Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: Top NFL exec Jeff Miller on the league’s ESPN deal, the use of A.I. in player health and safety and why the Rooney Rule fell flat this hiring cycle.

open.spotify.com/episode/6Cun...

Super Bowl LX Soliloquies

open.spotify.com

February 4, 2026 at 12:59 PM

Reposted by John Ourand

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

* Is ESPN is worth nearly 3x Paramount Skydance?
* Amazon outspending other streamers on global sports rights.
* Are the Cowboys valued at $20B?
* Topics at Goodell presser: Rooney Rule, Epstein files.
* Adam Schein to host YouTube show for New York Post/California Post.

puck.news/newsletter_c...

R.I.P. Main Street, Jerry Jones Succession & ESPN’s $30B Question

Feb 2, 2026 John Ourand Welcome back to The Varsity, live from San Francisco at the start of Super Bowl week. The NFL is obviously in a great place right now—you saw those Netflix numbers—but that doe...

puck.news

February 3, 2026 at 2:19 AM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

* Is ESPN is worth nearly 3x Paramount Skydance?
* Amazon outspending other streamers on global sports rights.
* Are the Cowboys valued at $20B?
* Topics at Goodell presser: Rooney Rule, Epstein files.
* Adam Schein to host YouTube show for New York Post/California Post.

puck.news/newsletter_c...

R.I.P. Main Street, Jerry Jones Succession & ESPN’s $30B Question

Feb 2, 2026 John Ourand Welcome back to The Varsity, live from San Francisco at the start of Super Bowl week. The NFL is obviously in a great place right now—you saw those Netflix numbers—but that doe...

puck.news

February 3, 2026 at 2:19 AM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

Main Street Sports’ wind-down this spring will cap the slow-motion decline of a certain type of local sports deal. As the market resets, is there any future for the regional sports model?

puck.news/inside-the-s...

Requiem for an R.S.N. Dream

Main Street Sports’s wind-down this spring will cap the slow-motion decline of a certain type of local sports deal. As teams look to their respective leagues for safety, and the market resets, is ther...

puck.news

February 3, 2026 at 1:15 AM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: A Super Bowl preview with the great @dvnjr.bsky.social. Topics include: Belichick, Kraft and the Hall of Fame; the NFL’s push to 18 games; NFLPA politics; Jerry Jones’ succession plans; and, of course, the Washington Post.

open.spotify.com/episode/2QWE...

Belichick’s H.O.F. Snub & Jerry Jones Succession Questions

open.spotify.com

February 1, 2026 at 1:06 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

The Varsity
* WaPo analysis: "This never ends well."
* Peacock shows signs of life.
* Poll: online sportsbooks have a 40% unfavorable rating.
* Why doesn't TikTok do more live sports?
* 45% of people who got Netflix for NFL games in 2024 still subscribed a year later.

puck.news/newsletter_c...

The Belichick Snub, Main Street’s Manic Monday & Netflix’s Merry Christmas

Jan 29, 2026 John Ourand Welcome back to The Varsity, from our nation’s still-icy capital. The next time you hear from me, I’ll be on-site at the country’s biggest sports business trade show: Super Bo...

puck.news

January 30, 2026 at 2:13 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

Embattled Main Street Sports owns local rights to 29 teams across three leagues, but it’s running out of money and options in its quest to stay afloat. Despite whispers of a mystery investor, a Monday deadline looms. Teams and leagues are ready to flee.

puck.news/will-anyone-...

Exile From Main Street

The embattled R.S.N. Main Street Sports owns local rights to 29 teams across three leagues, but it’s running out of money and options in its quest to stay afloat. Despite whispers of a mystery investo...

puck.news

January 30, 2026 at 1:58 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: @axios.com's @sarafischer.bsky.social on the biggest media biz storylines:
* Washington Post
* WBD–Netflix
* TikTok
* Peacock
open.spotify.com/episode/2jOE...

The WaPo Reckoning & TikTok’s Next Act

open.spotify.com

January 28, 2026 at 1:09 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

WaPo cuts, which could affect up to 300 employees, are the culmination of a two-year effort by CEO Will Lewis to transform the paper. Lewis will focus on a few core coverage areas—national security, politics, etcetera—and not sports.

My story with @dylanbyers.bsky.social:

puck.news/why-the-wash...

The WaPo Extinction Event

The Washington Post cuts, which could affect as many as 300 employees in total, according to sources, are the culmination of a two-year effort by C.E.O. Will Lewis to fundamentally transform the paper...

puck.news

January 27, 2026 at 12:44 AM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: The perils of sports betting, with Washington Post contributor @dannyfunt.bsky.social. Danny's book, "Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling," published last week.

open.spotify.com/episode/7g3Q...

