Sports TV News

Jamie Erdahl: Melissa Stark Gave Me Courage To Leave Sideline Role

“…the biggest difference is that my job at CBS was to support the broadcast as the game unfolded and this job with Good Morning Football is talent. We get to talk, we get to have our opinions.

Published

3 weeks ago

July 20, 2022

Ricky Keeler

Starting on July 25, Jamie Erdahl will be the new host of Good Morning Football on NFL Network as she takes over for Kay Adams. It is a new challenge for Erdahl as she goes from sideline reporting to being able to voice her own opinions on a daily basis.

Erdahl was a guest on the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast and she said she wanted to go for this job because she wanted this challenge of trying something different in her career:

“I like a challenge. It’s different from what I’ve done for eight years at CBS. It was eight amazing years. I did some really cool stuff, but the biggest difference is that my job at CBS was to support the broadcast as the game unfolded and this job with Good Morning Football is talent. We get to talk, we get to have our opinions. We jump off the news, we jump off everything that’s happening in the NFL. I think eight years ago, I would have thought I could have done this job, but I bet I wouldn’t be as good at it as I will be today hopefully. It just felt like time to broaden beyond sideline reporting.”

When Melissa Stark was named as the sideline reporter for Sunday Night Football on NBC, it showed Erdahl she can take this chance because she could always go back to being a sideline reporter down the road:

“I circle back to what I would have thought about this job five years ago. I think if you had told me you got to leave your sideline job to go do something like this, I would have been like you never leave the sidelines, you’ll never get back. I see Melissa do this and that felt like a huge turning point for me to see somebody go away from the sidelines and come back in such a prominent role. It really showed me that you can do new things and grow and you can go back If you wanted to….I’m really excited about how broad my voice can be now.”

One of the more interesting things that Erdahl revealed on the podcast was that she did not sit on set with Peter Schrager or Kyle Brandt until she got the job:

“We did not sit at a set together until after I had the job. I don’t know what that means in terms of their process or decision-making. I certainly spoke with a lot of executives, but the first time I met Peter and Kyle was a week or 2 after I got the job. We did one secret show that we kind of joke about now.”

As Erdahl heads into her new role, she is ready to voice her opinions about the NFL and it’s something she has done some self-work on as she transitions from the sidelines:

That was an interesting conversation I had with Michael Davies along the way. He really made sure I understood how talent-based this show is. I’ve done some self-work to make sure I’m prepared for that. I’m just really excited and happy and ready for something different….I’m very happy to talk about the NFL for three hours a day.”

“I’m still the person who bickers with their husband or his buddies about fantasy football. It’s still part of me. You can’t fake it for three hours on TV. You better be true to yourself or else it’s going to be hard to keep that facade. I’m excited and happy that it’s already a part of me. I can be opinionated. Whether or not I can support that and not make a fool of myself remains to be seen. But, it’s there. I’ve always been able to do it. I just haven’t needed to.”

Ricky Keeler

Ricky Keeler is a reporter for BSM with a primary focus on sports media podcasts and national personalities. He is also an active podcaster with an interest in pursuing a career in sports media. You can find him on Twitter @Rickinator555 or reach him by email at RickJKeeler@gmail.com.

Up Next

Peter Schrager Says Good Morning Football Will be “Funny As Hell” This Year

Don't Miss

Sean Payton Anticipates Leaving FOX For an NFL Head Coach Gig in 2023

Click to comment

Sports TV News

ESPN Reportedly To Lose Big Ten Media Rights For the First Time in 40 Years

The idea is that FOX would have its marquee game kick off at noon, with CBS airing a game at 3:30. NBC reportedly will air games in primetime.

Published

14 mins ago

August 9, 2022

Jordan Bondurant

After several months, it appears the Big Ten is nearing the finish line on a new media rights deal. And despite still reportedly being in negotiations with the conference, ESPN is looking set to lose out on media rights.

According to John Ourand of Sports Business Journal, CBS and NBC are the frontrunners to join with FOX.

