2025 turned out to be one of the most eventful years when it came to the business of sports media. With plenty of stories to break down, T.J. Rives was joined by Ken Fang of Awful Announcing and Jay Betsill of DFW Sports Online to rank some of the best on the Last Word On Sports Media podcast.
ESPN Leads The Way In Biggest Sports Media Story Of Year
One of the biggest stories of the year is of course ESPN finally started to offer its services direct to consumer and its acquisition of a number of different properties, including WWE premium live events.
“Whether it’s they had a dispute with YouTube TV, whether they’re launching their own app, whether they’re signing it with the WWE, whether they’re purchasing a piece of NFL Network. They did a lot of things this year,” Fang told us. “They dominate sports media and they do it every year, but this year they really did it times a million.”
Fang says to expect skinny bundles from providers with local channels and ESPN in 2026, but also don’t be surprised when the network to raise prices when they have to renegotiate their rights deal with the NFL.
Baseball’s Musical Chairs Also Big In Sports Media
One of Betsill’s biggest stories of 2025 also involves ESPN moving their rights, and that’s with leaving Sunday Night Baseball.
“It’s been on ESPN for as long as I can remember,” he told us.
But that came to an end in 2025, as ESPN announced it was opting out of carrying Sunday Night Baseball. NBC then swooped in and took over carrying the game beginning in 2026 and running for the next three seasons. ESPN then turned around and bought MLB TV and created a midweek slate of national games to air, and Netflix picked up the Home Run Derby, as well as an Opening Day game and other ancillary programming.
The guys also discussed the demise of the regional sports networks as well as the retirement of a pair of college football broadcasting legends this year: Lee Corso at ESPN and Gary Danielson at CBS.
