Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Ray Cole on ESPN/NFL Network marriage, Nick Marovets talks Cyclones & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

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Ray Cole on ESPN/NFL Network marriage, Nick Marovets talks Cyclones & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

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Our number 2, Miller and Condon, welcome back to the Iowa Sports
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Radio Network, wherever you're listening in the state of Iowa.
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Thank you for doing so. Trent and I will take you until
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2:00. Lucas Strain coming off Jeff
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Dubow for saying his name right? Yes, from KCCI, we're hitting.
0:17
KCCI hard we should. Be a lot of talented dudes over.
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Here for a long, long long no. Question.
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So Jeff will be in with Lucas, Sean back tomorrow.
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The boys do their show tomorrow at the fair.
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We missed out again, Trent. You know, swing in a mess maybe.
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Well, I'd say maybe next year, but it probably will be next
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year because you'll be retired indeed.
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And suddenly my arm is going to be pulled a little bit harder.
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Yeah. Because I'm not going.
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Anyways, good to see our buddy Ray Colon here, former Board of
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Governors at ABC, Chief Operating Officer, the company
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that owns a bunch of ABC stations, including the one here
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in central Iowa, WOI, whenever there's a television issue crop
1:02
up, we know who to go to and he's good enough.
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They happen to be in town this week.
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And Ray Cole stops by in studio. Ray, good to see you again.
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You see Trent behind the glass. Ken here with a few feet from
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you. May I say that Trent looks
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better behind the globe? Need a little bit of a buffer,
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don't you? Yeah, it's slimming is.
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What it is? That's right.
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Let's obviously the the big headliner this week has been the
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NFL and acquiring 10% of ESPNESPN acquiring the NFL
1:32
Network, an entity that's apparently been on the block for
1:36
sale for some time. Are you surprised that it didn't
1:39
get the traction that it did? You know, when it was first when
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it was first born very quickly afterward, the 32 owners
1:46
decided, well, we need to do something to build up this.
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They gave them Thursday Night Football member was only back in
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the fall. Back would start November trying
1:54
to just bring viewership to it. But what do you think about
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those two behemoths, the league and the four letter network
2:00
getting together? Well, it's a, it's an
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arrangement that has been in the works for years.
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So for those of us who have been following and I think I first
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took note of the NF LS interest, a mutual interest between the
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Walt Disney Company and and ESPN to work with the the NFL in this
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way. I think I first took note of it
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almost four years ago, Ken. So it was not a surprise, but
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pushing, you know, in the football vernacular, it's one
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thing to to to put those negotiations into the red zone.
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It's another one to push it across the goal line.
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And the announcement that was made this week by by the
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commissioner and Bob Iger from Disney and Jimmy Potaro from
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ESPN, it's a pretty seismic announcement in the sports world
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with far reaching implications for the future of sports media
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and and as well As for consumers of sports, especially NFL fans.
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The component that I think is most confusing for us outside of
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the industry is, all right, you're selling these assets, all
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right, we get that right. But then in turn, the NFL as a
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whole gets an equity into ESPN. It's just it's something that
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we're not, I guess, used to. Can you explain what that means
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and if it leads to any questions maybe about this deal and the
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complications of pushing it through and making it happen?
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Because what it still has to get approval to make this all work.
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Yeah. We'll talk about the approval
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here in a minute, but let's let's just take head on the
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financial arrangement here for forever.
3:30
You just talked about KCCI forever.
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ESPN has been owned 80% by the Walt Disney Company and 20% by
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Hearst, which happens to be the owner of KCCI.
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And with this new arrangement, it's interesting that that the
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NFL will take a 10% stake in ESPN and equity State going
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forward. That means that the the ESPN
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state goes from 80 to 72 and the Hearst State goes from 20 to 18
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and that's it. I think that is a win, win, win
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for all three of those entities. The Walt Disney Company
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signalled, as I said years ago, that going forward as they were
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looking at a streaming world against the backdrop of
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escalating rights fees, that they wanted partnerships with
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the the, the people they were negotiating for rights with that
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included an equity stake. And they, they signaled that not
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just to the NFL, but also to the NBA and others.
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And I think what you will see going forward is perhaps the NBA
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taking a stake in, in ESPN, much like, much like the NFL has
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done. So we'll see where that goes.
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It's interesting, you know, Trent, you talk about the, about
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this deal. It's interesting because it does
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require, because of the nature it it requires governmental
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oversight and approval. And very candidly, that's going
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to bring Donald Trump into the picture.
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And he's been a frequent Disney critic and very candidly, he's
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also taken some shots recently at the, at the NFLI.
