Archives
John Skipper reveals Apple tried to create sports bundle almost 10 years ago, but balked at price
"It's a good idea to be the person to aggregate sports."
John Skipper thinks the Super Bowl will go streaming-only within next eight years
"I would have thought that pay-per-view for the Super Bowl would be on the outside of that deal. I now that think in the life of the deal, the Super Bowl will go pay-per-view."
John Skipper casts doubt on potential NFL stake in ESPN
"I don't know in practical terms how you have reporters reporting the news on your minority shareholder without some dramatic tension and conflict."
John Skipper recalls phone calls from Bud Selig when ‘Mike and Mike’ didn’t air enough MLB highlights
"Sometimes he would be mad ... but he would get talked down pretty quickly."
John Skipper airs FIFA’s dirty laundry after FBI subpoenas him over ESPN World Cup bids
"They think they're an independent geographical entity."
John Skipper denies ever meddling in College Football Playoff selection while at ESPN
"Maybe since I left, they've become corruptible."
John Skipper: ESPN faces ‘uphill battle’ partnering with ‘also-ran’ Penn on ESPN Bet venture
"I'm also not surprised to see ESPN do this."
John Skipper: ESPN was more profitable than Disney studios & parks in heyday
"I don't know that I believe the board and Bob (Iger) want to sell ESPN as a whole."
John Skipper admits ESPN hired Adrian Wojnarowski out of ‘pride’: ‘We wanted to win’
"We wanted to be first, and we wanted to win.”
David Samson says he wouldn’t spend ‘one penny’ for sports naming rights
"I have yet to meet a consumer who made a consumption decision based on a team partnership."
Dan Patrick exposed ESPN efforts to block the growth of his radio show when he left the network
Dan Patrick left ESPN to take control of his career more than 15 years ago, but it appears...
Former ESPN president: ‘We valued Stephen A. more than we valued Skip’
"We just felt that Skip was the foil and the star of the show was Stephen A.”
David Samson joins Meadowlark Media, will host two shows for the company
The former president of the Marlins is the latest sports media personality to join Meadowlark.
John Skipper: NBA will see ‘between 200 and 350% more money’ in next media rights deal
“Rights go up. They look terrible in the beginning, by the end they look great."
Pablo Torre is joining Meadowlark Media, but will still contribute to ESPN
Beyond his new work for Meadowlark, Torre is expected to keep contributing to ESPN programs, including Around The Horn and Pardon The Interruption.
Boomer Esiason says Congress won’t let the NFL put the Super Bowl on pay-per-view
"Just remember the antitrust exemption that the NFL is afforded."
John Skipper thinks a Super Bowl PPV would generate ‘billions of dollars’
"The single best way I can think of for the NFL to increase their annual revenue take for their clubs, is to make the Super Bowl a Pay-Per-View event."
Joe Rogan stunned to learn John Skipper and ESPN parted ways over a coke addiction: ‘F*ckin knuckleheads’
"In that world, you can’t even admit you did coke. It’s a stupid world. It’s a stupid world where you have to pretend to be a fake person."
Dana White credits John Skipper’s cocaine scandal for UFC’s $1.5 billion ESPN deal, though reality was more nuanced
"So you want to talk about timing."
John Skipper and Meadowlark Media announce “Sports Explains the World” series of docs and podcasts
John Skipper and Dan Le Batard have a big new Meadowlark Media content initiative on the way with "Sports Explains the World." It doesn't have a streaming destination yet, though.
John Skipper laments Tom Brady’s $375 million contract with Fox: “He’s a very expensive trophy”
"For $375 million, you could have bought some live event rights, which would actually make a significant difference."
John Skipper: ‘[ESPN] should never have let the Big Ten Network happen’
"Jim Delany had the smart idea to launch a network with FOX and that also was good business, even though it had a rough start.”
John Skipper is wrong that there’s “a void in world class non-event sports content,” but his Meadowlark plan makes some sense
"There is just not a lot of sports content in any genre on Netflix, Hulu, Paramount +, HBO Now or Discovery Plus." That is not correct.
John Skipper thinks a pay-per-view Super Bowl is in our future
How much would you pay to watch the Super Bowl?