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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

⚾ Braves reporter Wiley Ballard getting a phone number from a female fan was criticized by female sports journalists who pointed out an obvious double standard in the reaction to the viral clip.

🏈 After public criticism of how he and his show were handled at the NFL combine, Pat McAfee revealed that he will broadcast a live NFL Draft show on site once again next week in Green Bay.

🏀 To no surprise, Awful Announcing readers ranked Ian Eagle, Grant Hill, and Bill Raftery as the top NCAA Tournament broadcast team. You can find full rankings here.

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

The post-Tiger era is here

The 2025 Masters will always be remembered as the crowning achievement of Rory McIlroy completing the career grand slam and putting on the coveted green jacket. But for the long-term future of the game, it may be just as significant for who wasn’t there than who was.

That being Tiger Woods.

McIlroy’s Masters triumph was the most watched final round since 2018 with an average of 12.71 million viewers, which incredibly even beat the 2019 edition where Woods shocked the world to win his 15th and presumably final major. However, that 2019 tournament was affected by rain that saw the final round move up earlier in the day.

To hit those kind of viewership numbers (with a peak of almost 20 million viewers) without Tiger Woods even stepping foot on the property at Augusta National this week marks a pivotal moment for golf.

For years, Woods took golf to heights that it had never hit before and may never hit again. He was a cultural phenomenon that few athletes can ever approach. Even when he was far past his prime, his career broken down by injuries, accidents, and off-course controversy, Woods was still the defining figure in the sport. If he was present at a tournament, ratings would go up regardless if he was in contention or not. If he didn’t play, ratings would go down.

But it has been a long time since Woods contended in a major or any other tournament for that matter. His legendary Masters win in 2019 is his last Top 20 in a major. He has played just 13 tournaments the last five seasons. And his achilles injury that rules him out of the 2025 season begs the question if we will ever see him again in anything more than a ceremonial role at Augusta.

With Tiger Woods well and truly out of sight and out of mind for this year’s Masters, it was up to the current generation of stars to deliver. And McIlroy and company did just that with one of the most thrilling, dramatic major final rounds in the history of the sport.

So perhaps it was fitting that it was Scottie Scheffler putting the green jacket on Rory McIlroy on Sunday because they will be two pillars of golf’s present and future. For so long the sport has wondered what would become of it after Tiger Woods. Could it succeed? Would it go the way of boxing and horse racing into the forgotten fabric of American sport?

But even in spite of all the LIV-PGA drama and the bigger issues facing the game, we learned Sunday that its future may actually be in good hands.

📣 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 🌟

Yep, Marcus Morris said that live on national television.

Incredibly, the defining image of Rory McIlroy’s Masters victory and grand slam triumph may have come from Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

It was a cold night in Minneapolis, so why wouldn’t SNY Mets reporter Steve Gelbs do a live update wearing a full Vikings uniform?

🔦 IN THE SPOTLIGHT ☀️

Now that its exclusive negotiating window with ESPN has come and gone, UFC rights have officially hit the open market. But some combination of ESPN and Netflix are the likely frontrunners to land part or all of the fight league’s next deal.

🏄 _{CHANNEL SURFING} 🌊 

🏀 The final numbers are in and the NBA finished slightly down on national television this year with an overall 2% decline compared to the 2023-2024 season. [Sports Media Watch]

📺 Thanks to strong numbers from the expanded College Football Playoff and 4 Nations Face-Off, ESPN posted its best Q1 viewership since 2017. [ESPN]

🎙️Doris Burke had high praise for colleague Richard Jefferson, saying he’s a more natural broadcaster than herself or JJ Redick. [Front Office Sports]

🗣️ NOTABLE QUOTABLES 🗣️

“We’re not doing all those other damn shows, I want to make that perfectly clear.” - Charles Barkley on the SI Media Podcast about the prospect of working other ESPN shows next season like Get Up or First Take.

“In that moment, everyone is so critical and I hate everyone for that and so I champion him.” - Kay Adams defending Shedeur Sanders over criticism for having his hood up during an interview.

“I’m gonna dedicate an hour to covering the sport the way they want me to. Okay? That’s all I’m gonna tell you.” - Stephen A. Smith taunting Kevin Durant after getting called out on X and sarcastically promising a kinder, gentler First Take.

🔥THE CLOSER🔥

Women’s basketball’s rising tide

Another sport that should be optimistic about its future is women’s basketball. No league enjoys seeing its ratings for one event drop by almost half, but if there is one that should not be concerned it’s the WNBA.

2025 WNBA Draft coverage fell 49% from last year when Caitlin Clark was drafted by the Indiana Fever with 1.25 million viewers. But perhaps more importantly, it was up 119% from two years prior. In fact, the 2025 draft doubled the previous high water mark before Clark was drafted, which came all the way back in 2004 when Diana Taurasi was the star attraction.

This continues a trend we saw from the college basketball season where viewership failed to match the incredible heights from when Caitlin Clark was at Iowa but still delivered historically strong numbers.

The overall point is clear, women’s basketball growth looks like it’s here to stay on the college and pro level. Paige Bueckers will give the WNBA yet one more superstar to build around for her first year in the league to continue the momentum of Clark and others. And stars that were made during the most recent March Madness run like UConn teammate Azzi Fudd and UCLA’s Lauren Betts will carry the college game into next year.

As more college stars become household names, it only strengthens the WNBA. And as more WNBA fans come on board, they will be encouraged to follow the next generation in college. Bueckers is also committed to next year’s Unrivaled which will only help the upstart 3v3 league as well. Everyone is benefitting from the rise in women’s basketball and the growth we’ve seen in the last 24 months should only continue to rise.