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Mean anybody who's been following the his social media
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posts regarding the name of the Washington Commander wanting to
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change the team back name back to the Redskins before he would
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sign off and give his tacit approval to the $3.8 billion
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stadium project in DC. Trump is not shy.
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And as I said, he's got a just this morning, coincidentally,
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the Skydance, Paramount, Skydance merger was official and
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the new owners of CBSI saw sat in on the editorial meeting that
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is held every morning at CBS News.
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And so if you look at what took place there, there was an
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agreement that that was reached to settle a lawsuit.
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There's a lot of people talking about Stephen Colbert and
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whether his announcement was related to that approval
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process. And so I I raised that to point
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out that Trump and Disney have a significantly longer and very
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candidly a more tense relationship than Trump did with
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Paramount. So even though ABC News settled
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A lawsuit with Trump before inauguration, you know, Trump
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has not been bashful. His FCC, headed by a guy named
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Brendan Carr as chair, opened an investigation into Disney's DEI
6:30
practices, and Trump's Department of Justice began
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looking into Disney's acquisition of FUBU TV.
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And I believe that while Disney, ESPN and the NFL hope that this
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is approved and in place by the end of 26, we'll see if that
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happens. I know that if you look ahead,
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Super, the Super Bowl in early 2027 is scheduled to be held at
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Sofi Stadium. It'll be back on ABC for the the
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first time that ESPN, ABC has had a Super Bowl.
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ESPN ever in ABC. I was at the last Super Bowl
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that ABC broadcast. What year was it?
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It would have been around. Well, that was 2000. 4.
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Steelers was it? Pittsburgh and Seattle.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. And.
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Pittsburgh won. It was, and it was a miserable
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weekend in Detroit. And they'll never go back again.
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I don't think they'll go to a winter city again.
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There's a reason they're going to places like San Francisco and
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and New Orleans and and LA. But anyway, if if everything
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comes in if if all the stars get aligned.
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Yep. And the deal gets closed with
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the necessary regulatory approvals.
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They will have that Super Bowl on ABC in February of 2027 and
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that would be the perfect way to celebrate.
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The announcement absolutely. So the last year when you're in
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here, one of the one of the big talkers was was the TNT
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announcement that inside the NBA is at the time looked as though
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it was going to go away. Now we see the merger of the
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ESPN coming, those two parties getting together, which leads me
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to my question here, because obviously in media sports rights
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are are aren't coming down value wise, but you have to cut costs
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somewhere. This was this was presented to
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me late last night by someone and I don't think it was they
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made it up. They saw it somewhere.
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But their question is, and this guy is a huge NFL draft guy on
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the NFL Network. That's the production that they
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like best. They don't like watching ESPN.
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They're going to be locked and loaded on the NFL Network.
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So we see TNT and Barclay and company going over to ESPN.
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Is there going to be a need for two NFL draft shows, or would
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might that be one of those might go by the wayside in order to
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cut costs? Well, if you look at the NFL
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Draft, there's actually been 3 broadcasts in recent years, the
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NFL Network and ESPN and. ABC Yeah.
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ABC did their own. So my, I expect that you'll
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probably see the draft coverage peel back from three platforms
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to two, but maybe can we ought to stand back and make sure
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because it, boy, it is a complicated if not comprehensive
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agreement that was announced this week.
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So one of the terms of the agreement that they laid out the
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NFL Network, including both the linear and digital rights would
9:27
be owned and operated by ESPN. And those are going to be
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integrated into, importantly, the new ESPN direct to consumer
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product that will launch in late August.
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Late August of this year. Of this year, that's going to
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launch right before the college football season.
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Bob Iger announced that at on an earnings call with analysts like
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6 months ago. So they've been under the under
9:51
pressure, ESPN to have that product ready to launch by the
9:56
start of this college football season.
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So what you're going to see that with, with the NFL Network is
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that it'll, it'll still have some traditional pay television
10:05
distribution increasing, I think increase accessibility for a lot
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of people and maybe flexibility for consumers when it comes to
10:13
that. Secondly, ESPN will own the
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broad rights to red zone, and that's a that's a product that's
10:19
very, very popular for a lot of people.
10:21
Can't get through Sunday without.
10:22
It it's on one of the TV's every week.
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And so ESPN will distribute the Red Zone channel to pay TV
10:28
operators and for inclusion into their sports packages as as as
10:33
the just as the NFL Network did. And it's interesting, I think
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it's gotten lost in the fine print, but for the but but the
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NFL will continue to control the production of that.
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I make that analogous kin to what you just talked about with
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the NBA product with with Charles Barkley and company,
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they will produce that for distribution through ESPN.
