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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

🎙️ Odd couple. Bill Simmons confirmed Max Kellerman and Rich Paul are bringing a podcast to The Ringer, with the three-times-weekly video show debuting later this month. Simmons admitted he didn't know Paul well and thought they didn't like each other, but watching their chemistry convinced him the pairing could work.

😂 Fairweather fallout. Carolina Panthers podcast MeowMix reversed its decision to come back hours after announcing it, facing massive backlash for quitting at 1-3, then trying to return after the team went 4-1 without them. Former Panthers safety Tre Boston and others urged them to stay away since Carolina was 4-0 with Bryce Young since the podcast went dark.

🤫 Locker room silence. Multiple Bengals defenders laughed off interview requests after Cincinnati's 47-42 collapse, with Jordan Battle, Shemar Stewart, and others declining to speak while offensive players faced questions about a defense that ranks second-worst by DVOA through nine games since 1978.

✈️ Iron Man. Kevin Burkhardt hosted World Series Game 7 postgame coverage in Toronto Saturday night, then flew to Detroit at 3:15 a.m. to call Lions-Vikings at 1 p.m. Sunday. Charissa Thompson called him Fox's MVP for working two sports in less than 24 hours on barely any sleep.

🚫 Fake news. A viral report claiming Adrian Wojnarowski was ejected from St. Bonaventure's opener was completely fabricated, coming from an account with one prior post. Field of 68's Jeff Goodman confirmed Woj never left his seat, yet the misinformation still got 600 reposts in two hours.

🌙 November nights. Ohio State will host a rare November night game against UCLA on Nov. 15, waiving the Buckeyes' reported clause that allows them to veto home night games after November. Fox's Big Noon obsession has limited OSU to one home night game this season.

🚨 LEADING OFF 🚨

The Cowboys couldn't save Disney and YouTube TV

There's a reason networks treat the Dallas Cowboys like a guaranteed ratings cheat code. Put them in primetime and people watch, regardless of record, regardless of playoff hopes, regardless of whether they're any good that particular season. The Cowboys are the ultimate leverage in any negotiation involving sports broadcasting rights.

Or at least they're supposed to be.

Monday night's Cowboys-Cardinals game on Monday Night Football was supposed to force Disney and YouTube TV back to the negotiating table. If any matchup could generate enough subscriber pressure to end this thing, it would be Dallas in primetime. Both companies had clear financial incentives to resolve this before kickoff.

They didn't.

Disney is now hemorrhaging approximately $5 million per day in lost subscriber fees — $150 million per month that's gone forever — regardless of when this dispute eventually resolves. At the same time, YouTube TV is fielding subscription cancellations and an avalanche of complaints from customers furious about missing the sports programming they're paying $82.99 monthly to access.

YouTube TV had already telegraphed its position hours before kickoff when Disney offered to restore ABC for Election Day coverage temporarily. The proposal seemed reasonable enough, allowing subscribers to watch election results, easing some public pressure, and potentially restarting negotiations. YouTube TV rejected it anyway, backing up that rejection with data showing most of its subscribers don't even watch ABC on election days.

If they won't move for an election, a football game wouldn't change the calculus even if it's the freaking Dallas Cowboys.

Which brings us to Tuesday morning, Day 5 of this standoff, with an obvious question: if the Cowboys couldn't bring these companies to terms, when will this end?

Joe Buck has said multiple times he'd call Dallas games every single week if the schedule allowed it because "they get eyeballs" and "they're the biggest draw in the NFL." Good TV, baby. That's what Buck calls them. And he's right. The Cowboys deliver ratings that make advertisers write checks and keep ESPN at the center of the sports media universe.

But those ratings don't directly translate to revenue for ESPN the way most people assume. ESPN makes its money from per-subscriber fees — roughly $15 per customer per month for those who get the channel, regardless of distributor. Ratings matter for advertising revenue and for justifying subscriber fees to distributors, but missing one night of Cowboys viewership doesn't directly cost ESPN that much.

That $5 million per day Disney is losing while ESPN remains dark on YouTube TV? That's the real financial damage. Those are subscriber fees from 10 million YouTube TV customers that Disney will never recover, regardless of how this dispute resolves. Add it up over a month, and it's $150 million gone. Over a full year, it would be $1.8 billion.

