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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

📺️ Dan Orlovsky gets a new deal. Despite publicly hinting that his time at ESPN could be coming to an end, Dan Orlovsky has agreed to terms on a new contract with the Worldwide Leader, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand. The former NFL quarterback’s decision to remain in Bristol comes amid an offseason in which he reportedly turned down an offer to join CBS as its top college football analyst.

⚾️ MLB announces Jomboy partnership. Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday that it has purchased a stake of Jomboy Media. The transaction will create a digital partnership, putting Jomboy’s presence front and center at MLB’s marquee events like the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby

💲 FanDuel announces Illinois fee. In response to Illinois’ new state budget, which will tax sportsbook operators on a per bet basis, FanDuel has announced that it will add a 50-cent transaction fee to each bet placed in the Prairie State effective Sept. 1. FanDuel’s parent company, Flutter Entertainment, says that it will drop the new fee should Illinois end its tax.

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

The Daily Show with Stephen A. Smith?

As Stephen A. Smith proclaimed that he has “no interest” in running for public office during his appearance on The Daily Show on Monday, I decided to take him at his word (even as he quickly launched into a monologue more fit for the campaign trail than a late night show).

For a while now, I’ve believed that although the idea of Stephen A. Smith running for president is certainly intriguing (especially for a website that covers sports media), it’s also unlikely. But if that’s the case, then what’s his end game with all of the political appearances he’s been making over the course of the last seven months?

Following his interview with Jon Stewart, I think I have my answer.

For as well-equipped as Smith has become in such situations following last November’s election, he was merely no match for Stewart’s political prowess on Monday night. As the ESPN star launched into his typical talking points about how it was the progressives who cost the Democrats the election thanks to the culture wars, Stewart was quick to point out that it’s those on the right who typically focus on such issues and that, if anything, the left was too focused on appealing to voters it never had a chance with.

“That’s a great argument and I don’t disagree,” Smith said, before carrying on as if the two had been debating Tyrese Haliburton’s place among the NBA hierarchy as opposed to the fate of the free world.

Not only did the two engage in a civil, yet argumentative back and forth, but by the end of the interview, Stewart was admittedly arguing in a First Take-style manner. And it was at that point that I realized that this is what Smith has wanted all along; he’s already conquered sports. Now it’s time to take on the rest of the world.

Not as the President of the United States, but rather as politics’ version of… well… Stephen A. Smith. Say what you will about First Take, but it’s the primary reason the former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist now lays claim to a $100 million contract with the Worldwide Leader. And if there’s that much money to be made in sports, just imagine what he could make in the true mainstream media.

Maybe that’s why Smith has made himself available to talk to anyone and everyone, regardless of their political affiliation. Less than a day after appearing on the left-leaning Daily Show, Smith had Riley Gaines on his own podcast. Why limit your appeal to just one side of the aisle when the goal is to embrace debate?

For Smith, this doesn’t seem to be about political power, although he did express his desire to be a “major player” in the political arena. For months, many have assumed that the only way he could make that happen is by running for office, but I no longer believe that to be the case. Rather, I see a sports media star who has realized that his first take doesn’t have to be his only take.

🗣️ NOTABLE QUOTABLES 🗣️ 

• “They’re fouling the s*it out of me every single play. I’m very frustrated with that. And I’m sick of it. I’m sick of it. I don’t know what I need to do. I’ve talked to the refs nice, I pray before the game. Like, f*ck. I’m over it.” - Los Angeles Sparks star Kelsey Plum following her team’s loss to the Golden State Valkyries.

• “ESPN didn’t want this story out there at that point right before the Finals, I get that. That’s how some of these things work. And it’s not a Supreme Court Justice. It’s not a job for life, necessarily. I’m not saying Doris should go or not go. (But) ESPN, I think, is well in their right to make a move.” - The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand on his reporting regarding ESPN potentially moving Doris Burke from its top NBA booth.

• “The amount of programming that Aaron Rodgers and LeBron James have been responsible for at networks is remarkable. That, when they retire, there’s going to be some real soul searching at networks to go, ‘Who are we talking about now? What are we talking about?’” - Dan Patrick on two of sports media’s favorite subjects.

🔥 THE CLOSER 🔥 

Not so fast, my friend

As soon as it was first announced that Lee Corso would be co-hosting one final episode of College GameDay before riding off into the sunset, the natural next question was where will the Sunshine Scooter’s final show take place?

Yet despite his alma mater, Florida State, hosting Alabama during the first week of the 2025 season, the reality is that there was only ever one true option.

On Tuesday, ESPN made it official, announcing that Corso’s final episode of College GameDay will take place at Ohio State, where the Buckeyes will host Texas in a Week 1 College Football Playoff semifinal rematch. Despite his personal connection to Tallahassee, there was never really any doubt. After all, the 89-year-old is far better known at this point for his role as an ESPN analyst than he is for his past days as the quarterback of the Seminoles.

That’s meant many trips to Columbus over the last three decades, including one in 1996 where he donned mascot headgear for the very first time. Factor in that Ohio State vs. Texas is undoubtedly the biggest game of the week, and the announcement that Corso’s final GameDay would take place in the shadow of the Horseshoe was more of a formality than anything else.

That, however, won’t make Aug. 30 any less special, as ESPN bids farewell to one of its most unique and celebrated personalities. College GameDay will move forward, but it will never be the same. Here’s to savoring one last headgear pick — perhaps another Brutus? —before ESPN’s best pregame show officially enters its post-Corso era.