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But the control for that, the editorial control for that just
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like with the NBA product that TNT had that will remain with
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the NFL Network. So we'll see what happens there.
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Another thing that's. I like your ringtone by the way.
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Yeah, thank you. I'm going to get rid of that,
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right? Now.
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Yeah, The other thing that I've had people ask me about is NFL
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fantasy football because, you know, the ESPN has, it's fantasy
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football. The NFL has theirs.
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I think that one will be merged into. 1.
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One, I think it'll end up being the best in class digital
11:30
experience for people. So if some talent from the NFL
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Network, some talent from ESPN, yeah.
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I think, I, I hope, my hope is, is that that part of the merger
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would drive some innovation and maybe enable some broader reach
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for what is a truly global demand for that product.
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So, and what ESPN also gets out by acquiring the NFL Network is
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they'll get some additional NFL games to air and.
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So they'll get the Sunday exclusive games, the Sunday
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morning games over and across the pond.
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Yeah, I believe that that I I think that the NFL Network had
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rights to seven games they held back.
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I think what's going to happen is 3 or 4 of those will end up
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on ESP. Makes sense?
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And then some other with some overlapping windows will
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probably shift to the NFL Network, which will, as I
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understand it's going to continue to present seven games.
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But just like you see simulcast with ESPN and ABC on Monday
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nights frequently and overlapping, you know the those
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overlapping windows on Monday nights where they would run.
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Two games, they're going away. Those are going to go away.
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Yeah, because the ratings for those really were not very good.
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You need you need to create an exclusive.
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Or kick one at 4:00 and 1:00 at 7:30.
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That's. Not going to do that.
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Don't overlap, right? And especially with West Coast,
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you can't hardly do that. That's that's tough.
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So the journalism component of this breaking stories, I mean,
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Jeremy Schaap and Outside the Lines and all those entities,
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are those going away? Are those no more?
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What? When you look at a marriage like
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this with the NFL now and the equity that goes along with it,
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the question about journalism certainly comes into play.
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Has to do with Dan Patrick yesterday.
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We'll talk about Dan Patrick. One story that I came across
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late last night was from Forbes and I'm just going to read it to
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you because I think it encapsulates what you just said,
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Trent. It says before cable, streaming
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and social media, our news was reported by three over the air
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network, CBS, NBC and ABC in those days.
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And I editorially, I'll insert the good old days are really
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weren't that good. But whatever media was seen as
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an objective source of information as it relates to
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news and sports, free of outside influence from any of the sports
13:40
leagues. There was never any question
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about the integrity of the coverage.
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That may all be about to change with the deal that was announced
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this week with the NFL acquiring an equity stake in ESPN and who
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knows, with the NBA, that may be next.
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So what Ford said in so many words is that they get the
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upside. The potential upside of the
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partnership is undeniable, but they're pointing to the ethical
14:03
and maybe competitive risk that are equally real.
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And like a lot of things, I think the devil lies in the
14:08
details and time will tell whether it's a match made in
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sports heaven or whether it's a one way ticket to a new world of
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sports controlled by a powerful few entities.
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And then and I get. It's a fair question, yeah.
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The sports media landscape, which I used the word seismic
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before, can, I mean, it is facing a seismic ship.
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And I used to come in here and talk with you.
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We would just talk about cable contracts and sports rights for
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leagues and conferences and so forth.
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But now it's more about who controls the narrative and who
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gets the access and ultimately who holds the keys.
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And I think that that Disney has put themselves in a very strong
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position. They've already announced that
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they've extended their rights to the NFL draft that you guys
14:54
brought up earlier. That's already been announced
14:56
this week. They will have a leg up when the
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the the NFL partners have to look at the renewing their
15:04
deals. The NFL has an out that they can
15:07
exercise if they want to reopen those deals in the next two
15:11
years, and we'll see. So, so hold on a second.
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So, so does that mean that if they're not satisfied with what
15:19
CBS or Fox or if NBC doesn't want to pony up for Sunday Night
15:24
Football, that could you see ESPN even getting more football
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in those? Circumstances I I think that I
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think that Goodell likes the current landscape.
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I think he should. You know, the deal that he did
15:37
with Amazon really diminished the value of the NFL Network
15:43
candidly. And so I think that's what
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helped spur. I'd said that the discussions
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with the with Disney and ESPN go back four years.
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I think what really accelerated those talks were probably the
15:56
deal they did, the NFL did with Amazon and and I think that
16:00
again. Scared them, didn't it?
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Yeah, I've I've seen the the value, the estimated value of
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ESPN as part of the broader Disney family, but just the
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value of ESPN and its related properties is 25 to $30 million.
