 |
| Sweet derby hat, bro. |
Last week, news that Rovell was going back to ESPN emerged
unexpectedly. It seemed to be mostly rumors, until Rovell later confirmed via his twitter account that he indeed signed a contract to join the Worldwide Leader
In Sports. His contract is reported to guarantee him appearances on several
ESPN shows, including SportsCenter, but it is unknown whether he will be
hosting his own show (like he did at CNBC).
Rovell will also be writing for ESPN.com and continuing his omnipresent tweeting (why does his twitter seem
to work even when twitter is down!?…meanwhile I can’t sign on and get damn
close to suffering a mental breakdown).
In what was one of, if not the most, impressive “free agent”
transactions among sports media (sorry Michelle Beadle, you'll be great on NBC though!), it’s odd that such a high-profile move was
kept so secret. Then again, maybe it isn’t so surprising…because the best
sports business reporter wasn’t reporting on the matter. To Rovell’s credit, he’s
been among the top sports business reporters for several years. Not only via Sports Biz on CNBC, but via his infamous
twitter account as well. Rovell has built an empire of followers, and seems to
never miss a single bit of sports news (frankly, I don’t think the guy ever sleeps…seriously).
For ESPN and Darren Rovell, this is a great move. ESPN
brings on one of the best in the business, and Darren Rovell gets to report on
a variety of the most-viewed sports-news platforms. There is seemingly no match for Rovell’s innate ability to report on sports business, and there is no bigger
sports platform that he could have joined. The move is simply a no-brainer. Well
Done ESPN. Congratulations Darren.
Furthermore, Rovell and ABC News also struck up a new deal last
week (I told you this guy never sleeps…I
think he just plugs in at the same time he charges his phone). This contract is reported to include appearances on Nightline and Good Morning America...giving Rovell even
more primetime slots to talk sports (and
even more reasons to stay awake…dude has to have a V.I.P. Starbucks card).
For ABC News this deal makes a lot of sense. Like ESPN, ABC will get input from one of the best in the business and attract the correlating followers. For Rovell, it’s just another piece of his ever growing empire…a very lucrative empire.
For ABC News this deal makes a lot of sense. Like ESPN, ABC will get input from one of the best in the business and attract the correlating followers. For Rovell, it’s just another piece of his ever growing empire…a very lucrative empire.
So, I hope you love Darren Rovell! Because like him or not, you’re
going to be seeing him an awful lot.
Tweet Follow @sethbreeden
Tweet Follow @sethbreeden
I read the other day that his contract is for over $500,000 so he really is cashing in. Personally I love Darren Rovell's work, but there seems to be people that cannot stand him (he's in constant Twitter battle with Richard Deitsch). Should be interesting to see how ESPN utilizes him. I hope he gets his own show. It will help bring sportsbiz more into the mainstream. By the way, great picture.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of people who don't sleep, I can confirm that Brett Burchette does not sleep in his office every night as previously speculated (by Greg and I at least). I saw him boarding a train towards the suburbs where he lives.
Great post Seth, thanks for covering this important topic!
Yeah I'm interested to see if he starts a new show too, should be great whatever he does.
ReplyDelete&& I was unaware of the Brett speculation, good news that he gets to go home and sleep haha