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🏈 Romo no. Another day, another troubling detail about CBS NFL commentator Tony Romo’s arrest for OWI last week. A day after TMZ released body cam footage of his arrest and field sobriety test, it was reported by The California Post that, according to police, there was an open bottle of alcohol in his car when he was pulled over. Who knows what today will bring…

🏀 DAZNBA. London-based streaming platform DAZN will have a major hand in distributing local NBA broadcasts to fans next season. According to Austin Karp in Sports Business Journal, “DAZN is close to acquiring full exclusive local broadcast rights next season” for five NBA teams formerly under contract with Main Street Sports Group, owner of the now-defunct FanDuel Sports Networks. The news is the culmination of DAZN’s nearly yearlong effort to break into the local sports broadcasting market in the United States.

🎉 Gotham falls. The bane of many New York sports fans’ existence is soon to be no more, with YES and MSG Networks abandoning the Gotham Sports App for DAZN as part of that deal. For many New York sports fans, this is welcome news, as the Gotham Sports App has been marred by technical difficulties and complaints since its October 2024 launch. Many of them spent Wednesday celebrating its demise.

Read more of today’s top stories at Awful Announcing.

The WNBA entered the 2026 season with a new 11-year, $2.2 billion media deal and a ton of momentum. That hasn’t abated, as WNBA telecasts are up 12% compared to this point last season, while All-Star ratings surged 44% year-over-year.

So why does every conversation around the women’s basketball league feel so negative? And why does it seem like it steps on a new rake every day?

The last few days alone have provided a perfect microcosm of the narrative landscape surrounding the league.

Superstar Caitlin Clark, who has become an avatar for culture wars far beyond what she does on the court, told ESPN that narratives about her were “not based in reality” and that she sometimes borders on being “fearful” of the fervor behind the controversies that she faces in the league.

Clark’s comments earned rebukes from ESPN’s Monica McNutt and Netflix’s Elle Duncan, who asked the Indiana Fever star to bridge the gap between her and other WNBA players and do more to denounce those who seek viral and media currency at their expense. Those reactions were met with intense backlash from Clark defenders and other critics.

While it’s fair to say that the bulk of WNBA players have progressive stances, Clark’s teammate, Sophie Cunningham, caused a stir in an ESPN profile in which she spoke out against transgender women competing in women's sports. Despite saying she is “very much in the middle” politically, she has since doubled and tripled down on banning transgender athletes from women’s sports.

Some people organized a “Support Sophie Cunningham” rally before the Fever defeated the Seattle Storm in Seattle on Tuesday, July 28. While the crowd appeared small, that didn’t stop the Fever’s communications team from shielding both Clark and Cunningham from reporters after Tuesday’s game.

Storm center Stefanie Dolson appeared to offer a rebuttal, arriving for Tuesday night's game wearing a shirt reading "Trans Rights are Human Rights,” which the team highlighted. The Storm did apologize for an exchange between one of their co-owners and two fans who took part in the rally, which then took on a life of its own in certain political circles.

Meanwhile, the question of where WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert is in all of this is a valid one. Over All-Star weekend, many star players were asked about their relationships with Engelbert. Notably, Clark emphasized her closeness with Silver more than Engelbert, while A’ja Wilson said, somewhat jokingly, that the closest she gets to Engelbert is when the commissioner is handing her trophies.

ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike expressed her own concerns that Engelbert is falling short of expectations in forming genuine bonds with the league’s top athletes and figures. Not exactly what you want people to think of your leadership, especially when there’s seemingly a new fire to put out every day.

And then, just to put a bow on things, the WNBA posted a video of star players Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese before their two teams were set to play on Wednesday night. The video featured Bueckers and Reese placing what appears to be a personal $400 wager on whose team would win the game. That video was quickly deleted after someone realized that the league’s new CBA clearly states that any wagering is strictly prohibited and that players could be fined, suspended, or even disqualified from the WNBA at the commissioner's sole discretion.

Individually, these are all the kinds of dramas, conversations, controversies, and own-goals that every professional sports league has to navigate. But for the WNBA, these issues seem to arise with alarming regularity.

Some of this is out of the league’s control. They can’t tell ESPN pundits what to say. They can’t stop some slack-jawed yokel who has never watched a women’s basketball game in their life from complaining about the league on X. They can’t pull back the red meat after critics and culture warriors sink their teeth into it.

A large part of the reason these issues compound and feel like an endless cycle of negativity is the stunning lack of leadership at the league's center. Englebert gets the lion’s share of criticism over how she’s handled a lot of the WNBA’s PR and narrative problems the last few years, but those complaints are warranted. Even when she does make a decision, it’s limp, PR-tested pablum meant to appease in the short term, with no vision for what happens down the road.

There’s no quick fix for all of the WNBA’s problems, especially given that it finds itself the target of a media ecosystem that, frankly, seems to want to hate it. It’s fairly obvious why. The women of the WNBA seem intent on breaking the status quo of how professional sports are supposed to work and look like, and that drives a lot of people (mostly men) insane. The WNBA and its players trip and stumble along the way, as any growing league would, but don’t have the luxury of doing so out of sight of the hyenas waiting to pounce at the first sign of weakness.

That said, if there is a solution to what ails the league, it starts at the top. Englebert’s contract is up at the end of 2026, and it appears to be a foregone conclusion that it won’t be renewed, nor do many people want it to be. That’s the opportunity the WNBA needs: to bring on a replacement who not only understands the need for strong leadership and direction but is willing to publicly defend the values that the coaches, players, and fans want reflected back to them. Even if tough conversations lie ahead, a leader willing to have them and stand by the answers can quell some of the headaches and potentially reframe the conversation when it starts to drift away from them.

