Welcome to the thirty sixth Media Mailbag for The Athletic. Writing a mailbag — as selfish as it’s — is all the time a enjoyable train. Thanks for sending in your questions by way of the web site and app. There had been greater than 200 questions, so it is a two-parter. Part 1 appeared last week. 

Note: Questions have been edited for readability and size.

If you had been an proprietor and will have any present baseball announcers as your group’s announcers, who would you need? You can pair them from any of the present MLB group announcers. For TV, select one play-by-play announcer and one or two analysts. For radio, selected two PxPs. — Mitch E.

Fun query. It’s a very wonderful second for play-by-play baseball broadcasters. I’d go along with Jason Benetti (White Sox) as my tv play voice and pair him with Keith Hernandez (Mets) and Ron Darling (Mets) as my analysts. I’ll cheat a bit of and use Gary Cohen (Mets) or Jon Miller (Giants) — who each do TV — as my radio play-by-play callers.

With scores holding sturdy for the Women’s College World Series, do you assume scores will develop for skilled softball and exceed the WNBA? — Peter C.

The WCWS title collection already tops the WNBA in viewership. The 2023 Women’s College World Series championship collection, which noticed Oklahoma defeat Florida State to tug off a three-peat, averaged 1.6 million viewers (down barely from the record-setting 1.85 million common in 2021). This yr’s four-game WNBA Finals averaged 534,220 viewers. The WNBA Finals has to face the NFL within the fall, so there are competitors challenges there.

Can Michael Cole win a Sports Emmy for his work in WWE? What do you assume will occur with their TV contracts? — Peter A.

I don’t assume any skilled wrestling performer will ever win a Sports Emmy, however I believe Cole has as a lot a legit argument for a nomination as anybody. As for the TV contracts, my solely prediction proper now could be that you will notice greater than two companions be a part of that deal. It gained’t be break up between simply two corporations.

I do know that is robust to pin down, however should you’re ESPN and you possibly can place one bid every for an unique TV deal on girls’s basketball and males’s baseball, what’s the quantity? — Hunter P.

The girls’s basketball event is a $100 million property. I’d bid $50 million for school baseball.

I semi-understand that scores drive promoting {dollars}, and that makes excellent sense. As a man at residence in a garden chair, ought to I care in any respect about scores? — Derrick E.

You ought to care about what you care about. Viewership is one measure — a notable one — of an occasion’s reputation. It’s simply an fascinating knowledge level. Some persons are fascinated by these numbers; others couldn’t care much less. It impacts you to the extent of what corporations finally personal the rights to the video games you like.

Pro basketball in Phoenix goes old-fashioned and returning to over-the-air free broadcasts. Do you see another groups following go well with, both to rebuild a fan base decimated by erratic broadcast rights offers or to try to replicate the success the NFL has in viewership dominance? — Nate D.

Reach is the brand new buzzword in distribution, so I believe free-to-air broadcasts will likely be one thing you’ll see as lots of the groups with troubled RSN offers determine a method to recalibrate their media offers.

When USC and UCLA be a part of the Big Ten subsequent yr, do you see them enjoying on Fox’s “Big Noon” Saturday loads? Fox relies out of L.A. and, reportedly, had loads to do with these two colleges leaving the Pac-12. I think about they’ll need to slot a few of their video games within the midday spot. However, that seems like an enormous aggressive drawback when these colleges could be on the street and could be tremendous robust for followers if the video games are in L.A. — Kevin R.

Television is driving every little thing relating to the Big Ten schedule. Everything else is secondary. Logic holds that Fox would need to get as many USC video games for sure (UCLA video games to a lesser extent), and people video games would logically be street video games given West Coast groups is not going to be kicking off at 9 a.m. native time. The fascinating one for me will likely be USC at Ohio State in 2025. I’d assume that will likely be a “Big Noon Kickoff” recreation.

What televised sport do you assume is at present “punching above its weight” on TV and within the mainstream media? It can’t be a giant 4 sport like NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB. It can’t be MMA or golf. Is it F1, professional lacrosse, MLS or one thing fully completely different? — Anonymous

As I’ve mentioned many instances, girls’s school softball, girls’s school volleyball and males’s school lacrosse are school viewership sports activities on the rise. MLS will get a giant pop from the arrival of Leo Messi.