YouTube TV isn't losing guaranteed daily revenue the same way. Their problem is subscriber attrition. Customers are canceling because YouTube TV no longer delivers the sports programming they signed up for. People are switching to Hulu + Live TV or Fubo because they're not paying $82.99 a month for a service that misses ESPN during the football season.

That's a real risk for YouTube TV. Sports are the primary reason most people still pay for live television service. Take away ESPN, and you're asking subscribers to keep paying full price for something that just lost a significant part of its value proposition. Some customers will definitely cancel. Some will switch to competitors. The ones who bought NFL Sunday Ticket as a YouTube TV add-on are especially trapped. They can't leave without forfeiting the $378 they already paid.

But YouTube TV could win back subscribers once this resolves. Google can run promotions, offer discounts, and market ESPN's return as a victory. Some people who left won't come back, but enough might to make the short-term subscriber losses acceptable if it means establishing more favorable long-term carriage rates with Disney.

Disney can't recoup its daily losses. Every day ESPN is off YouTube TV, those subscriber fees just disappear. When a deal is eventually reached, there's no retroactive payment for the days YouTube TV didn't carry Disney's channels. The $5 million bleeding out each day is simply gone.

The Cowboys were supposed to tip that balance. Disney bet that losing Monday Night Football would create enough subscriber pressure to force YouTube TV back to the table on Disney's terms. But YouTube TV already showed they're willing to absorb that pain by rejecting the Election Day olive branch.

Monday night proved it. The Cowboys came and went, and nothing changed. Dave Portnoy predicted ESPN would win this battle, but after five days and Disney's best leverage play falling flat, it's unclear when either side will blink.

This dispute isn't ending because of one game or one news event. It ends when one side decides the financial pain outweighs whatever principles they're defending. Disney thought the Cowboys would accelerate that timeline. They were wrong.

The question now is how much money both companies are willing to lose before someone finally picks up the phone.

📣 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 🌟

Rex Ryan had a modest assessment of what it would take to fix the NFL's worst defense:

Shae Cornette made her First Take debut, marking a new chapter for ESPN's flagship debate show:

Cam Newton put Stephen A. Smith's Cowboys fandom to the test with a financial challenge:

Fox borrowed NBC's iconic theme music for another season of college hoops coverage:

📺 INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 🎬

• Tate Frazier's One Shining Podcast won't return for the start of the college basketball season, leaving The Ringer's flagship college hoops show in limbo. Frazier was reassigned to launch a college football show that fits Spotify's push for video podcasts.

• World Series Game 7 averaged 25.98 million viewers, making it the most-watched MLB game since 2017. The Dodgers-Blue Jays finale peaked at 31.54 million in the bottom of the ninth, proving quality games and Shohei Ohtani's star power can still deliver historic baseball ratings despite a Saturday night timeslot.

• Stephen A. Smith became the official ambassador of the World Solitaire Championship after getting caught playing the game during the NBA Finals. Mobile gaming company Papaya made the hire ahead of February's inaugural event, turning what seemed like a gaffe into a money-making opportunity for ESPN's $100 million talent.

• Michael Jordan’s role with NBC will remain extremely limited, with sources telling Front Office Sports that Jordan "could do" two to three more interviews with Mike Tirico throughout the remainder of the season. The network's "special contributor" won't be appearing in-studio or at games, with future sit-downs happening only at Jordan's convenience as pre-taped segments.

📣 NOTABLE QUOTABLES 🗣️

"Opinions are like noses and buttholes: everybody has them." - Trey Wingo on 92.3 The Fan, slamming ESPN's daily Shedeur Sanders debates about the Browns' fourth-string quarterback during the offseason, calling the coverage "embarrassing" since there was no data to suggest Sanders would be terrible or great.

"I know I'm gonna take abuse, but the Knicks are perfect from the free-throw line right now." - Mike Breen on MSG, announcing the Knicks' 14-14 free-throw shooting while Karl-Anthony Towns stood at the line. Breen defended doing his job despite not believing in the announcer jinx, then audibly sighed with relief when Towns made both shots.

