The Deal-Makers: Karen Brodkin and Hillary Mandel

Episode 361 of the Sports Media Podcast features Karen Brodkin, the co-head of WME Sports and an executive vice president at its parent company, Endeavor, and Hillary Mandel, an executive vice president and head of media for the Americas for IMG, an Endeavor company. Brodkin and Mandel have worked as advisors on an endless amount of high-profile media deals, from individual team deals to league deals. They recently served as consultants for the NCAA for its $920 million, eight-year agreement with ESPN. In this podcast, Brodkin and Mandel explain their jobs and the skill sets needed for it; the use of research in evaluating deal points; the current economic environment for sports media rights; why the NCAA ultimately opted not to separate the women’s basketball tournament in its deal; why women’s college sports is on the rise; the Pac-12 falling apart; Peacock’s playoff deal with the NFL and what it means for consumers heading forward, and more.  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and more.