Welcome to The A Block, Awful Announcing’s daily newsletter where you’ll always find the latest sports media news, commentary, and analysis.

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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

🎤 The First Takification of RedZone? According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, ESPN and the NFL are “inside the five-yard line” in their ongoing negotiations, which would see the Worldwide Leader acquire a significant portion of NFL Media, which could include NFL Network, Red Zone Channel, and the seven regular-season NFL games that currently air on the league-owned network. Everyone’s first thought on social media appeared to be how ESPN will ruin RedZone, which is always a good sign.

🏀 NBCSN 2.0. According to a report by Joe Flint of The Wall Street Journal, NBC is exploring the launch of a cable network dedicated to sports as it completes its spinoff of Versant, which will house the majority of NBCUniversal’s current suite of cable channels. Per Flint, the potential new cable network would primarily focus on simulcasting sporting events that are slated to be exclusive to Peacock, NBC’s streaming platform. Ironically, NBC shut down its previous sports-focused cable network, NBCSN, in 2021.

🤼‍♂️ First Thing Thirds. One week after shaking up its daytime schedule, FS1’s new daily programming schedule — and Danny Parkins’ future at the network — have been finalized. According to Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel, First Things First is set to add a third hour, which will run from 5-6 p.m. ET. The new hour will feature Parkins, who joined the Fox Sports cable channel from 670 The Score in Chicago a year ago as part of the now-canceled Breakfast Ball.

⚽️ Saban’s master plan? Entering the 2025 season, the Cleveland Browns project to be the NFL’s worst team. But is it possible that next year could see Arch Manning and Nick Saban join forces in an attempt to resurrect the downtrodden franchise? Colin Cowherd seems to think so. He’s so sure Saban will leave ESPN for Cleveland that he’s called it “the worst-kept secret in the South.”

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

The pros and cons of Pat McAfee’s apology

We should have known that as soon as Pat McAfee showed up in sleeves, it was going to be an important progrum.

The former NFL punter ended Wednesday’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show with a full-fledged, pre-written apology to Ole Miss student Mary Kate Cornett, five months after he helped spread a false rumor about the 18-year-old college student.

If you don’t know all of the details, you can get caught up here, but suffice it to say, this was a long time coming, and we have been waiting with baited breath to see how he and ESPN might handle it. Especially after Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports beat him to the punch months ago while he was speaking cryptically about how it might be handled.

You can read the transcript of the full apology here, but we'll break it down into a few key moments, some of which are positive and some less so. Like the man himself, McAfee’s apology was a rich tapestry ripe for dissection and introspection.

PRO: McAfee offered some fairly straightforward and unmistakable language that demonstrated contriteness. He said he was “so sorry” and deeply regretted “all the pain that this caused.”

CON: There was also a lot of passive language in Pat’s apology. One line in particular, about “how sorry I was that this all happened, and that our program was a part of this,” felt like an attempt to remove agency from his show’s role in elevating the rumor. “I hated watching what our show was a part of,” also reads like an attempt at distance, as if they were outside of what was happening.

PRO: McAfee says he met with the Cornett family and personally apologized to them. That’s always going to be an appreciated way of handling these situations.

CON: There was a little bit too much “I” in there, which is not unexpected. “The most important element on the timing is that I, personally, it was a decision I made, wanted to talk to the family first before addressing it publicly.” We’re not entirely sure why that part was necessary (and was that the hold-up or was the genuine hold-up figuring out the potential lawsuit/settlement?).

PRO: By apologizing, it means both McAfee and Barstool had to come clean about their role in spreading a salacious rumor about an 18-year-old girl. The internet is a cesspool, and it often seems like there are no rules or decorum in the media anymore. It’s reassuring to know that our loudest and most obnoxious voices still adhere to ethical standards (and are well-compensated by lawyers).

CON: “Our goal at this show is to make the world a happier place, a better place. To celebrate life and sports and unify folks.” McAfee loves to trot this bit out anytime there’s some kind of controversy that stems from his show. It sounds lovely, but, like, c’mon. You have Aaron Rodgers on once a week during NFL season. Nothing is unifying about that.

