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🏈 Romo sidelined. Following an arrest in Wisconsin last month, Tony Romo has been suspended by CBS Sports “until further notice” and replaced by J.J. Watt in the interim, casting doubt on Romo’s future at the network despite the four years and $72 million remaining on his contract.

🏀 Reeve speaks out. Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve continued her vocal support for transgender people in sports amid conversation around Sophie Cunningham’s argument against trans women competing in women’s sports. Reeve confirmed she discussed the issue with Cunningham pregame as their teams faced off Sunday in Minneapolis, and said she has lobbied the WNBA to build out its policy around transgender athletes for years.

👎 Schefter cashes in. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reportedly will earn a payout from Underdog’s recent sale, valued at up to $2.15 billion, after the sports gambling company revealed Schefter was an early investor.

🧐 Al-Sheikh disputes The Athletic. Saudi General Entertainment Authority chair Turki Al-Sheikh used his ownership of Ring magazine to cast doubt over a recent profile of him in The Athletic, with the magazine’s social media account accusing the publication of an “agenda” while its top reporter defended Al-Sheikh.

🏈 McGrath promoted. ESPN’s Molly McGrath will leap from being one of the network’s top college football game reporters to the same role on the NFL side this season, primarily working the seven-game package that ESPN acquired from the NFL Network slate.

As Mike Foss, one of the younger top executives in ESPN’s history, begins to make his imprint on the company after replacing David Roberts earlier this year, he reportedly held a company all-hands last week in which he told assembled talent that he wanted them to “embrace authenticity” rather than the long-held dictum to embrace debate.

According to Puck’s John Ourand, Foss highlighted the hosts of Pardon the Interruption as examples where informed agreement can be just as engaging as fiery debate. Apparently, Foss also specifically intimated that SportsCenter would be pared back from the talking head-driven conversations that had fueled it more in recent years and back toward news, highlights and the personalities of its anchors.

Foss was seemingly pointed about saying that not everyone needed to morph into Pat McAfee, but that hosts must think about the internet when crafting their on-air persona and delivery. Many top ESPN talent already have podcasts and large social media followings, but the network’s television shows are largely consumed these days through shorter YouTube clips and vertical videos as well.

In some ways, Foss’ warning is a practical recognition of how the talent roster has morphed over time. Mina Kimes’ appearances on First Take, for example, showed how putting ESPN stars on its biggest shows can sometimes feel like forcing a square peg into a round hole. People like Kimes because she is approachable and cool and because they learn from her. A smart network would build from there. Under Foss, it seems like that will be the M.O.

Generally speaking, the idea appears to be distilling each host and show into its purest form in a manner that audiences will connect with online. A SportsCenter built around news and highlights is incredibly clippable, the same way that McAfee has helped turn less experienced news-breakers and commentators into bigger stars through the constant churn of videos posted to his X feed throughout his daily live show.

Someone had to go in and flip the switch fully toward this mindset at ESPN: No more programming for what keeps cable television viewers from turning the channel; focus instead on what breaks through in the endless scroll of social video platforms. I believe Foss is right that while drama certainly sells online as it does on television, there is a plenty sizable market for stats, humor, or storytelling, and that ESPN is best when it is a big tent with multiple identities.

Now comes the far harder part. Part of why ESPN has been reticent to move its editorial strategy in this direction is because the financial payoff is unclear. The cable carriage revenue was a known commodity, worth holding onto for dear life. A funnel from the TikTok For You page to a paying subscriber and loyal viewer to the ESPN Unlimited service is completely unproven.

Even if ESPN can grab more kinds of fans by foregrounding more kinds of analysts and styles of commentary, it needs that connection to become so strong that fans who are not already eager to pay for a feed to watch their live sports are eventually spurred to do so. These are existential questions for the Worldwide Leader, and they cannot become so scary as to stall progress. Foss has taken a step into the unknown, but one that can reshape ESPN’s identity into one more in tune with the sensibilities and habits of the modern sports fan, who had grown away from the network more wholly than it might like to admit.

Tony Romo’s potential ouster went from zero to 60 last week as more details emerged about his OWI arrest near Milwaukee, which allegedly found an open bottle of alcohol in his vehicle.

