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Jeff Passan Signs Extension With ESPN

“Passan’s duties will largely remain unchanged as he retains his lead role on ESPN’s MLB coverage.”

ESPN’s lead MLB reporter, Jeff Passan, is staying with the network on a new multi-year deal.

Russ Heltman

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Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN is keeping Jeff Passan for the foreseeable future. The network’s lead baseball reporter just signed a new multi-year deal with the worldwide leader.

Passan’s duties will largely remain unchanged as he retains his lead role on ESPN’s MLB coverage.

“There’s no better place to cover the incredible breadth of stories the sports world has to offer than ESPN, and I’m giddy to know I’ll be here for several years to come,” said Passan. “Our baseball team is filled with bright and talented reporters, analysts, editors and producers, and it’s our goal on a daily basis to make the readers and viewers of ESPN think, learn and emerge more informed.”

The reporter joined ESPN in January 2019 and shows up all over the network’s platforms. His duties include SportsCenterBaseball Tonight, ESPN podcasts, and ESPN social media platforms.

“Jeff is a fantastic journalist and as versatile as they come,” said Nate Ravitz, ESPN vice president, digital content. “As an insider, he breaks news and provides authoritative analysis, but he also distinguishes our coverage with vivid storytelling and bold, incisive commentary. We are thrilled that he will continue to enrich ESPN’s coverage of baseball.”

Passan is reporting on the upcoming labor dispute between the MLB Player’s Association and the league’s owners, along with MLB Free Agency. According to The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, Passan is receiving a significant raise.

“While ESPN has been in cost-cutting mode,” Marchand wrote. “It has made exceptions. The hard-working Passan, who has the rare combination of being a news breaker and a TV personality, fits the mold. He is believed to have received a substantial raise. 

“ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro has a long history with Passan, having first hired him for a national spot when Pitaro ran Yahoo Sports. Passan, 41, left Yahoo for ESPN three years ago.”

Sports TV News

Holly Rowe Signs Long-Term Extension With ESPN

“I feel like I am living my best life and I am so grateful to ESPN for letting me keep doing this.”

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ESPN reporter Holly Rowe has signed a multi-year extension to remain with the company.

Rowe works as a sideline reporter for ESPN/ABC’s coverage of college football — including the College Football Playoffs, the WNBA, women’s college basketball, and the Women’s College World Series, among other high-profile assignments.

“I feel like I am living my best life and I am so grateful to ESPN for letting me keep doing this,” Rowe told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch.

Earlier this year, Rowe was named the 2023 Curt Gowdy Media Award winner from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for her electronic media work.

Rowe joined ESPN in 1998, and signed her last contract extension with the network in 2018 shortly before she announced she had undergone her final chemotherapy treatment in August of that year after a melanoma diagnosis in 2016.

According to Deitsch, Rowe’s contract was set to expire next month.

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Sports TV News

Mike Florio: The NFL Will Have Games 7 Days a Week & Will Expand To Make it Happen

“So if you wanna increase the total number of games so you can have games Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Friday night, Saturday night, at some point you need more teams to get more games.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Could you picture NFL games on every night of the week from September to January? ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio thinks it’ll happen in his lifetime.

In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, Florio said it’s inevitable that we’ll see the league play games every night.

“I think sooner than later we’re gonna have Tuesday Night Football, we’re gonna have Wednesday Night Football,” he said. “It’s gonna be hopefully in my lifetime a seven day a week, primetime event. There’s too much money to be made.”

“I would love to have football on every night of the week,” Florio added. “It would be nice to have a night or two off. Like Friday night and Saturday night would be nice, but I’d be fine with Tuesday and Wednesday.”

How does Florio think the NFL will get to the point of playing seven days a week during the season? Expansion. And the league has already expressed interest in establishing franchises in Europe.

“I think they’re gonna start moving that number from 32 to in time 34, 36, 38 eventually 40,” Florio said. “Quarterbacks is the key. Is there ever gonna be enough quarterbacks to have 40 NFL teams? But I think that would be the ultimate maximum number.”

Even McAfee added that an 18th NFL regular season game will be coming sooner rather than later. Florio said in order to justify the need for one more game, expansion is the answer.

“When it comes to the inventory, 18 games is the most they’re gonna get away with,” Florio said. “So if you wanna increase the total number of games so you can have games Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Friday night, Saturday night, at some point you need more teams to get more games.”

“If the money’s there to be made by the owners, they’ll deal with it,” he added.

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Sports TV News

Nick Khan: We Hope Pat McAfee Wants To Do More With WWE

“The world is his oyster.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Pat McAfee continues to be on hiatus from his obligations to WWE. As the media star and father-to-be weighs options for the future of his daily sports show and other dealings, WWE’s CEO wants McAfee to keep wrestling in the mix.

Appearing on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast, WWE CEO Nick Khan said with the company’s signature live event this weekend, WrestleMania, don’t expect McAfee to show up like he did in January at the Royal Rumble.

“We have no plans to have him there this weekend,” Khan said.

Co-host Andrew Marchand asked how WWE handles talks with McAfee, who is believed to be ending his relationship with FanDuel two years into a four-year $120 million contract. WWE has a relationship with NBCUniversal, with WWE Network and its massive library of content being absorbed into Peacock in 2021. McAfee has since been replaced at the SmackDown announce table by former WWE superstar Wade Barrett.

“The world is his oyster,” Khan said. “He’s 36 years old and look at his relevancy factor when you talk to young children, as I have two young children. When I talk to them it’s often McAfee, McAfee, McAfee. That’s what’s in the wheelhouse for them. So if you look at any of the traditional buyers, what do they want? They want a young, diverse audience. What does McAfee bring? He brings a young, diverse audience.”

Khan noted how McAfee tends to not get overly political or controversial with his show and how he’s developed relationships with athletes like Aaron Rodgers and gives them a platform to speak freely without condemnation.

“He’s not looking to annihilate anybody, or crucify them,” he said. “He’s looking to have good content, and his content has been terrific. He’ll determine ultimately where he wants his home to be. And our hope is that he does more with us.”

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