📺 Eisen shine. Rich Eisen is going back to Bristol, and this time he means it literally. ESPN announced Thursday that Eisen will host SportsCenter at midnight ET Sunday into Monday, April 13, from ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. It will mark his first time back at the network’s main campus in more than 20 years. Last August, Eisen hosted the 11 p.m. ET edition of SportsCenter, which marked the former ESPN star’s first time manning the network’s flagship show in more than two decades.

🏈 Grude awakening. Jon Gruden sued the NFL within days of resigning from the Las Vegas Raiders, alleging a “malicious and orchestrated campaign” by the NFL to get him out of his job. The lawsuit has lingered for more than four years, as the NFL has attempted to dismiss the case or send it to arbitration rather than a civil trial. As we wait to see whether the NFL might appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or seek to settle with Gruden privately, a Las Vegas judge has now set a trial date, according to KLAS. Pending another big change, the trial is now officially set for May 2027 in Las Vegas.

📻 Russini reaction. Dan Le Batard admitted Thursday that he’s struggling with how to process and discuss the controversy around NFL insider and personal friend Dianna Russini. This would not happen to Shams, this would not happen to Woj, this would not happen to any of these people,” he said. “She doesn’t want to be at the center of this. This is not why she got into this business.”

📷 Photo origins. According to Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports, we now know the Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel photos had been shopped around before the NY Post eventually ran them, with TMZ also getting a look. The photographer, who was not with any known paparazzi or photo agency, knew Vrabel but had not identified the woman as Russini.

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

The NFL came into this offseason feeling itself in a way that was even noticeable to them.

And why wouldn’t they? Their ratings essentially keep the lights on for network television. They’re one of the last remaining American monoculture experiences. They run roughshod over every controversy, criticism, and claim put their way, because at the end of the day, too many people want to watch the pigskin on Sundays (or Mondays or Wednesdays or Thursdays or Fridays or Saturdays).

Their goal? Before the start of the 2026 season, renegotiate all of their existing media deals and carve out smaller packages for streamers in order to maximize their financial gains while expanding their reach across platforms and the globe. The league is reportedly expecting at least a 50% increase in fees that could see its annual rights revenue reach $16 billion.

There’s been a fly buzzing in their ears for a while, however. FCC chairman Brendan Carr, who has been stepping out as Donald Trump’s watchdog in the broadcast television world. While his actual power remains suspect, his outspoken influence has made things happen, as corporations have moved chess pieces around to avoid further wrath from him or his boss.

For a while, Carr mostly focused on entertainment and late-night shows, a favorite target of Trump's. That got boring, however, and the sights have been set on the NFL and its antitrust exemptions in recent weeks.

That’s perhaps not a coincidence, as Fox and CBS are the two broadcasters with the most to lose in these renegotiations, and both happen to be run by some of the biggest Trump supporters out there. It’s not hard to imagine Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch (and his daddy) and Paramount Sykdance CEO David Ellison (and his daddy) bending Trump’s ear to ensure they don’t get hosed.

All of which appears to have culminated in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal reports that the Department of Justice has begun an investigation into whether or not the NFL has “engaged in anticompetitive tactics that harm consumers.”

While the size and scope of the investigation are not yet known, it’s not going to help that concerns about the league’s rising costs for consumers are bipartisan.

The league released a statement Thursday, defending its distribution model as “the most fan and broadcaster-friendly in the entire sports and entertainment industry.” Normally, that kind of thing works, but the NFL finds itself in the rare position where enough powerful entities are pushing back against it that it might actually have to concede a few points. Or at the very least, a few dollars.

“The NFL has always, for as long as I’ve been covering this stuff, had the most leverage,” Puck sports media insider John Ourand said on this week’s Marchand Sports Media podcast, “And the NFL has always used that leverage. I’m just telling you that what’s going on in D.C. right now with the antitrust exemptions, with the NFL sort of being in a bullseye … it’s a very consumer-friendly viewpoint.”

Ourand thinks the NFL could be shown to be abusing its antitrust carveout by striking separate deals with paid streaming platforms, not only increasing prices for audiences, but also jeopardizing the financial future of local affiliate stations of Fox, CBS, and NBC, which is where Carr comes in.

And even if the league can withstand those arguments and prove that network television remains the cornerstone of their media business model, this could be the incredibly rare instance in which they don’t get everything they want.

“What we’ve always said is the NFL has never left a nickel on the table,” said Ourand. “This time they might have to leave a nickel on the table.”

Woe unto the NFL if they end up netting only $15 billion instead of $16 billion in annual rights revenue after all this. The only thing we pretty much know for sure is that all of the rich people on both sides of this issue will probably find a way to stay rich together, but it’s worth watching to see who blinks, who capitulates, who chickens out, and who gets paid.

