- Tina Thornton, EVP/creative studio and marketing at ESPN, is one of the guests on this week's SBJ Sports Media Podcast. Check out an early clip of Thornton's appearance, where she addresses how ESPN will be tackling issues related to connecting with young audiences through the "Flagship" OTT product, as well as through continued creative efforts around culture and music.
- NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told my colleague Alex Silverman that there will "be an evolution" to how the league and its teams handle local media rights. "There'll be obviously more direct-to-consumer and streaming. As national rights become increasingly valuable, as we're seeing, there'll be an opportunity to maybe adjust the balance. Those are all things that we're looking at very closely. Our next negotiation is for Canada. There are two years left on our Canadian arrangement with Rogers, of which Amazon is now a part, and we have four years left with ESPN and Turner." Bettman also noted Rogers' exclusive negotiating window on that Canadian deal begins at the start of 2025.
- Silverman also wrote that Amazon's impact on the NHL is among the key league developments he's watching this season. "The league’s hot-and-heavy relationship with Amazon, particularly in Canada, has been a source of intrigue as the league approaches its first Canadian media rights negotiation cycle in over a decade."
- My boss Abe Madkour in his Forum this week wrote you should "get familiar with the name Ed Rogers, who is now one of the most powerful executives in North American team sports" after taking majority control of MLSE earlier this month. "This gives Rogers Communications control of the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Toronto FC and the Argonauts, and remember, Rogers already owns the Blue Jays and Rogers Centre. ... To say they approach sports business differently is an understatement."
- Prime Video saw its best “Thursday Night Football” audience yet in Week 4, as the first-ever matchup of the Giants and Cowboys on “TNF” (dating back to when the package started in 2006) delivered 16.22 million viewers, reports SBJ's Austin Karp.