Any ideas on the media rights offers occurring in skilled wrestling (which I do know shouldn’t be actually a full-fledged sport and never sometimes coated by The Athletic). The themes appear to resonate with the themes of dwell sports activities rights)? — Tyler B.

The WWE media rights renewal — and the value it will get from events — will inform us loads concerning the energy of professional wrestling as a content material play as we head towards 2030. The WWE’s argument: We usher in thousands and thousands of viewers each week for a number of hours of programming. We’re very sturdy within the 18-45 demo. We can market different applications. We give our streaming companion (on this case, Peacock) an enormous stock to promote subs. It’s a very good story, however it’s additionally a narrative they’re pitching at a time when media corporations are struggling amid a tough advert market and declining cable subs. As for AEW, Warner Bros Discovery clearly sees worth in dwell productions, and I don’t assume AEW Collision will get added in the event that they didn’t need it to succeed.

Wrestling, to me, is exclusive as a content material play. It has historical past, multi-generational followers, and one firm that may be a international juggernaut. It’s a a lot completely different proposition than making a Power Slap League or one thing comparable. I believe you will notice each WWE and AEW on cable and streaming in some type over the subsequent 5-10 years. But what they get for the media packages, it’s a giant query.

Any ideas on the subsequent NBA deal? Any likelihood we see some new media companions, equivalent to Fox or the return of NBC? — Pete G.

I predict we’ll see new companions, together with a streamer. I’ll be writing about that loads as we get nearer.

How come when displaying tennis highlights it ALWAYS ends with match level? This is the one sport I do know that does this frequently. It simply appears there are higher methods to finish it. — Pete G.

It’s an awesome statement. I don’t know the reply aside from to guess the worth of the celebration shot as match level comes. But they need to change it up — agreed.

When will there ever be a fan-friendly resolution to the Bally Sports fiasco?! There doesn’t even appear to be a cheap method to watch the native MLB group, & nobody (cable corporations, groups, Bally Sports, and so forth.) appears occupied with resolving this. I don’t watch Rangers video games just because I CAN’T. — Bruce U.

For some perception, I requested Patrick Crakes, a former Fox Sports govt turned media marketing consultant for his personal enterprise, Crakes Media: “One of the challenges with ‘fan-friendly solutions’ to native recreation distribution is defining simply what that’s precisely, significantly by way of present and projected group revenues that assist participant salaries and different group financial commitments. If you imply entry to on-demand video games at a worth you are feeling is acceptable, I’ve to let you already know that’s not going. That’s because of the economics of native recreation distribution for MLB (and the opposite two RSN’s leagues — the NHL and NBA) making up significant parts of total group income which come from rights charges powered by regional sports activities networks by way of pay TV. Adjusting the extent of native rights charges’ annual progress downward can have a major influence on some group working budgets.

“As a result, extreme care has to be taken when changing a distribution plan,” Crakes continued. “It’s no surprise that MLB, NHL and NBA have found it nearly impossible to pivot away from the general market economics of pay TV in favor of a segmented model that (at present) would walk back local rights significantly by embracing no-fee advertising only on broadcast TV and/or high-cost direct-to-consumer streaming. As far as the future goes, recently a few RSN teams from the NBA and NHL have struck deals that will see — at least in the short run — distribution models that feature a mix of broadcast TV and streaming.”

If a genie gave you three needs with which you possibly can change something you wished concerning the Canadian sports activities TV panorama, what would you do? — Ryan F.

First, I’d create extra jobs as a result of the sports activities media trade in Canada (just like the U.S.) has cratered. Second, I’d make ESPN extra simply accessible, however that’s extra of a egocentric request as an American residing in Canada. Lastly, and the one I’d need most: I’m hoping my friend Bob McCown recovers rapidly.

Who do you assume will change Todd Blackledge at ESPN? — John S.

One of the next: Dan Orlovsky, Robert Griffin III or Greg McElroy.