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So a 10% stake in that for the NFL is 2 1/2 to 3,000,000.
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Three billion. Did I say million billion
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dollars? So think about that if you're
16:23
the owners. I saw a quote from Bob Kraft
16:26
yesterday. Who, who, who's so deeply
16:29
involved in the He sort of chairs the.
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Him and Jerry Jones, right? Yeah, they chair the the the
16:34
owner's representation on media deals that get done.
16:38
Not nothing gets done in a media deal for the NFL without Bob
16:42
Kraft's personal involvement and stamp of approval.
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What he said is that they've got negotiations coming up with the
16:48
players, a collective bargaining agreement.
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They have to raise the value of, of the product that they that
16:56
they have as owners in the, in the NFL.
16:58
And this is a big, big move for them to acquire that 10% equity
17:04
stake. And as ESPN grows from this, the
17:07
value of their investment grows as well.
17:10
Certainly makes sense. Ray Cole is joining us a couple
17:14
more minutes. I'm going to let you go.
17:15
I do want to get into to to the the part partsling.
17:21
I don't know, packaging and sending games like ESPN got a
17:25
bunch of basketball games they're sending to TNT and TBS.
17:30
Cyclone fans are up in arms now that Peacock's involved and
17:33
they, I get it, they should be. I'm not.
17:35
I'm just using Cyclone fans because this is because they're
17:38
part of this example. But it's almost to the point now
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we have to have like 4 or five different streaming services to
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see our games. When is this going to reach an
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end or, or is it going to just, you know, somebody else might
17:52
get involved? You got to buy this app now
17:54
you're 10 bucks a month. I mean, there's Peacock, there's
17:57
ESPN, there's Amazon. I'm missing a couple.
18:01
I'm sure there's Netflix now for Christmas, games on Christmas.
18:04
How many more can we have of these in addition to your
18:08
DIRECTV or whatever it is or your Sunday Ticket?
18:11
Yeah, You know, just just, I'm going to answer it in a
18:15
backwards way, Ken, just just on top of all the other news that
18:19
that the the Disney and company and ESPN has had this week, you
18:22
may have seen the announcement with WWE yesterday and Mark
18:27
Shapiro, who, who heads up TKO, which controls and and otherwise
18:33
is the driver behind WWE. Mark Shapiro is an interesting
18:36
guy. He's a former ESPN executive and
18:38
University of Iowa graduate. If he hadn't left years ago, he
18:42
would probably be running ESPN today.
18:43
Great, great executive. And when they announced that
18:47
deal with the ESPN yesterday, it's worth 1.6 two $5 billion /
18:53
5 years. That's an average of $325
18:56
million a year. And you just mentioned Peacock,
18:59
who had those rights. The deal that ESPN announced
19:02
with with the Shapiro and the WWE yesterday, that's an 81%
19:06
increase over the annual rights fees that Peacock was paying.
19:10
Now think about that. And I saw some people saying,
19:13
wait a second, how they going to do that?
19:15
You know, with with ESP NS new direct to consumer streaming
19:18
platform again due to launch in few weeks here.
19:22
The projected cost of that is 2999 a month that subscription
19:26
fee. So for for that all-encompassing
19:29
streaming platform alone. And Shapiro was asked about that
19:34
and he pointed to UF CS success on ESPN plus, even though that
19:40
effectively created a double paywall.
19:42
I mean, you had to be paying for UFC, you had to pay for ESPN
19:45
plus. And he said, you know, that was
19:47
a tough barrier for the UFC fans to get across.
19:51
And he says, but you know, frankly, as much as it made them
19:54
unhappy, it was still enormously successful.
19:58
And he think that it it's going to be a monster success what
20:01
they announced yesterday with with.
20:05
With ESPN, so bottom line is, is that, to come back to your
20:08
question, I think you'll have 5 or 6 streaming services that if
20:13
you're a sports fan and have to subscribe to those costs will
20:17
continue to go up. Well, the, the casualty in all
20:21
of this is traditional linear television.
20:26
You know, we, we acquired WITV in 1994 and with it we inherited
20:30
the old Cyclone television. It was great.
20:32
We, we produced 18 to 20 live 5 basketball games a year.
20:37
You know, we produced the Dan McCartney show, we produced the
20:40
Tim Floyd show in those days. Boy, those days are gone.
20:45
And as streaming as streaming television continues it's upward
20:50
trend, traditional linear television will continue to face
20:54
some pretty serious headwinds. We have one minute left.
