ESPN: Last News

Ajax legend Patrick Kluivert has said he would be “ready” to become the club’s next boss, should Erik ten Hag be appointed Manchester United’s permanent manager.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.F1 fandom has reached a fever pitch in recent months thanks to Netflix’s  docu-series “Drive to Survive,” which began filming in 2018 and is now in its fourth season. The prestige reality show points the camera on the rarefied drama of motorsports, and has created a whole new cult of F1 fans in the process.Whether you’ve only been recently introduced to the cultish F1 fandom, or are a long-time follower of the top-tier international racing world, you’ll likely want a fast and affordable way to stream the most anticipated races.Thankfully, if you’re a cord-cutter there are plenty of ways to watch F1, whose live races are broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN2.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFans of “Thursday Night Football” will next season hear one of TV sports’ most recognizable voices calling the games for a rather sizable upstart hoping to gain new yards off his play.Michaels, who has offered play-by-play patter for “Monday Night Football” and “Sunday Night Football” since 1986, will lead a new effort by Amazon’s Prime Video, which has gained sole rights to telecast the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” in the fall. Starting Thursday, September 15, Michaels will team up with analyst Kirk Herbstreit, known for his college football prowess at ESPN, to lead coverage of the games as Amazon becomes a bigger player in TV sports rights — which have largely been the domain of traditional broadcasters.

EXCLUSIVE: ESPN has added more lacrosse to its linear and streaming offerings via a new rights deal with the Premier Lacrosse League, a burgeoning league whose initial years on the air were with NBCUniversal.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorVeteran sportscaster Mike Tirico will join NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” next fall, pairing up with analyst Cris Collinsworth in the latest shake up among the announcers who call the plays of TV’s most-watched sport.Tirico fills a spot left vacant by the departure of Al Michaels, who is expected to join Amazon to call “Thursday Night Football.”“When Mike joined NBC Sports in 2016, it was our plan for him to become our primetime Olympics host and the play-by-play voice of Sunday Night Football,” said Pete Bevacqua, chairman of NBC Sports, in a statement. “We are excited to have Mike join Cris Collinsworth full-time in the booth this season.”NBC confirms speculation about the future of its “Sunday Night Football” booth with an NFL meeting slated to take place later this week.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAfter nine years of generating headlines for CNN, Jeff Zucker is giving new thought to testing his acumen for the world of sports.The former WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal executive, who abruptly left his job as head of CNN in February after acknowledging he failed to disclose a romantic relationship with Allison Gollust, CNN’s former chief marketing officer, is said to be mulling some offers from the sports sector, according to two people familiar with the matter. None of these conversations are believed to be in their final stages, according to one of these people, and Zucker is said to be having discussions around a wide array of potential opportunities.Sports wouldn’t be a new area for Zucker.

The planned full day walkout at Disney today over the company’s fumbled response to Florida’s discrimatory “Don’t Say Gay” bill has seen an outpouring of support for the  LGBTQ+ community from some leading divisions in the House of Mouse’s empire

EXCLUSIVE: Doug Herzog, who ran networks including MTV and Comedy Central, is to explore the glory days and crazy world of cable TV in a new podcast series.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.One of the most anticipated tennis competitions of the year is upon us: the Miami Open will kick off at Hard Rock Stadium on March 22.The second leg of the Sunshine Double is known for hosting the sports’ most high-profile players, but a few key athletes will be missing from the field this year. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal won’t be competing, but eyes will be on U.S.

added, «His wife Pat and sister Amy were at his side and communicated earlier he passed away peacefully after a brief illness.» Mortensen, a respected NFL insider himself at ESPN, said Clayton's wife asked the Seattle Seahawks to release further information. Clayton covered the Seahawks for years, and most recently covered Russell Wilson's trade to the Denver Broncos.Wilson tweeted, «We will all miss your words and brilliance.» John Clayton, one of our NFL insiders who expertly covered the league for more than 20 years at ESPN, died Friday at 67 after a brief illness.

John Clayton, who covered the National Football League for ESPN for more than 20 years, died Friday after a brief illness. He was 67.

Russell Wilson is officially a Denver Broncos player!

