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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

🏈 All eyes were on CBS as the network made a ton of news around its NFL coverage. AA’s Drew Lerner reported the CBS Sports Network pregame show, wonderfully titled That Other Pregame Show, is sunsetting with the launch of a new digital NFL Today+ program. Daniel Kaplan was in New York where CBS Sports President David Berson was high on the Paramount-Skydance merger. And Brent Musburger will make a special NFL Today appearance this year commemorating its 50th anniversary.

🏈 Not to be outdone, ESPN also made NFL news with Laura Rutledge being named a full-time Monday Night Football sideline reporter alongside Lisa Salters, who has a brand new contract extension with Bristol.

🥊 UFC head honcho Dana White insists pay-per-view may not be dead after all as part of the new Paramount deal in what must be very exciting news for fight fans.

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

The biggest podcast ever

When it comes to the most anticipated events in world history, the appearance by Taylor Swift on the New Heights podcast with Travis and Jason Kelce is the moon landing, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Barbenheimer all rolled into one. We haven’t been filled with this much awe, wonder, and mystery on Planet Earth since the dinosaurs looked up and wondered what that big rock in the sky was doing heading straight for them.

But in all seriousness, the upcoming Taylor Swift-New Heights collab has already emerged as a seminal moment in sports, pop culture, and everything in between. And it hasn’t even been released yet.

The world has been breathlessly following the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift relationship for multiple years now, but this episode will bring it into focus in a way that has never been done before.

This appearance is the first extended sit down interview where we will actually see Kelce and Swift personally interact with one another. Expect to see your social media timelines flooded with body language experts meticulously scrutinizing every wink, nod, and glance. And if the pair actually show any actual chemistry, you can say good night to your conspiracy theorist friend who says it’s all been an elaborate marketing ploy these last two years.

And as we already know, it also serves as the official announcement of Swift’s new album, which is an incredible scoop for the Kelce Bros. And judging by all of the easter eggs, a ridiculous amount of effort has gone into the planning and the rollout. It’s all been perfectly aligned for this exact date, at this exact moment, for this exact podcast.

But what does the hype say about the power of not just Taylor Swift, but of Travis and Jason Kelce and the New Heights brand? Any entertainment program or influencer would likely give millions of dollars to have this announcement on their airwaves. And yet, it’s going to happen on the podcast of a former NFL center and his younger tight end brother. Not bad for a couple of mid-round draft picks who grew up in Cleveland.

If the Shannon Sharpe-Katt Williams interview is the barometer for sports podcasts reaching the wider culture, this edition of New Heights should send it to a whole new stratosphere. This interview will touch on sports, pop culture, music, and news in a way that is incredibly unique. And it could legitimately end up being one of the most watched, most downloaded, most covered podcasts ever.

📣 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 🌟

If you have been longing for the day that Denzel Washington finally showed up on ESPN to give his take on the Dallas Cowboys, your prayers have finally been answered.

Odell Beckham Jr. is the latest person to fall victim to fake news spreading on social media with an Adam Schefter clone falsely reporting his retirement.

In things you never expected to see or hear but are glad you did, here is an awesome George Carlin story from fantasy football guru Matthew Berry.

📺 INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 🎬

⛳ The USGA officially has their new long-term media deal locked in with NBC Sports, including Versant.

⚖️ Hairstylist Noushin Faraji has moved to dismiss her lawsuit filed against Fox Sports and Skip Bayless, though the case remains open due to a technicality.

🏀 The first episode of Inside the NBA currently has a 30-minute run time set for the NBA’s opening week.

🎙️ Matthew Stafford may already have an eye towards his next career as he will host SiriusXM’s Let’s Go this season.

📺 The new ESPN documentary series on the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs season, The Kingdom, is more of a field goal than a touchdown.

🗣️ NOTABLE QUOTABLES 🗣️

“I just care about my relationship with you, because I know if I’m cool with you, that’s all that matters.” - Tom Brady to Greg Olsen on his podcast, disappointing drama lovers and those hopeful of a WWE-style heel turn from one of them.

“What happened wasn’t right and I’m glad the court didn’t let the NFL cover it up.” - Jon Gruden is looking forward to his day in court against the NFL after a major victory in the case over his leaked e-mails.

“It was Week 1 of preseason, man. We’re pretty reasonable about how we digest most of this, not that.” - Scott Van Pelt is over all of the Shedeur Sanders drama in just one week of preseason football.

🔥THE CLOSER🔥

NBA’s new Christmas alternative?

The NFL has officially shoved the NBA off of its decades-long Christmas Day perch. When Roger Goodell signaled that the NFL would play on Christmas every year, even if it fell during the middle of the week, it was the end of the NBA’s standalone showcase.

As the NBA has unveiled its 2025-2026 schedule, it is continuing with Christmas Day as a marquee day on the calendar. ESPN and ABC will still televise their five games throughout the day with the best matchups the league can produce. It may never reach the heights it did before the NFL arrived, but it will always matter a great deal to the NBA.

But give credit to the NBA because they are not resting on their laurels. Instead, they are expanding their footprint on another holiday that has also become synonymous with the league - Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The NBA has regularly played on MLK Day going back to 1986, but for the first time in 2026, it will feature three games on national network television with the return of the NBA on NBC and another streaming game on Peacock. Up until this year, the MLK Day games have all been shown on cable, usually a doubleheader on TNT. A quadruple-header with all-day national coverage is a big step up forward from there.

NBC is making an enormous effort to give the NBA more national television exposure on network airwaves than ever before. The MLK Day games may not have the same viewership numbers as Christmas, but at least it represents another opportunity as a meaningful showcase and platform for the NBA that is all their own…. at least until the NFL decides they want to play a playoff doubleheader that day too.