The idea is that FOX would have its marquee game kick off at noon, with CBS airing a game at 3:30. NBC reportedly will air games in primetime.

Ourand reported his sources told him ESPN’s deal to keep the Big Ten was not as strong as the one offered by the other two networks.

It would mark the first time in four decades that ESPN didn’t have some involvement in Big Ten sports. But Ourand indicates the worldwide leader could pivot into bundling Big 12 and Pac-12 rights as an alternative. Additionally the network would then pursue keeping its deals with NCAA for championship coverage as well as being the home for the College Football Playoff.

Jordan Bondurant

Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett News Media. He also works for ABC8 News and Newsradio WRVA and 910 The Fan in Richmond, Virginia. His prior experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly and iHeartradio Richmond. He can be reached by email at Jordan.E.Bondurant@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.

Sports TV News

Pat McAfee Says Deals With Amazon/ESPN Fell Short Because His Show Comes First

“Energy, time, anything away from this show… we got a lot going on. This is my number one focus and it should remain as such…”

Published

14 mins ago

August 9, 2022

Jordan Bondurant

Last week, it was announced that Pat McAfee would be hosting his own version of the popular Manning Cast only for college football games.

McAfee, co-host AJ Hawk, and the rest of his cast and crew from The Pat McAfee Show will host an alternate feed for six college football games this season.

McAfee was rumored to be in talks with Amazon about potentially hosting an alternate broadcast for its Thursday NFL games, and the former Colts punter had also reportedly talking with ESPN about potentially being featured on College GameDay.

McAfee said to Andrew Marchand of The New York Post that ultimately the Amazon and GameDay deals didn’t come to fruition because it just didn’t make sense.

“I’ve had great conversations with both companies, we just weren’t able to get to a point where ‘the ask’ and ‘the business’ were where it needed to be to get a deal done on both fronts,” McAfee said.

McAfee on his show on Monday elaborated a bit further, trying to put to bed that he was being courted for Thursday Night Football.

I answered some questions from Andrew Marchand about our deal with Peyton Manning & @OmahaProd #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/1IVqF8GYQT
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 8, 2022

“I’m not 100 percent sure if that’s what we were talking about, by the way,” he said. “I was never really approached for anything for Thursday Night Football. That was never really anything.”

Pat read from the full response to Marchand’s questions, posted under the Post story which appeared on the paper’s site Monday. He reiterated that his daily show and the small business he built around his show, take precedent over anything else.

“Energy, time, anything away from this show, this operation, this crew; we got families being built, we got houses being bought, we got 12 employees, we got a lot going on,” he said. “So this is my number one focus and it should remain as such because I have a brain, and also I care a lot about this operation. I love it, actually.”

Still, McAfee made it clear that just because no deal was signed with ESPN and Amazon for 2022 means the ship has sailed permanently. He’s keeping his doors open.

Jordan Bondurant

Sports TV News

Fox Officially Unveils NFL Broadcast Teams

Published

9 hours ago

August 8, 2022

BSM Staff

In what has been considered a formality for some time, Fox today officially unveiled Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen, Erin Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi as their number one NFL broadcast team Monday. Burkhardt and Olsen were elevated to Fox’s top booth after the departure of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to ESPN’s Monday Night Football earlier this year.

There were some reports that Drew Brees could have been a possibility to join the network, but those discussions fell apart.

The network’s other teams include several familiar faces to football fans:

#2 team: Joe Davis, Daryl “Moose” Johnston, Pam Oliver
#3 team: Adam Amin, Mark Schlereth, Kristina Pink
#4 team: Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, Shannon Spake
#5 team: Kevin Kugler, Mark Sanchez, Laura Okmin
#6 team: Chris Myers, Robert Smith, Jen Hale

Olsen’s jump to the number one team with Burkhardt is a formality until the retirement of Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady. The seven-time Super Bowl winner will ascend to Fox’s number one booth upon his retirement, whenever that may be.