ESPN confirmed Wednesday that it has signed longtime Fox broadcasters Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to multi-year deals, securing their roles as the new voices of the network’s Monday Night Football. The deal takes effect with the upcoming season, which will mark the pair’s 21st season in the booth together — the first 20 years at Fox.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN spent last year building up Peyton and Eli Manning as the curators of a loose, bar-talk like show meant as an alternative to its traditional “Monday Night Football.” Now the Disney-backed sports giant is focusing on the main event.ESPN has signed the two main figures behind Fox Sports’ football presentations, Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, in a bid to strengthen the main “MNF” booth. The deal, which has been anticipated for several days, will put one of sports’ most-watched game-day figures at the helm of ESPN’s signature offering.“When you have the opportunity to bring in the iconic, longest-running NFL broadcasting duo, you take it, especially at a time when we are on the cusp of a new era in our expanding relationship with the NFL,” said Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN and sports content for Disney, in a statement.  “The NFL continues to ascend, and we now have more games than ever before, providing additional opportunities for Joe, Troy and our deep roster of commentators.” Signing the pair, who have worked together for two decades and called  called six Super Bowls — only the legendary team of Pat Summerall and John Madden has called more — illustrates the new pressures facing some of the most traditional broadcasters of sports.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe bargaining standoff between Major League Baseball and its players that led to last week’s cancellation of Opening Day is a particularly bitter pill to swallow for the local and national outlets that bring games to their most ardent fans — networks that already have experienced two seasons of COVID-driven disruptions.On March 1, MLB took the dramatic step of tabling Opening Day games and activities set for March 31. It also canceled other early games for the 2022 season. The cancellations affect programming and advertising plans for baseball TV partners including ESPN, Turner Sports, Fox Sports, Sinclair Broadcast Group and NBC Sports Regional Networks and team channels like the Yankees’ YES Network and the Dodgers’ Spectrum SportsNet LA.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.Following last year’s dizzying NCAA Tournament, one of the most unusual in recent years, basketball fans are ready for the return of March Madness.Bracket projections are already swirling ahead of Selection Sunday this weekend, during which the slate of teams set to play this year will be officially seeded. Two of the No. 1 seeds are likely to be filled by Arizona and Gonzaga, with the other two still up for grabs.Once conference tournaments finally wrap up, March Madness will tip off on Mar.

Switching things up! Russell Wilson will not be returning as the Seattle Seahawks quarterback for the 2022-2023 football season.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorApple has snared rights to a Friday-night package of Major League Baseball games, extending Silicon Valley’s reach into the world of sports.The consumer-electronics manufacturer no doubt hopes an attractive passel of sports rights will bring new viewership to its Apple TV Plus streaming service, which vies for consumer attention and subscription dollars with Disney’s Disney Plus and Netflix, among others, and Apple’s deal only adds to pressures on leagues and media companies to include streaming rights in sports deals. Indeed, ESPN has over the past few years kept streaming rights paramount in its deal making, and the company’s Hulu already shows some live NHL games as part of a deal between the league and sister outlet ESPN.

Addie Morfoot ContributorIn conjunction with International Women’s Day, ESPN has revealed details about its month-long “Fifty/50” initiative celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX in June.ESPN is programming a series of short and long-form documentaries directed and produced by women to commemorate the landmark federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational institution that receives federal funding and gives women the equal opportunity to play.“This is an important milestone for Title IX and we wanted to find creative ways to celebrate it across ESPN and the Walt Disney Company,” says Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN and Sports Content.Debra OConnell, president of Networks for Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, called Fifty/50 a significant initiative for the company and its affiliates, adding, “the breadth of content is a reflection of the progress that has occurred over the last 50 years and how much more is still to be done.” In addition to a previously announced four-part docuseries from Dawn Porter (“John Lewis: Good Trouble”) and Nicole Newnham (“Crip Camp”) titled “37 Words,” ESPN revealed that the network will kick off Title IX 50th anniversary programming on June 1 with “Fifty/50 Shorts.” The series will consist of five stand-alone short nonfiction docus that examine stories of women in sports and battle for equality.”All five docs in the series were helmed and executive produced by women. The creators include directors Allison Glock (executive producer “Fifty/50”) and Kate T.

WNBA player Brittney Griner has reportedly been detained in Russia.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.The air will be thick with tension inside the Octagon on Saturday, when Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal face off during the main event of UFC 272.Despite there being no championship on the line, or even a shot at a belt, the headlining pay-per-view event is highly anticipated because of the public feud between the two fighters, who were former training partners before becoming rivals in the ring. Neither Covington nor Masvidal have lost a fight to anyone other than Kamaru Usman since 2017, making for a must-see fight between two evenly matched athletes.The event will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 5, kicking off with a series of prelims at 6 p.m.