ESPN president of content Burke Magnus

Episode 326 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features an extended conversation with Burke Magnus, the president of content at ESPN who has oversight of ESPN’s live events, studio shows, newsgathering, original content/ESPN Films, the Talent Office, as well as audio, digital, and social media. In this podcast, Magnus discusses how aggressive ESPN will be in retaining the NBA; the interest ESPN would have if the NCAA women’s basketball tournament went up for open bid; ESPN’s interest in future World Cup rights; how Magnus sees the upcoming College Football Playoff package; the disbandment of the Pac-12; the reporting that ESPN once offered $30 million a team for the Pac 12 which the Pac 12 turned down; whether it is fair to blame Fox and ESPN for mass realignment in college football; if former Pac-12 teams going to the Big Ten hurts ESPN; the market for ESPN outside of the cable bundle; the expected price point when ESPN goes over the top to direct to consumer; whether there will be more layoffs this year at ESPN; the decision to let go of NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy; whether the NBA was involved in that decision; ESPN’s deal with Penn Entertainment; the rules covering ESPN employees on sports betting; Sage Steele settling her lawsuit with ESPN; how much ESPN fears Apple as a competitor for rights; how ESPN views the WWE rights; why ESPN wanted Pat McAfee’s entire enterprise; if non-ESPN people can come on McAfee’s show and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and more.