On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the opening round of the NFL playoffs. The Jacksonville Jaguars pulled off a historic comeback, the heavy favorites all won, and a number of close games will likely keep the league’s dominant TV viewership trends in tact.
Across the playofffs, the league’s youth movement at quarterback is apparent. All four AFC quarterbacks—Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills), Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars), Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals)—are all 27 years old or younger, and should the Dallas Cowboys win on Monday night, there won’t be a starting quarterback remaining in his 30s or 40s. That Monday night matchup, between the Cowboys and Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers is also significant in another way—it signals an improved relationship between ESPN and the NFL.
The hosts also talk about Netflix’s new tennis docu-series, Break Point, which debuted before the start of the Australian Open. Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and the two major tennis tours are hoping the show has the same cultural impact of the recent Drive to Survive series, which introduced F1 autoracing to a lot of new fans, and is widely credited with helping grow the circuit’s commercial presence in the U.S. The hosts talk about ways the tennis show could succeed, and where it could fall short.
Lastly, the hosts get into Kevin Warren’s return to the NFL—the Big Ten commissioner will be the next CEO of the Chicago Bears—and the latest at both WWE and UFC.
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