20:57
I want to go back to Trent's question on on journalism, and
21:00
it's been a big topic. Dan Patrick Harris before Trent
21:02
and I come on the air, him and the guy I'm sure you know well,
21:05
Vanada says. Last name I.
21:06
Think Don Vanada. Who is he's a he's a hard school
21:11
journalist, right? He's not going to be told.
21:13
You got to change this paragraph.
21:14
No, you got to soften this a little bit.
21:16
If he digs his teeth into a store, it kind of reminds me of
21:19
what Tom Wotosky was here at the register for years, right?
21:22
He was the bulldog on the beat. So Patrick Wright, Vanada
21:25
Wright, a little bit of both. You have one minute a.
21:27
Little bit of both, but Dan Patrick posted yesterday is he
21:31
said the journalist in me would point out the conflict of
21:33
interest with this deal. But ESPN can't be any further in
21:37
bed with the NFL. Are they going to look the other
21:39
way with any negative story that comes up?
21:42
They probably already do that. And Don Vanetta is an
21:44
experienced producer. He objected strongly to that.
21:47
He pointed out the reporting that he led that that led to the
21:52
resignation of Lloyd Howell, who you Remember, Remember that name
21:55
he was the head of? The Oh yeah, just.
21:56
Recently, the NFL Players Association.
21:58
Suspended all his money in strip.
21:59
Clubs. He was spending his money in
22:01
strip clubs. They did a spending ESPNS money
22:03
in strip clubs. So you can look, you can look at
22:05
that. I I can remember when the when
22:08
ESPN aired a a documentary on the life of Junior Seow who who
22:13
you recall commit suicide, confirmed that he had CTE.
22:17
You didn't want that. It was after that documentary
22:21
aired as a 30 for 30 that the family reached a sentiment with
22:24
the NFL. So I can point to all kind I I
22:28
will say one more thing. The NFL Network was created by a
22:31
guy named Steve Bornstein who was hired by then NFL
22:35
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. You know, Steve Bornstein was
22:39
the former president of ESPN. He was the former president of
22:42
the ABC television network. He created six months after he
22:46
was at the NFL. He created the NFL Network.
22:49
He hired a former president of ABC Sports by the name of Howard
22:52
Katz to help him. So there is a long close
22:56
relationship pre dating. This week's big announcement
23:00
with the NFL and ESPN and ABC, and through it all, some
23:06
journalistic integrity has held true.
23:10
And I expect that with the there's.
23:11
Still a few. There's one.
23:13
That that that will continue through through all matter of.
23:18
I'm not sure Adam Schefter fits into that category, but you
23:21
know, he gets a lot, does a lot of favors, rate good stuff.
23:24
As always, fascinating conversation where television is
23:26
leading and the big announcement from this week.
23:29
Good to see you enjoy the rest of your summer, you look good.
23:31
Thank you. I want to come back sometime
23:32
when Trent can come from the other side of the glass, you
23:34
know? How's the golf game?
23:36
My golf game is good. I've won a double S match
23:38
Tuesday. I'm on to the finals at Des
23:40
Moines Golf in my flight. Last time I was at Des Moines
23:42
Golf, I was having lunch with you.
23:44
Good to see you, Ray Cole. Appreciate you coming in.
23:46
Take your time. I'll talk some cyclones when we
23:48
come back. Miller and Condon on the Iowa
23:50
Sports Radio Network. Mallory Condon, welcome back.
23:59
Our thanks to Ray Cole, a former Board of Governors, the ABC, for
24:04
a television bit. Let's get a move on.
24:06
Transplays of the day still to come.
24:08
Circus sports sponsor those those coming up here in about,
24:12
oh, 15 minutes or thereabouts. Nick Maravich covers I was
24:16
stayed locked on cyclones part of the locked on network locked
24:20
on cyclones for Nick and he joins us two weeks away from
24:24
Saturday from game number. What's crazy that it's coming up
24:27
this fast weight game a week 0 of K State and Iowa State.
24:32
A couple of assistant coaches met with the media today.
24:35
Ryan Clanton, offensive line coach and Jake Landry coaches
24:38
the running backs and Nick joins us to give us his thoughts on
24:41
that and a couple of other. Earlier in the week, TJ wrapped
24:44
up the summer press conferences with his basketball program.
24:47
And before we bring Nick on, do you get the sense, Trent, that I
24:52
think TJ likes his team? Oh, I think so.
24:54
It doesn't. I think he likes the young guys.
24:57
I think he does, yeah. He thinks he's got another team.
24:59
I think he does. I'll I'll put it this way.
25:01
I don't think that it's that it's going to be a it's not
25:04
going to go backwards. Yeah, right.
