Apple Takes Swing at Sports With Major League Baseball Rights Deal

EXCLUSIVE: ESPN has added more lacrosse to its linear and streaming offerings via a new rights deal with the Premier Lacrosse League, a burgeoning league whose initial years on the air were with NBCUniversal.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorVeteran sportscaster Mike Tirico will join NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” next fall, pairing up with analyst Cris Collinsworth in the latest shake up among the announcers who call the plays of TV’s most-watched sport.Tirico fills a spot left vacant by the departure of Al Michaels, who is expected to join Amazon to call “Thursday Night Football.”“When Mike joined NBC Sports in 2016, it was our plan for him to become our primetime Olympics host and the play-by-play voice of Sunday Night Football,” said Pete Bevacqua, chairman of NBC Sports, in a statement. “We are excited to have Mike join Cris Collinsworth full-time in the booth this season.”NBC confirms speculation about the future of its “Sunday Night Football” booth with an NFL meeting slated to take place later this week.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAfter nine years of generating headlines for CNN, Jeff Zucker is giving new thought to testing his acumen for the world of sports.The former WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal executive, who abruptly left his job as head of CNN in February after acknowledging he failed to disclose a romantic relationship with Allison Gollust, CNN’s former chief marketing officer, is said to be mulling some offers from the sports sector, according to two people familiar with the matter. None of these conversations are believed to be in their final stages, according to one of these people, and Zucker is said to be having discussions around a wide array of potential opportunities.Sports wouldn’t be a new area for Zucker.

Manchester United boast four of the highest-earning Premier League players - including three summer signings - according to a newly released list.

The key to Jadon Sancho's recent good form has been revealed by an ex-United striker.

Manchester United supporters have been airing their bemusement over Jadon Sancho's omission from the latest England squad after an interesting statistics comparison between the winger and Jack Grealish was highlighted.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorA new NBCUniversal advertising executive is taking on the task of tackling advertisers to link themselves to such sports properties as “Sunday Night Football” and the soon-to-launch USFL.Peter Lazarus will take the lead on selling ads behind the bulk of NBCUniversal’s sports programming, part of a gradual overhaul of the company’s work behind connecting Madison Avenue with some of TV’s biggest and most-watched properties.Lazarus has been named executive vice president of sports ad-sales, taking up responsibilities previously held by Dan Lovinger, a longtime NBCU ad-sales exec who has been assigned to focus more intently on the company’s efforts behind Olympics advertising. Lovinger was elevated to president in January and will lead Olympics ad-sales efforts as NBCU works harder to fulfill a commitment it has made along the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, pledging to offer long-term deals to partners for TV, digital, and live event advertising, as well as brand activations and associations with Team USA.

Stacey Dooley has been axed from a BBC show as part of a format shakeup. This Is My House returned for a second series on Wednesday night (March 16) with a few key differences.

Killer Mike has sold his entire song back catalogue as part of a new publishing deal with Reservoir Media.As Billboard reports, the agreement will see the independent publisher take a considerable stake in the discography of Run The Jewels – the rap duo comprised of Mike and El-P – as well as songs from the artist’s solo projects.In a statement about the new deal Killer Mike said: “A great publisher is a major key to success, and I’m excited to embark on this phase of my career with the dynamic team at Reservoir.”Faith Newman, executive VP of A&R and catalogue development at Reservoir, added: “Killer Mike has been a fixture of hip-hop for decades now, and both his past successes and upcoming music continue to push boundaries and address deeply meaningful topics.“Artists and visionaries of his calibre do not come around often, and we are grateful to be the publishing home for such a trailblazing creator.”Killer Mike has released four studio albums with Run The Jewels, the latest coming in the form of 2020’s ‘RTJ4’.The Atlanta rapper has also made five solo records: ‘Monster’ (2003), ‘I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind’ (2006), ‘I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind II’ (2008), ‘PL3DGE’ (2011) and ‘R.A.P. Music’ (2012).Additionally, he’s collaborated with the likes of Jay-Z, Outkast, T.I.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN spent last year building up Peyton and Eli Manning as the curators of a loose, bar-talk like show meant as an alternative to its traditional “Monday Night Football.” Now the Disney-backed sports giant is focusing on the main event.ESPN has signed the two main figures behind Fox Sports’ football presentations, Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, in a bid to strengthen the main “MNF” booth. The deal, which has been anticipated for several days, will put one of sports’ most-watched game-day figures at the helm of ESPN’s signature offering.“When you have the opportunity to bring in the iconic, longest-running NFL broadcasting duo, you take it, especially at a time when we are on the cusp of a new era in our expanding relationship with the NFL,” said Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN and sports content for Disney, in a statement.  “The NFL continues to ascend, and we now have more games than ever before, providing additional opportunities for Joe, Troy and our deep roster of commentators.” Signing the pair, who have worked together for two decades and called  called six Super Bowls — only the legendary team of Pat Summerall and John Madden has called more — illustrates the new pressures facing some of the most traditional broadcasters of sports.

Lauren Sanchez shares Jeff Bezos’ sweetest side! The Emmy-award-winning journalist and girlfriend of the E-commerce and entertainment tycoon took to social media to give her followers an inside look at how Bezos spends his free time. We can see Jeff dressed in casual attire in the organic picture while removing his freshly baked cookies from a rack.

No need to take Gwen Stefani, 52, out to the ballgame; she can get herself there just fine! The singer enjoyed a day out at the diamond on Saturday, Mar. 12, taking her adorable son Apollo, 8, to his older brother Zuma‘s baseball game in Los Angeles. Rocking a letterman jacket and bright red lipstick, Gwen couldn’t hold back cheers as she sweetly spent the day celebrating two of her favorite boys.

Major League Baseball, after resolving a labor dispute with players to save the 2022 season and making a splashy deal to stream games on Apple TV+, is on the verge of making more streaming inroads.

Manchester City fans have been reacting after Liverpool narrowly progressed through to the Champions League quarter-finals with a 2-1 aggregate win over Inter Milan.

collaboration with Major League Baseball to bring fans exclusive content each week via their new program .will be a weekly double-header with pre- and post-game programming that will be available as soon as the MLB 2022 season begins. Fans will also be able to watch «marquee games» without broadcast restrictions from any Apple TV device.

Gary Neville hit out at recently departed chief executive Ed Woodward after Manchester United’s dismal 4-1 derby day defeat on Sunday.