Locked On Podcast Network host Peter Bukowski joined The Play-By-Play LIVE to discuss Romo’s suspension and how CBS handles its broadcast roster this season, plus the lessons from the WNBA controversy around Sophie Cunningham and trans athletes.

Watch the episode on YouTube, or listen on Spotify or Apple.

Over the weekend, NBC Sports analyst Matthew Berry announced the launch of a personal YouTube channel. The page will, it seems, be stocked full of clips from Berry’s fantasy football show on Peacock and other appearances.

But more importantly, it will foreground Berry’s likeness. The wave is upon us of networks working with star talent to build micro-communities within the big business of sports broadcasting. At ESPN, talent such as Malika Andrews and Mina Kimes have YouTube channels as well. At the same time, the ESPN App pumps out updates from news-breakers replete with their smiling headshots and names alongside the ESPN logo in the iPhone notification that users get when they break a big story.

A source close to the situation tells Awful Announcing that Berry will own the new channel, though NBC will likely populate it with content.

These are smart moves by big networks to assemble what is essentially a content creator’s web of individualized channels for top personalities. This includes YouTube most notably, but also TikTok or even newsletters. For the talent, the devil is in the details. Can hosts and reporters negotiate a cut of YouTube AdSense revenue or sponsorship dollars (Barstool, for instance, has long wooed stars by doing this)? Do they get a say in the channel's editorial strategy?

Even if the answer to both questions is no, it still probably makes sense to get a head start on forming an identity on the platforms where the greatest number of users reside. Talent has wrested back some leverage by getting help from employers to start projects that could ultimately help them even after they leave the company.

For Berry, his daily show is now going to stream on YouTube, essentially pulling some of his audience out from behind a paywall and into a community that he will own forever. That’s a sweet deal.

I found Berry’s announcement noteworthy because it is the first prominent example outside ESPN that I can remember, and because he is the type of personality — entertaining and with a loyal following — who should be getting this sort of treatment.

“In my opinion, particularly hindsight-wise, it didn’t make him stubborn or selfish; it made him brave.” - ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, going above and beyond with an apology to Kyrie Irving, with COVID-19 back in the news following Anthony Fauci’s testimony to the GOP-led Senate HSGAC last week.

“…there’s been a narrative that’s gone on for too long that I wanted to kind of shut down, and it’s been really beautiful to reconnect with them, all of them.” - Pittsburgh’s Aaron Rodgers, explaining what led to him rekindling a relationship with his parents and oldest brother.

“We are NOT doing anything like the ‘last dance’ LeBron doesn’t even know when his last season is.” - Maverick Carter, a longtime friend and colleague of LeBron James who runs his media business, setting the record straight about The King’s reported documentary deal with ESPN.

“You’re taking the message that’s being given to you by people who are highly invested in this dividing stuff, and you’re helping them sell it by not questioning it at all.” - SiriusXM’s Katie Nolan, responding to WNBA star Sophie Cunningham’s argument against the participation of young trans athletes in sports.

“…questioning work ethic there, first of all, is not anything close to what I put out there. I could give you my exact answer, but it’s bullsh*t, is what it is.” - Giants manager Tony Vitello, taking issue with Apple TV MLB game analyst Dontrelle Willis over critical commentary toward shortstop Willy Adames.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that Ian Eagle doesn’t really have a type. He’s called games with Dan Fouts, Charles Davis and now Watt at CBS, on top of a rotating cast of NBA and college basketball partners over the years, and he just tends to make whoever’s next to him sound better. Watt basically said as much heading into this past season, giving Eagle the credit for chemistry that helped the two of them crack the top five of Awful Announcing’s 2025 NFL announcer rankings. That flexibility is CBS’s biggest asset here. This isn’t a booth that lives or dies on one specific pairing.

A handful of names to replace Watt in the No. 2 make some sense, ranging from analysts already calling games to a couple of guys currently parked in the studio.

Read more from Awful Announcing’s Sam Neumann on CBS’ options to backfill Watt’s spot in the No. 2 NFL booth now that the future Hall of Famer is taking over for Tony Romo to start the season.