25:06
I'm not saying to go to a national championship, but it
25:08
certainly seems like post season is in their future.
25:11
Here's Nick. He joins us.
25:12
Nick Maravich, locked on Cyclones, Nick Trenton.
25:14
Ken, you know, since we're talking basketball, let's start
25:17
there. Just listening to TJ over the
25:19
summer, did you get that sense as well that you know this is a
25:23
pretty good group with some senior leadership, some veteran
25:26
guys, Milanovich taking his steps, some of the newcomers
25:29
offered, the Jefferson coming back, Lipsy still there, Heisey,
25:33
etcetera. That this has a chance to be
25:35
another pretty good winter into early spring basketball wise at
25:39
Iowa State. Absolutely.
25:41
I think that TJ feels really good about this team, especially
25:44
about the production that's returning.
25:47
And the one thing that I felt like he was kind of really
25:50
wanting to see this offseason was the production or, or I
25:53
guess the the development of mom Shilovich.
25:55
And it sounds like he's done that.
25:57
In his last press conference, I believe TJ noted that he was
26:00
averaging like just north of 18 points and four threes.
26:04
And it's it's the mentality of shoot more, make more or not
26:08
shoot at a higher percentage that seems to have made that
26:10
shift. And so, you know, I think
26:12
personally if Mob Shield, which can perform at that level, this
26:15
team is, I mean, this is way too early to make these predictions,
26:18
but Sweet 16 feels very gettable.
26:20
Yeah, you know, and Trent and I said that his problem is
26:23
consistency. Absolutely right.
26:24
Yeah, you can't go and have the 24 point performance and
26:27
followed up with A1 for three, you know and that's that's.
26:32
I think that's where it it's the shoot more make more mentality.
26:35
That's the shift we're going to see because it's not Oh, I've
26:37
I've missed my first two. I can't keep shooting and we're
26:40
going to see more breakout, you know, consistency from Mom
26:43
Shilovich. Speaking of.
26:45
Consistency and maybe that's not the right term, but when you
26:47
talk about Tamon Lipsy, I've been saying just put him in
26:49
bubble wrap all all summer long. You know what you have just can
26:52
we see a healthy 35 game season for Tamon Lipsy, his final go
26:57
around and Ames kid more than anything.
27:00
I mean, that's my hope, just to see what this guy can do and
27:02
being as close to 100% throughout the course of the
27:05
year because it's another offseason where he's doing
27:07
everything right. I kind of feel like Damon Lipsy
27:11
is a a hockey player at heart. The way he just plays, that's
27:14
good. So I mean, it is a very good
27:17
treat to have and I'd love to see him stay healthy for a long
27:20
time. On the injury note, like the
27:21
Jefferson thing was, was definitely the biggest kind of
27:24
concern I had. I am not too worried about
27:27
Lipsy. The the biggest problem with
27:28
Lipsy is he just plays too hard all the time.
27:31
So that's going to, it's going to happen every now and then.
27:33
No, no doubt about it. Well, let's switch over to
27:35
football is we're two weeks from Saturday away from week zero.
27:39
Team going across the pond to Ireland to take on K State.
27:43
Such an important game for both schools.
27:44
K State getting a lot, a lot of love in pre season amongst the
27:48
the forecasters out there. Iowa State veteran quarterback
27:51
Rocco back, The biggest concern to you, Nick, as you look at
27:54
this roster, what what would that be?
27:57
Is that the offensive line finally taking that step that
28:00
they just haven't been able to take 167 receptions, have
28:04
graduated and moved on to the NFL.
28:06
What's the biggest concern for you when it comes to this team?
28:11
Early on in this offseason, my first thought was the secondary,
28:13
but it seems like Matt Campbell is very high on this secondary.
28:17
He doesn't have a whole lot of doubts there.
28:18
So I'm going to kind of trust him.
28:20
I'd like to see the offensive line performing a high level
28:22
like all season long. And and that's just because you
28:25
know, the games are one in the trenches.
28:28
You can say say the same thing about the defensive line as
28:30
well. I think that that that area did
28:32
get a lot better, but I would say offensive line right now.
28:35
You mentioned those receptions graduating.
28:38
I genuinely think the tight end position and running back are
28:40
going to pick up that by like it'll be easy.
28:44
No no problem. They're running back even
28:45
potentially as well. So receiving game I don't think
28:48
will be an issue this year. As long as Bramer stays healthy.
28:50
And definitely need that, and I like Gabe Burkle.
28:53
Yeah, I do too. But Bramer's differently.