“Right now we’re looking at record ratings, we’re looking at the most attention I’ve ever seen on college football in my lifetime, and what I don’t understand is… why Charlie Baker looks at this and says this is bad.” - ESPN’s Kevin Clark explaining why he thinks college football is actually in a great place.

“I’m still grieving (Pat Summit) frequently, and to watch that legacy getting reduced to something that’s not special is hard to watch.” - Holly Rowe, explaining her since-deleted X post excoriating Tennessee AD Danny White.

“As the foremost expert on this topic, here’s what nobody’s talking about regarding Russini and Vrabel, somebody hired a private investigator.” - Emmanuel Acho on the candid photos.

“Oh my God, Joel Embiid has appendicitis after I pretty much said I was faking it during my show today. And I feel like a real, real idiot. So I gotta put this out there right now… Apparently, according to the Sixers, he has appendicitis, and he’s gonna undergo surgery. I feel like an idiot, I apologize.” - 97.5 The Fanatic midday host Jon Marks on his remarks about the 76ers star.

“It’s just such a painful double standard. The other thing is she has a very long, high-quality reputation. And I’m just not willing to jump in the ‘Oh there is something nefarious going on here, they’re having an affair, they’re having a scandal, blah blah blah. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m not taking a bunch of photos and doing what we do in 2026 jumping all over it.” - Jeff Pearlman on the Russini-Vrabel controversy.

We don’t need to know more about Dianna Russini’s relationship with Mike Vrabel to render a journalistic verdict: it raises questions about her reporting.

Without analyzing their poolside hug and hand-holding, we can infer they’re close. Page Six says a “spy” spotted the pair two weeks ago at an intimate, adult-only resort near Sedona, Arizona. In statements, both parties say there was nothing nefarious about their hangout.

The Athletic, Russini’s employer, is standing by her. “These photos are misleading and lack essential context,” said executive editor Steven Ginsberg.

While that may be true, one could say the same about some of Russini’s reporting. Like other high-profile insiders, the veteran scoop machine produces a constant stream of content. She breaks news, files columns and feature stories, hosts her own podcast, and is omnipresent on TV, radio, and all digital platforms. Her ubiquity can make it hard to differentiate what’s fact, what’s insinuation, and what’s her opinion.

When it comes to Vrabel, Russini has covered his coaching career intimately, co-writing the definitive story on his exit from the Titans and landing multiple exclusive interviews with him last season. Along the way, she’s hyped up his demand, as well as his physique.

Russini’s reporting on Vrabel is revealing. When put in the context of their apparent closeness, it exposes NFL insiderdom for the unvarnished access game that it is.

Click to read more from Alex Reimer, who writes about what the Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel photos reveal about NFL insiderdom.

On the latest episode of The Awful Announcing Podcast, host Brandon Contes interviews former WFAN and The Ringer host and current host of the "New York, New York" podcast, John Jastremski. Brandon and John discuss a wide range of topics, including not being renewed by Spotify and working for Bill Simmons, how close he came to being Mike Francesa's co-host, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo's renaissance, and more.

You can also find The Awful Announcing Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find podcasts.

If there’s anything Barstool Sports is not known for, it’s silence. But that’s what they’ve provided in the wake of Awful Announcing’s report that Barstool Sports personality Evan McDowell, more commonly known as “Big Ev,” appeared to have been sidelined by the outlet amid multiple accusations from fans alleging he stiffed bookies they helped connect McDowell to, or in other instances, failed to repay followers who placed wagers on his behalf.

Following the allegations, McDowell has gone silent on social media, ceased appearances on Barstool’s gambling show Picks Central, and been removed from promotional material for the show on the DraftKings app (DraftKings is Barstool’s exclusive sports betting partner). Picks Central, which streams live, also disabled the chat function on its broadcasts since accusations about McDowell went public.

Barstool didn’t respond to requests for comment, and it appears the company has put a lid on public discussion of McDowell and the topic. On Thursday’s livestream, Barstool personality Adam "Rone" Ferrone was looking at the commenting feed on his phone, saying, “everyone’s spamming the same thing in the text, and I’m sure they spam it on the other shows. You know we’re not talking about that. Like, be smart. You think everyone’s dumb?”

That livestream’s commentary thread was not visible after the show was completed.

That’s a stark contrast to just about every other controversy or criticism we can think of involving Barstool. Founder Dave Portnoy has never been shy about pushing back against critics, and staffers rarely hold back from discussing the day's developments involving one another. And on the rare occasions they do offer an apology, they make it count.

Many of the social media posts about McDowell’s apparent lack of payments have since been deleted, lending credence to the possibility that McDowell has been paying off these lost bets or that a third party is allocating funds to cover these repayments to keep it quiet. One could speculate about who such a third party might be, but for now, we wait for any answers from a loud organization that has suddenly gotten very quiet.

In the meantime, the story is picking up steam, which means someone’s gotta say something eventually…