📈 DATA DUMP 📊

• On Wednesday, the Green Bay Packers released their yearly earnings, giving a glimpse into the economics of the largely private business of the NFL. In the fiscal year ended March 31, the NFL distributed $432.6 million in national revenue to the Packers, up from $402.3 million the year before. That means the NFL had approximately $13.8 billion in national revenues for the year ended March 31, up just under $1 billion from the previous year.

• MLS commissioner Don Garber finally offered some insight into the league’s viewership on Apple TV+. Kinda. According to Sports Business Journal, Apple TV+’s MLS Season Pass is averaging 120,000 unique viewers. While SBJ reports this is a “per match” figure, Sports Media Watch notes that it is unclear whether the number represents the average minute audience each match receives or if it is a figure for each match window on MLS Season Pass. According to Garber, the 120,000 viewer figure represents a 50% increase over last year, although it’s unclear exactly what measurement MLS is using.

• After posting positive year-over-year growth in Q1, ESPN has continued the momentum in Q2 with the year now at its halfway point. According to a network announcement, ESPN is seeing growth across the board. The network as a whole is up 4% year over year, and primetime is seeing its best numbers since 2014. The biggest boost? The expanded College Football Playoff.

🗣️ THE PLAY-BY-PLAY 🗣️

On the latest episode, Kofie Yeboah joins the show to discuss his career and the state of sports media. Plus, Ben Axelrod and Brendon Kleen discuss Barstool Sports’ new partnership with Fox and the latest labor negotiations talk coming out of WNBA All-Star Weekend.

💬 AROUND AA 💬

When The Basketball Tournament (TBT) started in 2015, I was hooked. As a Syracuse alum, following the efforts of Boeheim’s Army, an ever-evolving roster of who’s who former Orange players in their attempt to take home $1 million in a winner-take-all tournament, was genuinely one of the most fun parts of the year. When they’d eventually lose in the quarterfinals or semifinals, it was a gut-punch. And when they finally won the tournament in 2021, it felt like a real culmination of a hard-fought battle on behalf of Coach Boeheim and all Syracuse fans.

Since then, I must admit, I have lost track of TBT. And I’m not alone. Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner wrote about how the summer basketball schedule has filled up around TBT, turning it into an also-ran when it comes to fans choosing what to watch.

“2025 feels much different from 2015, when TBT was still in its infancy and got basketball fans excited for summer hoops,” Lerner writes. “The tournament now faces a crowded basketball calendar where the WNBA dominates summertime viewing, international competitions have gained more exposure, especially as those prospects make transitions to American college ball or the NBA, and the NBA’s Summer League has grown a niche following with solid viewership. Given all of that, it feels like TBT has been left behind.”

Click to read the rest of “In Year 12, it feels like time is running out on TBT.”

🔥 THE CLOSER 🔥 

The Cleveland Browns, ladies and gentlemen

We live in weird, depressing times, so it’s always good to stop and appreciate the dumb and silly moments that make life enjoyable. And what’s more satisfying than watching the Cleveland Browns turn their big PR stunt into a walking (or swimming) metaphor for their very existence?

Despite their name, the Browns have never worn a helmet that is primarily that color. That will change this season when the team introduces their "Alpha Dawg" alternative uniform, which features a brown helmet, jersey, and pants. They decided to make a big spectacle of their helmet with a PR stunt on the shores of Lake Erie, unveiling a giant brown helmet on a raft. They even called in DUDE Wipes to sponsor the big, brown moment.

All of which brought us to the unveiling of the helmet Wednesday, where an anthropomorphized box of DUDE Wipes joined Browns mascot Chomps for a delightful photo op. And that’s when the person handling that photo op fell off the raft and into the lake. The quick-thinking Chomps threw a life preserver into the water before the videographer was rescued by a jet ski, almost as if it knew this was destined to go awry.

The Browns are once again expected to be among the worst teams in the NFL this season. They’ve come a long way since going 0-16 in 2017 and are only two years removed from a playoff berth, but you know a good metaphor when you see one. And the Browns and their butt-wiping mascot friend gave us a wonderful one to set the tone for what’s ahead. Or behind, as it were.