28:56
On Cooper Alexander. Yeah, yeah, he was blown up in
28:58
the last press. Conference and they have some
29:00
depth and that's another thing to be excited about at that
29:03
position. You mentioned the offensive
29:05
line, I talked about it a ton. We saw last year that offensive
29:08
line at least was able to do OK when they were mixing and
29:11
matching. There was injuries.
29:12
They were trying to figure out what to do with Jalen Travis
29:14
until he got back. And so it was difficult.
29:17
Doesn't sound like that's going to be the case this year, Ken.
29:19
Maybe for the first time in a long time or maybe ever in the
29:22
Campbell era, can this be a good offensive line throughout the
29:25
well, August and throughout September?
29:29
I think so, and it sounds like, you know, from what I've heard,
29:31
I haven't got a chance to listen to the press conference you
29:33
mentioned from today, but they're doing a lot of mixing
29:36
and matching, which I do like just to integrate, you know, the
29:39
the play styles of everyone else on the line early because it's
29:43
not about the five best players. It's about the five best guys
29:46
that play together, that best unit out there.
29:48
And so I like that approach. At this point in the season, I
29:51
know it's, you know, two weeks out or whatever, they haven't
29:54
even started thinking about Kansas State to my knowledge.
29:56
They're they're solely focusing on making this the best team
29:59
possibly can be. So I agree with you.
30:01
I think that this offensive line can get it done and we're seeing
30:03
obviously more development, more maturation out of those running
30:07
backs. I think that'll help as well.
30:08
Rocco Beck being able to manipulate the pocket better as
30:11
well. It's like the whole unit is
30:12
getting better at once and that is what has me really, really
30:15
excited. Yeah, today it was Tyler Miller
30:19
who Clinton was just was talking about NFL guys that were picking
30:23
a brain on him and they see some improvement there.
30:26
I'm fascinated to see how the center positions he's going to
30:29
shake out. You know, between three guys,
30:31
Boniface, Barrett and Black, the three BS all battling for the C
30:36
and, and who's going to win it? Brendan Black, Trent and I both
30:39
loved him when he came in as a true freshman and just the nasty
30:42
streak he had in him. There's some, well, at least on
30:46
the surface, Nick, it seems like maybe for the first time,
30:50
there's actually real depth when it comes to this unit.
30:55
Absolutely. I mean, I think Black is
30:57
probably the one that I'm leaning towards as my guess.
31:01
It's a completely a guess, but you never know.
31:04
I mean, he's going to be good anywhere on that line.
31:06
If you want to talk depth. I think that's really this
31:08
team's biggest strength and we haven't really gone to the
31:11
defensive side, not to switch it on you, but that linebacker and
31:13
we have to talk about it because that's what's going to win them
31:16
games this year in my opinion. What about special teams?
31:19
An inconsistent year, certainly at the kicker position a year
31:22
ago. A big kick in Week 2, but there
31:24
were inconsistencies. What have you heard about
31:26
special teams? And looks to be a chance to at
31:29
least be a strength this season again.
31:32
It does. I haven't really heard a whole
31:34
lot honestly on the special teams front.
31:36
I know personally, Iowa State and special teams, I always hold
31:40
my breath other than, you know, like Kaylin Noah was kind of a
31:44
bright spot in there. But for the most part, it's one
31:46
of those positions where I'm just hoping to release my
31:50
breath. That's something something good
31:52
happened. I'll never forget that kick from
31:54
Conradi last season. I'll be interested to see how
31:56
that plays out this year. It's such a mental game too.
31:59
And I just haven't heard a whole lot specifically on on names or
32:03
positions or anything. But you know, I do think that
32:07
the team as a whole is getting better.
32:10
And Matt Campbell mentioned, I believe it was late last week in
32:13
his pressure. He was talking about like, right
32:15
now, if you show up and you don't bring it, you're going to
32:17
get exposed on tape. And I think that that just goes
32:20
to show the talent level of the entire team.
32:22
And I think that carries over to special teams.
32:25
You're going to see high level talent across the field.
32:27
I won't be holding my breath as much this season, I hope.
32:29
Nick Mirvitz locked on cyclones.com.
32:32
The only thing I've seen about special teams, I saw a photo of
32:35
Tyler Perkins. Dude is jacked man for a punter.
32:39
He's got I I was I was actually legitimately impressed.
32:43
It just looked it looks like he's built like a middle
32:44
linebacker for crying out loud. So we'll see.
32:47
We'll see how that works out. Defensive line is clearly I know
32:51
they keep bringing up a wazigu and obviously he's going to play
32:54
such an important role. You know what you get in out of
32:57
Dominic Orange McDonough, the transfer from Yale.
33:02
It's the second straight year they've had an Ivy League.