When Sports Media Marries the Sportsbook

open.spotify.com

January 25, 2026 at 12:57 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

Assessing a full slate of football-related cases approaching their day in court.
* Duke v Darian Mensah
* The NFL Sunday Ticket class action anti-trust case
* Brian Flores’s potential Supreme Court case
* Jon Gruden v the NFL and
* Heather McPhee’s lawsuit against the NFLPA
puck.news/nfl-supreme-...

The People v. Darian Mensah

Assessing Brian Flores’s unresolved discrimination case and a full slate of other football-related lawsuits approaching their day in court with Eriq Gardner, Puck’s resident legal expert.

puck.news

January 23, 2026 at 12:58 AM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: @andrewmarchand.bsky.social returns to outline the state of sports media as the NFL, MLB and World Cup come to market with their rights.

open.spotify.com/episode/5O79...

Marchand on the NFL’s Media Chessboard

open.spotify.com

January 21, 2026 at 2:20 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: @theathletic.com's @evandrellich.bsky.social on what MLB's offseason tells us about the sport's coming labor battle.

open.spotify.com/episode/02yA...

MLB’s Dodger Economics

open.spotify.com

January 18, 2026 at 1:41 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

The ESPY Awards are moving back to New York and will be held the day before Fanatics Fest starts this July...setting up sports version of Fashion Week in Gotham.

puck.news/how-fanatics...

The ESPYs White Party

ESPN is moving the ESPYs, its moribund 33-year-old awards franchise, to New York, sandwiched between MLB’s All-Star Game and Michael Rubin’s Fanatics Fest. It’s a savvy play.

puck.news

January 16, 2026 at 1:24 AM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: OBB Media's Michael Ratner breaks down Fanatics Studios—his new joint venture with Michael Rubin’s Fanatics—and offers his read on the future of sports media.

open.spotify.com/episode/2xr5...

Inside Ratner and Rubin’s Fanatics Content Factory

open.spotify.com

January 14, 2026 at 12:26 PM

Reposted by John Ourand

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: NCAA president Charlie Baker on the top issues facing college sports: the chaos of the transfer portal, the accelerated professionalization of college athletics, and why Congress may need to step in to impose uniform eligibility rules.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

Inside the NCAA’s Moneyball Era

Podcast Episode · The Varsity · 01/11/2026 · 47m

podcasts.apple.com

January 11, 2026 at 1:15 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: NCAA president Charlie Baker on the top issues facing college sports: the chaos of the transfer portal, the accelerated professionalization of college athletics, and why Congress may need to step in to impose uniform eligibility rules.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

Inside the NCAA’s Moneyball Era

Podcast Episode · The Varsity · 01/11/2026 · 47m

podcasts.apple.com

January 11, 2026 at 1:15 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: NBCU's top ad sales exec Mark Marshall on NBC selling out all advertising already for the Winter Olympics, the Super Bowl and the NBA All-Star Game.

Some 30-second Super Bowl spots eclipsed $10 million for the first time.

Listen here:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

Inside NBC’s Sports-Ad Olympics

Podcast Episode · The Varsity · 01/07/2026 · 47m

podcasts.apple.com

January 7, 2026 at 12:35 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

Sources tell me that Mark Silverman is stepping down as Fox Sports President and COO after an eight-year run. He's going to remain on as a consultant.

January 6, 2026 at 7:28 PM

Reposted by John Ourand

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: The @nytimes.com's Ken Belson on how private equity and big money have turned youth athletics into a sprawling $40 billion ecosystem.

open.spotify.com/episode/6SIB...

Spotify – Web Player

open.spotify.com

January 4, 2026 at 2:44 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: The @nytimes.com's Ken Belson on how private equity and big money have turned youth athletics into a sprawling $40 billion ecosystem.

open.spotify.com/episode/6SIB...

Spotify – Web Player

open.spotify.com

January 4, 2026 at 2:44 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

Pod: MoffettNathanson’s Michael Nathanson previews the biggest sports media storylines for 2026. Can the bundle really make a comeback?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=keSC...

YouTube’s Sports Takeover & More ’26 Predictions

YouTube video by NESN

www.youtube.com

January 1, 2026 at 2:36 PM

John Ourand

@ourand.bsky.social

New pod: MoffettNathanson founder and analyst Michael Nathanson previews the biggest sports media storylines for 2026. Can the bundle really make a comeback?

open.spotify.com/episode/7rMe...