a personal matter. [Miami Herald 11.1]
Deadspin staff resigns en masse
The entire editorial staff of Deadspin quit this week in a conflict with new owner G/O Media. The turmoil began Monday when a G/O executive instructed staff to ‘stick to sports’ despite the site having long covered stories beyond the playing field. It accelerated when executives fired editor-in-chief Barry Petchesky on Tuesday.
G/O Media, run by private equity firm Great Hill Partners, bought Deadspin and its siblings from Univision in April. Deadspin was originally part of Gawker Media, which was bankrupted in 2016 by an invasion of privacy lawsuit brought by Hulk Hogan over a 2012 Gawker post featuring explicit video of the wrestler. [New York Times 11.1]
IMG’s Frank dies at 87
Longtime IMG executive Barry Frank, who also served as CBS Sports president from 1976-78 and as ABC Sports VP/sports programming from 1965-70, died this week at age 87. Save for his two years with CBS, Frank worked for IMG from 1970 until his death.
With IMG, he served as an agent to top-tier talent such as John Madden and Bob Costas; negotiated rights deals for a host of events; and developed programming ranging from Battle of the Network Stars to World’s Strongest Man. [New York Times 11.1]
