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Saunders Signs New Deal At ESPN

Jason Barrett

Published

8 years ago

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John Saunders, one of ESPN’s longest-tenured and most accomplished commentators, has reached a new multi-year agreement with ESPN, it was announced by Mark Gross, ESPN senior vice president, production and remote events. Saunders, who joined ESPN in 1986, will continue to appear on college football studio coverage, including anchoring regular-season Saturdays on ABC alongside Mack Brown and Mark May, and a hosting role on the College Football Playoff on ESPN. He will also call play-by-play on select college basketball games and will remain host of The Sports Reporters.

“John has done it all during his exceptional career,” Gross said. “Fans have become accustomed to his smooth and informative approach, and we are thrilled he will build upon his amazing run at ESPN.”

Saunders added, “I’m closing in on 40 years as a sportscaster, during which time I’ve covered or hosted The World Series, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup Finals, NBA Finals, College Football title games and the Final Four. But I am most proud of the 28 plus years I’ve spent as part of our family here at ESPN.  Bob (Ley), Boomer (Chris Berman) and I all started on SportsCenter, and the three of us are coming up on a combined 101 years at ESPN. How many places can say that? This is home.”

Since joining ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor, Saunders has hosted and/or provided play-by-play for a variety of sports – college football, college basketball, NHL, NBA, MLB, WNBA and more.  In his role, he has traveled to many of the top sporting events, anchoring on-site coverage.

A former colleague and close friend of the late Jim Valvano, Saunders was a founding member and serves on the board of directors for The V Foundation for Cancer Research, and is actively involved in many of the organization’s fundraising events and initiatives.

He came to ESPN from WMAR-TV in Baltimore, where he had worked since 1982 as an anchor of three daily sports reports. He also hosted the Baltimore Orioles pre-game program Orioles on Deck and provided analysis for Baltimore Colts preseason games.

Saunders, a native Canadian, called play-by-play for the Toronto Raptors on CKVR-TV and CITY-TV (1995-2001). He was the main sports anchor for CITY-TV in Toronto from 1980-82 as well as ATV News in New Brunswick (1979-80) and CKNY-TV in Ontario (1978-79). In 1978, he was the news director for CKNS Radio in Espanola, Ontario.

An all-star defenseman in the Montreal junior leagues, Saunders received a scholarship and played hockey at Western Michigan from 1974-76.  He then transferred to Ryerson Polytechnical in Toronto, where he was an all-star on the Ontario University Athletic Association.

While attending school, Saunders provided news reports for CHOO-Radio in Ajax, Ontario, and continued to play hockey. Saunders’ brother, Bernie, played left wing for the Quebec Nordiques in the NHL from 1979-1981.

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Sports TV News

NCAA Tournament Delivers Highest-Rated Round of 64 Ever

“ For the first round on Thursday and Friday of last week, games accomplished a total audience delivery of 9.2 million viewers.”
Jordan Bondurant

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3 hours ago

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March 20, 2023

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The first two rounds of the 2023 NCAA tournament are in the books, and the TV ratings indicate historic viewership.

For the first round on Thursday and Friday of last week, games accomplished a total audience delivery of 9.2 million viewers. This was for contests on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV in addition to streaming on March Madness Live.

Action on Thursday averaged 8.4 million, up 2% compared to 2022.

On Friday, game broadcasts averaged 9.3 million, making it the most-watched first round ever.

The Sweet 16 tips off on Thursday this week.

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Sports TV News

John Skipper: All Rights Deals Look Terrible at Beginning, Great by End

“ I always love the people who lost always released statements that said, ‘We refused to do a financially irresponsible deal.’”
Jordan Bondurant

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3 hours ago

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March 20, 2023

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The NBA will be heading to the negotiating table soon for a new media rights agreement, and it appears almost certain the league will incorporate a streaming element into the deal.

Amazon is believed to be looking to add the NBA to its lineup of live sports offerings. The tech giant is entering the second year of a $1 billion per season deal to be the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football.

The NBA is looking to earn anywhere from $50-75 billion in the next rights deal, almost triple the value of the current deal expiring in 2025.

Talking to David Samson on the podcast Sports Business, Meadowlark Media CEO and former ESPN president John Skipper was asked if he believed the existing packages with ESPN/ABC and Warner Bros. Discovery would triple in value without an Apple or Amazon. Skipper explained that the answer is a bit nuanced.

“No, but they don’t have to for the NBA to triple their national broadcasting revenue,” he said. “I think it’s not a crazy sum to think that they may approach it or they may actually reach it. They’re not going to have two packages when this is over. They’re gonna have at least three. So you don’t have to triple all the packages to triple the money.”

Skipper added that in terms of Warner Bros. Discovery seeming to take the stance of not wanting to overpay for NBA rights, it’s sort of a losing mindset for the competitors out there in the media rights space.

“I don’t think you can get out a spreadsheet and kind of go, ‘OK I don’t need the NBA anymore,'” he said. “Because somebody else is going to pay an exorbitant number. I’m like OK great I hope you continue that practice, because then we’ll have all the rights someday.”

“Rights go up. They look terrible in the beginning, by the end they look great,” Skipper added. “That’s why broadcasters should do long-term deals. I think the NBA will get somewhere between 200-350% more money in this round of deals than they did last time.”

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Sports TV News

Diamond Sports Group Says MLB Streaming Rights Caused Bankruptcy

“The (MLB) Commissioner’s office has made it clear that they want to take back the rights and go it alone, which will effectively drive us out of the market if they are successful.”

Jordan Bondurant

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3 hours ago

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March 20, 2023

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Diamond Sports Group, the owner of the Bally Sports regional sports networks, told a Texas bankruptcy judge that Major League Baseball’s unwillingness to cut a deal to allow for increased streaming rights was a contributing factor in the company’s bankruptcy.

According to Reuters, Diamond Sports Group’s attorney Andrew Goldman told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez that the additional streaming rights to bolster Bally Sports+ is pivotal in the company’s business model moving forward. But MLB has made it difficult to gain traction.

“The (MLB) Commissioner’s office has made it clear that they want to take back the rights and go it alone, which will effectively drive us out of the market if they are successful,” Goldman said.

In the eyes of the league, it isn’t on MLB to sort out the issues in RSNs.

“We are dealing with a broken model, and it is not the responsibility of MLB to fix that model,” league attorney James Bromley said.

Bally Sports RSNs will carry on as usual while the bankruptcy process plays out.

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