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Jon Stewart, Josh Allen, 2 HOFers Join Manningcast For Week 8

“Week 7 is going to be tough to top but Omaha Productions released the guest list for tonight’s matchup between the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs.”

Russ Heltman

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Courtesy: ESPN

Monday has arrived and that means another one of the Manningcast’s ESPN scheduled for the 2021 NFL season. The first brothers of football had a wild ride last week, landing in the FCC’s dog house for some colorful Marshawn Lynch language along with some fascinating football conversations from Tom Brady.

Week 7 is going to be tough to top, but Omaha Productions released the guest list for tonight’s matchup between the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs.

The guests tonight are comedian and former Daily Show host Jon Stewart, the NFL’s all-time single-season sack leader Michael Strahan, Bills quarterback Josh Allen, and Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin. 

Josh Allen may want to think twice about putting on his media cap tonight. Since the Manningcast has started, every single active NFL player to appear on the broadcast has lost the following week. 

Even the GOAT and his pliability exercises weren’t enough to topple a burgeoning “Manning Curse.” Brady noted how he was staying up past his routine bedtime to talk with his peers. Who’s to say that schedule adjustment actually hurt Brady on Sunday, but it didn’t help.

Brady took three sacks and tossed three interceptions in the Buccaneers’ loss to the Saints. Allen will try to buck that trend on Sunday; if the Bills lose to the Jaguars as 14.5 point favorites–blame the Mannings.

The younger Manning is finding his groove on the ESPN2 production and his own show, Eli’s Places; he talked with Andrew Marchand in the New York Post’s latest media newsletter. Eli knows broadcasters are supposed to be unbiased, but that will be hard for him on Monday night when he calls his first game involving the Giants.

“In most cases, broadcasters can’t show any alliance to a team,” Manning told Marchand. “I don’t think I’m going to take that same approach. I am a Giants fan. I’m a season-ticket holder. This is my team and who I root for.”

Peyton may just have to hold on for the ride in the second quarter as a couple of G-Men take over the show.

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Amazon Sports: We Like Smaller Leagues, But Major Leagues Will Be Focus

“When fans are already on our service, we can use that to create culture and content in a way we couldn’t otherwise. It’s a great microphone to have as a service.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Amazon continues to make its claim in live sports rights, but it’s also gotten into original sports storytelling as well.

The streaming giant has found success with documentary-style shows like Good Rivals, which chronicles the rivalry between the U.S. and Mexico in soccer, as well as Coach Prime, which has been following hall of famer Deion Sanders on his collegiate coaching journey. Both of which have garnered Sports Emmy nominations.

Matt Newman, Amazon’s Head of Original Sports Content, said at the sports and entertainment event 4se in New York City that it’s amazing to be able to make compelling content outside of the big five leagues.

“Naturally the majority of our volume will be in the bigger, major sports, but we’d love the opportunity to kind of tell these stories you may not have heard of,” he said. Newman was promoting an upcoming series on the Professional Bull Riders called The Ride. “And these new stories, these characters will give us access and give us a chance to tell a story in a way that hasn’t been done before.”

Amazon is trying to compete with the likes of Netflix, which have created similarly successful programs like Formula 1 Drive to Survive and Full Swing with the PGA Tour.

But Newman reiterated that live sports will always be the main focus in terms of content.

“We are investing in our live rights. We have a great deal with Thursday Night Football, we just announced a renewal of WNBA live rights,” he said. “When fans are already on our service, we can use that to create culture and content in a way we couldn’t otherwise. It’s a great microphone to have as a service.”

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Charles Barkley ‘Was so Mad’ at ESPN Coverage of LeBron James

“We all love LeBron, [but] he didn’t say he was retired yet. It should’ve been all about the Denver Nuggets.”

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When the Denver Nuggets advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in the 47-year history of the franchise, ESPN showed the team’s celebration for all of four seconds. It then quickly switched to a shot of LeBron James, stoic but obviously disappointed, walking through the tunnel back to the Los Angeles Lakers locker room.

Tuesday on ESPN’s First Take, JJ Redick criticized the network’s NBA coverage for highlighting larger markets and a small faction of players considered to be “superstars.” There’s no way to tell if Charles Barkley was watching, but Redick’s point is one he agreed with.

That night on Inside the NBA, Barkley said he was annoyed with the amount of attention put on LeBron James after the game. He wanted to see the reactions of Nuggets stars Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and head coach Michael Malone to making the NBA Finals. Instead, he and other viewers were inundated with more content centered around the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I was so mad this morning I actually turned the TV off,” Barkley said last night on Inside the NBA, “because the Denver Nuggets sweep and get to the Finals for the first time. We all love LeBron, [but] he didn’t say he was retired yet. It should’ve been all about the Denver Nuggets.”

James, for the record, did not even say that he was seriously considering retiring. In a post-game press conference following the Lakers’ elimination, he said he “had a lot to think about” in the offseason.

The Walt Disney Company has reported its most-watched NBA playoffs on ESPN platforms in the last 11 years, according to data provided by Nielsen Media Research. The games have averaged approximately 5.6 million viewers, a 9% increase from the year prior. Moreover, Game 4 between the Nuggets and Lakers peaked at around 11.5 million viewers from the 11 to 11:15 p.m. EST quarter hour window, and averaged 8.2 million over the duration of the contest.

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ESPN Layoffs Resume, NFL & NBA Talent Likely To See Biggest Cuts

“The company is beginning its latest phase of layoffs this week with Vice President of Research, Insights and Analytics Barry Blyn receiving a pink slip Wednesday morning.”

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ESPN will look to slash $30 million in salary as The Walt Disney Company’s layoffs continue, with a majority of it coming from talent covering the NFL and NBA. The network’s goal is to have the layoffs completed by the end of June according to a report by Front Office Sports.

Through it all, Max Kellerman’s afternoon television show This Just In could be canceled in order to slot Pat McAfee’s show into the daily programming lineup. Kellerman’s show airs from 2 to 3 p.m. EST, meaning more moves could be on the way to hold McAfee’s statement that his show will air immediately following First Take, which concludes at noon.

Employee morale at ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol is reportedly quite low, with people questioning why the company chose to pay McAfee and lay off a litany of its dedicated and longtime staffers.

The company is beginning its latest phase of layoffs this week with Vice President of Research, Insights and Analytics Barry Blyn receiving a pink slip Wednesday morning. More names are surely to follow as The Worldwide Leader looks to do its part to contribute to Disney cutting $5.5 billion in costs. The final round is expected to impact 2,500 employees in different areas of the company.

The company expects to report its own earnings for the first time this November, and sources have stated that the numbers will be impressive. Conducting the layoffs in separate rounds and saving on-air talent for last, however, has certainly played a role in public perception of the moves, and this week’s round will largely impact executives and other personnel behind the scenes.

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