"I got a lot of people in my sights, going forward on the radio this week. And y'all know who you are." - Brian Mitchell on 106.7 The Fan, calling out D.C. radio personalities he believes wanted Drake Maye over Jayden Daniels and are now using Daniels' injuries to vindicate their pre-draft takes, though he didn't name specific targets.

"Two pumps! Two pumps!" - Greg Olsen on Fox, immediately catching Rico Dowdle's Key & Peele reference when the Panthers running back celebrated a touchdown with two hip thrusts, paying tribute to the classic sketch about excessive celebration penalties. The referees missed the reference and flagged Dowdle anyway.

🎺 AROUND AA 🎺

The ManningCast has become such a fixture of Monday Night Football that it's easy to forget the show is constantly evolving. In its fifth season, Peyton and Eli Manning have placed a stronger emphasis on teaching moments, breaking down football concepts for casual fans in ways that feel natural rather than condescending.

Awful Announcing's Ben Axelrod sat down with Peyton Manning ahead of Monday night's Cowboys-Cardinals broadcast to discuss that evolution, what makes a good sports simulcast, and to get answers to some football questions that non-experts might be too embarrassed to ask.

Manning explained why quarterbacks identify the MIKE linebacker before every snap, what it means when they tap both sides of their helmet, and how they prepare when playing with practice-squad call-ups or new acquisitions. The conversation reveals how much thought goes into making the “ManningCast” feel like you're just watching football with two brothers who happen to know everything about the game.

"The more you know, the more you're going to understand and enjoy the game," Manning said. "Every football player had to learn a route tree at one point; why shouldn't a fan at home know what a 7 route is, too?"

Monday's broadcast features Charles Barkley and Baker Mayfield as guests, continuing the ManningCast tradition of mixing football insiders with personalities who bring new audiences to the game. Click to read the full Q&A where Manning breaks down what happens on the sideline when the defense is on the field and why "ManningCast" has become shorthand for any sports simulcast.

️‍🔥 THE CLOSER 🔥

ESPN’s petty ex problem

Todd McShay wants to reunite with Mel Kiper Jr. on the air, and ESPN won't let it happen.

McShay, now hosting a show at The Ringer, called out his former employer last week for blocking any attempts to get back on a microphone with Kiper, the man he defined ESPN's draft coverage alongside for nearly two decades.

"What's been going on with Mel and I is some petty, petty sht," McShay said. "It's just the new girlfriend, who's going to block with their body the opportunity to let the public see the rapport her boyfriend has with the ex. And it's jealous, petty sht rooted in insecurity."

ESPN's reasoning is understandable on paper. The network has an obligation to protect its brand and doesn't want to share its talent with competitors. But we're talking about letting Mel Kiper Jr. appear on a podcast for an hour or two during the offseason, not handing The Ringer a key to Bristol's vault.

What's the actual harm?

This isn't a new complaint. Dan Le Batard has voiced similar frustrations since leaving ESPN in 2021. Tim Kurkjian used to make regular appearances on Le Batard's show when both were at ESPN. Now it's rare. Dan Patrick accused ESPN of running a smear campaign against him after he left in 2007. Once you leave, you're treated like a threat rather than an alum who helped build what ESPN is today.

McShay and Kiper did for draft coverage what Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon did for sports debates. They became the archetype that others have followed, but no one has been able to duplicate. Kornheiser and Wilbon are still going strong on Pardon the Interruption. McShay and Kiper have been split, perhaps permanently, because ESPN prefers the public not see that reunion.

The network risks nothing by letting them team up again for old time's sake. Not during the height of draft season, but maybe a few times a year during the slow summer months when content is scarce and nostalgia actually moves the needle. Kiper has new partners in Field Yates and Matt Miller, who are earning plenty of valuable airtime. One occasional podcast appearance with McShay wouldn't threaten that.

If what McShay is saying is true, stonewalling a reunion out of spite seems unnecessary and beneath ESPN. The network is in the star-making business. It has the resources, platforms, and money to turn anyone into a household name. But what happens after those stars leave the Disney universe matters too.

There will be a day when Field Yates and Matt Miller are no longer at ESPN. Hopefully, the network will treat them better. Click to read more from Awful Announcing's Michael Grant on how ESPN handles its former employees and whether blocking McShay-Kiper reunions is worth the bad blood it creates.