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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

🏈 Ex-Alabama QB says don’t rule out a return to coaching for Nick Saban. Could Nick Saban be eyeing a return to coaching? One of his former quarterbacks and current ESPN colleagues seems to think it’s at least a possibility.

During an interview with Paul Finebaum, Greg McElroy shared that someone he trusts told him that his former coach hasn’t necessarily hung up his whistle for good.

“This is a little bit out of left field,” McElroy admitted, “but the question was asked of me… [by] a very much in-the-know person that I have a lot of respect for. They seem to think Nick Saban’s not done coaching. I had a similar reaction. He’s pretty adamant that he thinks Nick Saban will be coaching again. … Look, if it wasn’t someone notable, I’d never say a word.”

While both Finebaum and McElroy agreed that such a return is unlikely, it’s certainly a storyline worth monitoring. Should Saban return to coaching, it would have an obvious ripple effect across the college football landscape, as well as at ESPN, where the 7-time national champion has found a new home on College GameDay.

⚾️ Manfred delays timeline for new deal. While it doesn’t appear that MLB will be announcing a new media rights partnership during its All-Star Weekend, commissioner Rob Manfred told Sports Business Journal that he expects a new agreement will be announced “shortly.”

🎤 Allison Williams moving to NFL. With Laura Okmin leaving Fox after 23 years, the network found itself in need of a new NFL sideline reporter. And rather than looking outside, it’s promoting from within, with Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy reporting that Fox will move Allison Williams from college football to NFL coverage.

🏀 NBA eyes RSN launch. As the NBA continues to consider its future from a local rights perspective, a new strategy has emerged. According to Sports Business Journal’s Tom Friend, the league is eyeing the 2027-28 season for the launch of a national RSN platform.

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

Another FS1 shakeup is officially underway

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but FS1 is making some major changes.

But while the cable channel has undergone several shifts in strategy since its inception in 2013, this one seems more significant than the rest.

According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, FS1 is canceling three of its daily programs: Breakfast Ball, The Facility and Speak. The move marks the cancellation of three shows that were each launched just last August and leaves the channel with only two current daily programs in The Herd and First Things First.

Obviously, plenty of dominos will follow, both in terms of how FS1 fills the vast programming void and what it does with talents such as Danny Parkins. But for now, Marchand reports that Joy Taylor’s time at FS1 has come to an end, with the network opting not to renew her contract.

That’s a story in and of itself considering Taylor’s involvement in the workplace misconduct lawsuit that has cast a cloud over FS1 since January. To that end, it’s also worth noting that all three of the canceled shows were conceived under former Fox Sports executive Charlie Dixon, who is no longer with the network after having been named a defendant in two separate lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.

As for Taylor, it’s been impossible not to notice a shift in her own content in recent months and what it might mean for her own future. While she’s been shy to discuss sexual matters, it’s seemingly become a weekly occurrence, with some speculating that she’s been positioning herself for a post-FS1 career.

We’ll find out in the weeks and months ahead whether that comes to fruition. But while Taylor’s departure is hardly a surprise, the same can’t be said for the drastic nature of FS1’s shakeup.

From that standpoint, it will be interesting to see how the cable channel goes about filling its newfound programming void, with some informed social media speculation already making a connection to Barstool Sports. Such a partnership — whether it’s Barstool leasing programming or talent — would certainly make a lot of sense, especially considering that both companies now possess Chicago office space.

Is a Windy City connection in the works? We’ll likely find out soon, as one would imagine that Fox would like to have its new schedule in place by football season. But if Barstool Sports personalities do, in fact, wind up on FS1 airwaves, it would certainly mark a new era for Fox Sports and perhaps the most dramatic strategy shift in its 12-year history.

📰 AROUND AA 📰 

WWE isn’t in danger of losing its position as the top pro wrestling promotion anytime soon, but there is at least a viable alternative to the company once again. That much was made clear following AEW’s All In: Texas pay-per-view, which marked a return to form for the Tony Khan-owned promotion.

📣 NOTABLE QUOTABLES 🗣️ 

• “There’s no negotiations, so I can very simply say to you: there’s no negotiations. I would love to stay on if that works. If it doesn’t work, I’m 47, not 64. My career will continue, I hope.” - ESPN’s Brian Windhorst to The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch on the state of his contract negotiations.

• “The world’s going to change a lot in the next year with our rights deals. More than likely, we’re going to end up with a platform that is way more global than we are now.” - UFC President Dana White to the Full Send Podcast on the state of his company’s media rights negotiations.

• "As we move forward, we will see. I don't want to say it's yearly, it's not yearly. I think we see what that demand is for it.” - WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque on the possibility of the company having an annual all-women’s show.

🔥 THE CLOSER 🔥 

ESPN hard launches into football season

The MLB Home Run Derby took place on Monday night. In fact, it even aired on ESPN.

Only you likely wouldn’t have known it had you been watching the network’s programming throughout the morning, which seemed to put an extra emphasis on its football coverage despite it only being July 14.

It started on Get Up, with host Peter Schrager joined by Dan Orlovsky, Damien Woody and a guest list that included NFL insider Jeremy Fowler and SEC analyst Jordan Rodgers. It continued on First Take, where Kevin Clark joined the fray to opine on debates centered on Baker Mayfield and C.J. Stroud.

If there was a single non-commercial mention of the Home Run Derby from 8 a.m-12 p.m. ET on ESPN, we must have missed it. And while the network is never one to shy away from football talk, it sure felt like Monday marked a pivot in the morning shows’ programming plans moving forward.

That doesn’t make this year unique, as a look back at last year’s activity indicates that this was also the day on the calendar that ESPN hard launched into its coverage of America’s pastime. It makes sense too, as the NBA offseason has quieted down and conference media days and the start of training camps provide natural pathways for the football-focused conversations.

Still, it was impossible not to notice the shift from First Take to The Pat McAfee Show, which aired live from Atlanta with an extra emphasis on baseball-related content. That, however, proved to be the outlier on ESPN’s airwaves throughout the day on Monday, during what effectively marked opening day for the network’s — and America’s — football obsession.