Goode Report

A child that is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth - African Proverb

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

It would be interesting to see the plan going forward for ESPN.

[Nikki Gist @NikkiNic9384]

Yeh sure the ESPN layoffs are crazy but they pretty much did this to themselves. The proverbial fall from grace has been fascinating to watch because it was entirely preventable. 👀

Why the layoffs ? 🤔

•Absorbed NFLNetwork employees
•Ad rev was down a bit year over year
•Consumer viewing habits changed
•Sports rights fees are extremely expensive
•The streaming services are impacting ESPN greatly. They drive cord-cutting and outbid traditional TV for the rights to broadcast
•Remember when we all had cable and would pay that $10 for ESPN whether we watched it or not? Yehh those days are long gone
•Amazon, Netflix and Apple are very aggressive when it comes to buying sports rights
•Advertisers are shifting their budgets away from traditional TV networks in favor of streaming platforms
•ESPN has to spend a massive amount of money to compete in the direct to consumer streaming app space

Rights Fees 💵
•The streaming giants are projected to spend about $14 billion on sports rights
•Amazon is the top spender. $1.8 billion NBA deal per season plus TNF.
•Netflix secured baseball, the NFL holiday window and WWE
•Apple has taken over global packages like MLS

So where does that leave ESPN?

A day late and dollar short that’s where.

They should’ve launched their App years ago and bought out tech infrastructure before the heavy hitters from Silicon Valley came in.

ESPN chose to protect that passive cable subscription income instead of innovate. That window allowed the tech giants to come in and pull the rug out from under ESPN.

See ESPN underestimated the tech companies. Didn’t really view them as competitors until it was too late. They viewed Fox, NBC and CBS as their competitors. They never saw Amazon and Apple coming.

Amazon treated sports as a loss leader. They didn’t need to make a profit right away. Sports drove Prime subscriptions.

You get the idea yes? 💡

Where ESPN dropped the ball 🏀

ESPN apps were glitchy, buggy, would crash often and lacked any advance features. So they had to spend more money on upgrades while guys like YouTube already had streaming down to a seamless science.

But where ESPN really missed the mark was overlooking how fan behavior changed. They stuck to their ways and missed the shift in how younger fans consumed sports. They wanted community driven platforms, live fantasy integration and real time betting.

ESPN found themselves in the classic “Innovators Dilemma” trap. 🪤

So now they are throwing strategy agains the wall to see what sticks in an attempt to survive.

I always tell everyone I work with in business: if you’re not innovating you’re dying. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

I don’t get the appeal.

[Amy @amyknowsball]

Maybe unpopular but I honestly don't find Pat McAfee's show entertaining in the slightest

Don't understand how he is worth $60 million

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

That tracks.

[#StopCopCity @ChuckModi1]

First & last time I quote Benny Johnson only bc his content is instructive—despite the wrong reasons! ESPN has made a biz decision to white-pander to him & MAGA crowd. Ryan Clark called out BS incl absurd statues to Charlie Kirk. In contrast SAS, $40M per, praised Kirk tribute by the Yankees & is highest paid ESPN voice.

Ryan Clark is just the latest. Cam Newton gone too today. Before that, Bomani Jones gone. Jemele Hill gone. Jalen Rose, gone. Max Kellerman gone. Dan Le Batard gone. Howard Bryant barely seen (pls read his books!). Call out racism too much at ESPN & you will be gone.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

ESPN’s highest paid talent is less concerned about being informative and more worried about creating the next controversial hot take. Then doubling down on it. Rage sells!

[Josh Faize @Josh_faize]

ESPN just fired a guy who gave them 33 years. they're about to pay another guy $60M a year for a show they don't even own.

both moves are the same move.

everyone's calling this cost-cutting. it's not. the payroll isn't shrinking — it's moving. and where it's moving tells you everything about what happened to sports media.

Karl Ravech was an employee. SportsCenter's whole model was that the brand made the person — anchors were interchangeable parts in a machine ESPN owned. ESPN paid salaries and kept all the upside, because being on ESPN was the only way to get famous.

@PatMcAfee is not an employee. look at the actual contract: it's a licensing agreement. he owns the show. he pays his own staff. ESPN doesn't employ its biggest star — it rents him, the same way it rents the NFL.

that's the whole story. ESPN spent 40 years as a star-maker. now it's a star-renter.

and renting is forced, not chosen. the star-making machine ran on two things:

1. scarce distribution. ESPN owned the only beach. want to be famous in sports? you needed their airtime.

2. talent couldn't measure its own drawing power. THAT's where the margin lived. you paid a guy $400K who was worth $4M and nobody could prove otherwise.

social media killed both on the same day. now every personality sees their own numbers in real time and can monetize them directly. every homegrown star either reprices to market or walks — @BillSimmons left and built a company that sold for $200M. Le Batard built his own. Stephen A repriced to $20M.

growing a star at ESPN today is just running R&D for the talent's future company.

so ESPN keeps the only rational portfolio left: rights it doesn't own (paying the NFL with 10% of itself), personalities it doesn't own (McAfee), and cuts everything in between.

the layoffs aren't a strategy change. they're the accounting finally catching up to one.

https://t.co/dJ4fROAiYv

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

Well deserved!

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

@cheo_coker Every single time without fail.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

Next season is going to be very interesting for the Hornets. The stats with LaMelo on the floor were eye-opening.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

Someone help me understand how this is a great return. Maybe I’m missing something.

[Jonathan Jones @jjones9]

Great return for Charlotte. The smart move.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

Well, I thought it was going to be a good day.

[Shams Charania @ShamsCharania]

BREAKING: The Charlotte Hornets are trading star guard LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps (2028, 2029, 2030) and three second-round picks (2029, 2032, 2033), sources tell ESPN.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

@PanthersCulture No! I’m going to need a minute.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

@PanthersCulture Figure four leg lock with no chance at grabbing the ropes.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

@PanthersCulture Jenks was a monster among men.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

I must be missing something too.

[Betsey @Betsycashmoney]

I will never understand ESPN's obsession with this guy. Nothing against him personally, I just don't get the hype.

So many good journalists fired to pay for McAfee & Stephen A's supermax deals. Smh.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

@TheCinesthetic A lot of shows started off hot and fizzle out later on in the series. Lost turned to hot garbage in season 1.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

@PanthersCulture Absodamnlutely!

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

@PanthersCulture It is the coaches job. With that said, I don’t think the coach last year allowed an identity to ever develop. He was so hell bent being right about his system he would go away from what gave support to his QB.

I hope the new OC is better.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

@DekhoToSahii @MySportsUpdate Damn!

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

This was a solid draft by Dan.

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

Bryce should be set up to have a pretty good season if the play calling gets its act together.

[Robert Griffin III @RGIII]

The @Panthers just got an ALIEN in WR Chris Brazzell II out of Tennessee. At 6-4 198lbs, he is a long strider with uncommon 4.37 40 speed, gets in and out of his breaks and as a MASSIVE catch radius. Brazzell is a day 1 vertical threat who can develop into a dominating WR1.

Bryce Young has a basketball team of pass catchers.

WR1-Tetairoa McMillan-6’5
WR2-Jalen Coker 6’3
WR3-Chris Brazzell -6’4/Legette 6’1
TE1- Tommy Treble-6’4
TE2-JT Sanders-6’4

[Goode Report @GoodeReport]

@PanthersCulture That’s a lot of faith they are putting in Trevin to figure it all out this season.