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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

✍️ Another ESPN editor placed on leave. For the second time this week, a high-ranking ESPN editor has been placed on leave. According to Fox Corporation-owned Outkick.com’s Bobby Burack, ESPN senior editor Elizabeth Baugh has been placed on leave.

News of Baugh's leave comes just days after Front Office Sports first reported that ESPN executive editor Cristina Daglas was placed on leave as the result of various complaints from multiple employees to the company’s Human Resources department. According to Burack, "sources say that Baugh had formed a friendship with Daglas, which ESPN considered an impediment to the ongoing investigation into Daglas' conduct.”

Reached by Awful Announcing, ESPN declined comment on the matter.

⚾️ ESPN, MLB op-out. Major League Baseball will be looking for a new national television home after the 2025 season, with The Athletic’s Evan Drellich reporting that the league and ESPN have “mutually agreed” to end their current deal following the upcoming campaign. In a memo sent to team owners, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred wrote that the league has “not been pleased with the minimal coverage that MLB has received on ESPN’s platforms over the past several years outside of the actual live game coverage.”

📺️ ESPN eyeing UGC. As we get closer to the launch of ESPN’s highly anticipated direct-to-consumer streaming service later this year, more details about the product are emerging. That includes a new report from CNBC’s Alex Sherman, who says that the Worldwide Leader will be utilizing user generated content (UGC) on the new streaming service.

At this point, details regarding what that will look like still remain unclear. But Sherman noted the growing threat of YouTube and that Disney executives are also considering a similar feature on the Disney+ streaming service.

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

Talking puck

While it may be a relatively slow week on the sports calendar, you wouldn’t have known it by watching ESPN. That’s because the Worldwide Leader gave the 4 Nations Face-Off final between USA and Canada the championship game treatment, beginning with its morning shows.

Despite being one of the network’s top analysts, P.K. Subban’s presence on ESPN airwaves is often limited to NHL-specific programming. And yet, Subban maintained a regular presence throughout Get Up and First Take on Thursday morning, helping build excitement and anticipation for the final.

Suffice it to say, Subban made the most of the opportunity, generating headlines by comparing the 4 Nations Face-Off to the Stanley Cup and calling out athletes he doesn’t believe deserve to be celebrated as all-time greats. He also took to social media to celebrate President Donald Trump’s potential presence, which unsurprisingly proved to be a polarizing decision.

Politics aside, Subban is clearly a sports media star and it’s been refreshing to see him get his time in the spotlight this week. And much like the NBA and NHL’s All-Star Games, his coverage and celebration of hockey stood in stark contrast to the constant negativity that’s seemingly surrounded basketball in recent years.

🎧️ SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE DAY 🎧️ 

The Play-By-Play

On the latest episode of The Play-By-Play, Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner joins Ben Axelrod and Brendon Kleen to discuss the NBA All-Star Game, Netflix’s interest in adding podcasts and the future of RSNs. Listen/subscribe wherever you find your podcasts.

🎤 MEDIA MOMENTS ✍️ 

🛑 James Carville says pump the brakes on SAS in 2028. As Stephen A. Smith continues to make the rounds and hint at a potential run for president in 2028, one prominent Democrat is calling B.S.

On his Politicon podcast, consultant and media personality James Carville revealed that he’s not a fan of Stephen A.’s digs at the Democratic party. He also expressed skepticism about the ESPN star’s ability to be any sort of a political savior.

“When it comes to politics he don’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. He’s on there running his g**damn mouth about how he may have to run as a Democrat, because there’s nothing left in the Democrat party, there’s no talent,” Carville said. “Stephen A, are you s****ing me?”

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for Smith to respond.

✍️ UConn head coach Dan Hurley is writing a “tell-all” book, which will reportedly address his flirtation with the Los Angeles Lakers’ head coaching vacancy last year. Never Stop: Life, Leadership and What it Takes to Be Great will be co-written with author Ian O’Connor and released later this year.

🏀 NBA ratings might be down, but don’t expect Dan Le Batard to cry for the league any time soon. As he pointed out on Thursday’s episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, the NBA’s new 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal has yet to even kick in, giving the league plenty to fall back on despite the ratings dip.

👀 AROUND AA 👀 

If not Stephen A. Smith, then whom?

It doesn’t look like James Carville will be giving his endorsement to Stephen A. Smith, but what about some other members of the sports media?

In the spirit of Stephen A.’s recent media tour and repeated hints that he might actually consider a run for president, Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder put together a list of 10 sports media figures who might also want to weigh winding up in the Oval Office.

The list possesses plenty of variety, including candidates who have previously hinted at political aspirations (Charles Barkley), those with experience in managing chaos (Molly Qerim) and one who fits the age demographic of the last three presidential election winners (Hubie Brown). I don’t want to spoil the entire list. It’s definitely worth checking out.

And while it was (largely) done tongue-in-cheek, the fact that some of the names don’t even seem that crazy as potential presidential candidates says a lot about the state of sports media and even more about American politics. Is it really that absurd to imagine someone like Chris “Mad Dog” Russo taking his debate skills to the political arena?

I’ll stop there.