The Flyers are including two former gamers who’ve labored in sports activities media to the entrance workplace. Part of the justification for these hirings is that the broadcasters have good rapport with the media and a sturdy Rolodex of connections within the league. Do you agree that former broadcasters have these abilities/belongings to leverage, and the way essential do you assume they may be to the operating of knowledgeable franchise? — P.Ok. B

Like most jobs, I believe it will depend on the person. Clearly, should you work in skilled sports activities as a broadcaster, you actually have a very good contact checklist. But the job of broadcasting could be very completely different than being a president or GM of a professional sports activities group. I believe if Keith Jones was the one individual with GM energy right here, it will be a a lot greater threat. This piece from Charlie O’Connor on the Flyers was really good regarding your question.

Whither Rachel Nichols? — Matthew W.

She’s discovered a pleasant post-ESPN spot as a bunch and content material creator at Showtime as properly as hosting an interview show at Monumental Sports Network, which has rebranded from NBC Sports Washington.

What is your tackle the Pac-12 media deal taking this lengthy to finalize? — Daryl C.

As has been written and voiced by many masking this with rather more depth than me, there seems to be a transparent disconnect between how convention officers worth the rights package deal and what the package deal will finally go for in an open market. It’s additionally a really mushy advert market proper now. Personally, I’ve all the time been an enormous fan of the Pac-12’s non-football belongings, particularly given Stanford’s excellence in sports activities throughout the board. I believe it’s an awesome girls’s basketball convention. But soccer is driving the bus right here because it all the time does.

How a lot play will the Women’s World Cup get particularly as it is going to be around the globe in Australia and New Zealand? — Joshua E.

Do you assume Fox will make a giant push to maintain the Men’s/Women’s World Cup or will ESPN/CBS be extra aggressive? Also, is Fox a probable suitor for the Kentucky Derby/Preakness now that they’ve the Belmont? — Mike S.

I believe the Women’s World Cup will get a ton of consideration within the U.S. given the USWNT is a profitable and standard group. The WWC time distinction will be beneficial for Fox when the group performs in prime time (their first two group-stage video games begin at 9 p.m. ET) and clearly the alternative for any 3 or 4 a.m. ET begins. Viewership will likely be decided by how far the group goes.

If the World Cup rights come up for bid within the U.S., I believe you will notice a number of suitors go after it, together with streamers. NBC has broadcast rights to the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Breeders’ Cup by way of 2025, however I do assume Fox will kick the tires on a few of these properties as NBC makes an attempt to retain.

There’s loads of dialogue round viewership numbers for occasions and the way they’re affected by sure matchups (e.g. Nuggets-Heat). Do scores for particular person video games have an effect on how a lot a community will get paid, or does it simply have an effect on future worth? If the latter, wouldn’t folks consider that variability when estimating how a lot one thing is value, that means one “bad” matchup shouldn’t make a lot distinction? — Zachary B.

For all of the hand-wringing about who was within the NBA Finals, in a comparatively one-sided affair, they nonetheless averaged 11 million viewers a recreation. How essential is that for “small market” NBA groups and for the NBA in negotiating its new deal? Not to say for NBA groups that aren’t the Lakers, Celtics, Knicks, Bulls, Warriors or Sixers? — Jesse Ok.

Ad charges are decided by scores/viewership obtained the earlier yr, however there are some issues resistant to year-to-year viewership such because the Super Bowl. There is not any single-game knowledge level that may influence the NBA’s media rights valuation, however leagues need to see will increase (clearly) and viewer momentum.

The NBA had an excellent story to inform in 2023. Per Sports Media Watch: The full NBA playoffs averaged 5.12 million viewers throughout ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV — up 7 % from final yr (4.77 million) and the most-watched postseason since 2018 (5.2 million). That it got here with the Nuggets and Heat because the finalists — small markets in comparison with another groups within the league — is nice information for the league because it heads towards the top of its present media rights deal. Some of that bump is actually on account of out-of-home viewing, which has been used for all sports activities since 2020.

What the NBA needs is a continued inflow of younger stars that followers gravitate towards as a result of the league is nationwide and international. Victor Wembanyama will likely be an fascinating viewership research this yr, and as I previously wrote — I would load up on national games for the Spurs this season.

This Sally Jenkins feature on Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova — Bitter rivals. Beloved associates. Survivors. — is the very best sports activities piece I’ve learn in 2023. You gained’t remorse studying it.

(Top picture of Jason Benetti: Ron Vesely / MLB Photos by way of Getty Images)