Easier said than done, but the WNBA seems desperate for someone who can be an ally to the players, a voice for the league, and a guiding light who points the way forward when detractors and narratives muddy the waters. And at the very least, someone who can proactively move all the rakes off the lawn instead of waiting for the league to step on the next one.

“I would love for it to be very clear to the people who think they are her fans but are using her, if she would say, ‘stop that sh*t, I don’t want it, I’m tired of it.’ As opposed to what we’ve seen, which is ‘the media makes up these narratives, the media makes up this discourse.’ That’s not true. The media highlights the stories, and they show it, but at the same time, like, the media did not make up that members of Congress are trying to get literal government intervention into whether you get fouled too hard.” - Elle Duncan pushing back on Caitlin Clark’s complaints about WNBA media.

“I think Dan-O, as (McAfee Show contributor Darius Butler) said earlier, he could have just been yapping. I don’t know if Dan-O has actual sources,” Rutledge laughed. “There have been a few times where he’s come up with stories like this, and we’re like, ‘Dan, where are you hearing that?’ And he’s like, ‘I just think that it would be a good idea.’ Like, OK, well, you can’t say as if it’s true, because then people believe it.” - Laura Rutledge, poking fun at NFL Live teammate Dan Orlovsky.

“Stop hating on the jerseys, guys. They’re great. I honestly like, speaking of new, right? It’s a new look, I understand that. We’ve got to be new. And these jerseys are kind of symbolic of that. And I’m excited to wear them.” - Josh Allen on the Bills’ much-maligned new alternate uniforms, which are ugly (Sorry, Josh).

“Loved the fact that y’all was doing the show because it means I didn’t have to do it anymore. I ain’t have to stay up all hours of the night doing that damn show in studio. So, I was very happy about that. Thank ya.” - Stephen A. Smith to Shaq regarding Inside the NBA’s move to ESPN.

“When coaches get in trouble, we like to sniff around. When it smells like cover-up or conspiracy, we do so more. A head coach injuring himself in an accident where he gets 40 stitches, breaks his ribs, breaks his nose, and breaks his hand, and — this is the key part — can’t do his job right now because he’s got a concussion says that he was going 20 miles an hour, says that the accident was his fault now. That the report is wrong, which as soon as I see that, I’m like, ‘OK, what did the police do here? So what happened here?’” - Dan Le Batard, who is not buying the Kyle Shanahan situation.

“You ask for tea, hot tea. Not sure why, I don’t know if you’re cold. And Jennifer was nice enough to give you your tea and your Equal. You steeped, and then you added your Equal. That dissolves, that dissolves! And you stirred it with your glasses.” - Jor Girardi calling out Michael Kay for stirring his tea with his eyeglasses.

The Tony Romo OWI story keeps getting worse, despite rumors that CBS Sports will keep him in place. Plus, 49ers and NFL media seemingly kept Kyle Shanahan's car crash quiet, while ESPN's story only made things more confusing.

Then, it's time for Round Two of the Sports Media Influence Olympics, with No. 1-seed Colin Cowherd facing off against No.4-seed Ryen Russillo in the Radio and Podcast region.

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

Few things annoy the folks at Bristol quite like when they’re accused of having a bias toward SEC football.

Paul Finebaum, Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler, and others have all pushed back, often angrily, about the accusation.

Unfortunately, they’re still not beating the allegations.

There are obvious reasons why the Worldwide Leader might have good reason to pump up the league. A $3 billion TV rights deal certainly makes a case, while owning an entire network dedicated to it puts the point more finely. And that’s to say nothing of ESPN’s investment in the College Football Playoff and understandible desire to see as many teams from a certain conference show up in it to drive ratings.

Sure, the company has similar arrangements with other conferences, but the way certain situations have played out made it fairly clear where their ultimate loyalties usually land.

Now, we’re not here to make the case. Lord knows we’ve pointed out the concerns enough, and there are plenty of other critics out there doing the same.

But we will point to a couple of things that took off on social media Wednesday that didn’t do much to dissuade people from those biased claims.

On Tuesday, the ESPN Insights page on X posted a list of teams ranked by the top strength of schedule coming into the 2026 college football season. The post touted the SEC expanding to a nine-game conference schedule and that, according to their metrics, every SEC team made the Top 20 of the rankings. While four Big Ten teams made the cut, none from any other conference showed up.

That led to a hearty round of comments and complaints that not only accused the network of stumping once again for their rights partner, but also the idea of devising strength-of-schedule metrics before a game has even been played.

On Wednesday, former SEC Network host Laura Rutledge appeared on The Pat McAfee Show, where they had a little fun with the narrative. However, the NFL Live host pushed back by offering a defense of the league, saying that part of the reason they haven’t won a championship in recent years is that SEC teams are “a little gassed” after the gauntlet of a 9-game league schedule.

As many on social media pointed out, that’s a shift from the days when the SEC was regularly winning national titles. Back then, we were told it was largely because of the league’s regular-season schedule, which forged battle-tested winners. Also, they haven’t played a nine-game conference schedule yet...

It’s obvious that the company has a vested financial interest in making sure SEC games matter. That doesn’t mean its talent all drink the Kool-Aid to toe the party line. But fair or not, right or wrong, the way ESPN covers the SEC will always be under a microscope, and rarely do they do themselves any favors in the court of public opinion.