33:04
Hopefully the other one works out as well as Travis did.
33:07
The McDonough is that guy. Is there enough depth there, do
33:10
you think, on the defensive front or is that maybe where the
33:15
concern would lie? I would say that depth would
33:19
maybe be the concern if there were to be 1 on the defensive
33:22
line just from my interpretation.
33:24
And you never know exactly, you know, who's going to step up at
33:27
what time. That's kind of like what Mac
33:28
Hamill alluded to earlier this, you know, this just last week or
33:31
whatever it was saying like we don't really know what this
33:33
team's going to look like until middle of the season.
33:36
But I do think that they have the high end talent now.
33:38
And from what I've heard about Dominique Orange, it sounds like
33:40
he's making the step in the right direction to be able to
33:42
put out, you know, 30-40, fifty good plays a game.
33:45
Mentally, it sounds like was the biggest shift.
33:47
But he's also in the best conditioning of his life and I
33:50
personally am beyond thrilled to see what Tomato McDonough does
33:54
just because we've heard so much about he's like an athletic
33:56
freak, like this guy is a specimen.
33:58
So only good things can come from that.
34:00
I think they have the high end talent.
34:02
But I do agree with you. If anything, it would it would
34:05
potentially be that depth which maybe linebackers can kind of
34:08
fill in there. Yeah, and there's so many of
34:10
them to fight for playing time. It's going to be interesting to
34:12
see how it shakes out. Nick, run a time.
34:14
Thanks for doing this. Appreciate it.
34:15
Nick Maravitz covers Iowa State Locked.
34:18
Locked on cyclones.com Locked on cyclones.com LO at LO Cyclones
34:23
on X Good job, Nick. Thanks for popping on.
34:25
Appreciate it. Thanks for having me guys.
34:28
Yep, good to talk to you, Nick Maravitz as we talk Iowa State,
34:31
take your time out, come back. Trent's plays the day they're
34:34
coming. Up next, Circus sports sponsor
34:35
Miller and Condon Iowa Sports Radio Network.
34:41
Hi Millery Condon final segment here on a where are we?
34:44
Thursday, today, Thursday all day today.
34:47
Kenneth coming up next off the bench, Lucas Strange.
34:52
Jeff Dubow just met Jeff. Did you, Jeff?
34:54
Down the hall, getting set. You got through the construction
34:57
OK. I did.
34:58
Well, I had to. I had my lunch from Manhattan
35:00
Deli in the fridge. I wondered what you were doing
35:03
there with that bag. I'd.
35:04
Do it every Thursday. Creature habit.
35:07
We know that I. Love the Thursday special?
35:10
Speaking of Thursday, a happy birthday shout out to my sister.
35:12
Jewel, Jewel, if you're listening, is she?
35:15
She's not. She is having a bunch of friends
35:18
that were delayed getting out of Des Moines this morning that
35:20
we're meeting her for her 40th birthday party.
35:22
I think they're in Atlanta, something like that.
35:25
Or maybe that was her layover. But my little sister turning 40
35:28
today. It happens, Trent.
35:30
It does my. Little sister turned 61, so just
35:33
to let you know. Keep going.
35:35
Yeah, just just real quick before we get to your place, I
35:37
was just looking at the Raiders, the LA Raiders, LV Raiders depth
35:44
chart, Darien Porter's starting. Oh yeah.
35:47
Absolutely. How about that story?
35:49
Unthinkable. Isn't it something?
35:51
That has to be what? How good for him.
35:53
One of the most wrong I've ever been.
35:55
When they moved him to. Corner.
35:57
I remember us having the I'm like, this is not going to work.
36:00
Can we stop? Well, he's really intriguing.
36:03
A6364 corner pack. I'm like, yeah, stop it.
36:06
It never works. He's to knock it off and then he
36:08
starts playing special teams like he can tackle.
36:12
He looks pretty good and he starts playing corner like.
36:15
Maybe there's something there? I've been wrong a lot.
36:17
That one might be towards the top of the list of those things.
36:20
He'll never talk for me. Brock Purdy, who will never
36:22
throw pass in the NFL. He's.
36:24
Throwing a couple? Yeah, he has.
36:26
Let's get to your plays of the day.
36:28
By the way, a little birdie told me this.
36:30
Yes, your love affair with the Ravens and preseason the last
36:33
two years, they're owing 6 against the spread.
36:36
OK, it's gone the other. Way that little bird will be in
36:39
your chair coming up here at in 7 minutes, by the way.
36:42
I'm I'm still playing the half unit.
36:44
Yeah, just on the money line tonight.
36:45
It's a preseason look, I'm not getting crazy if.
36:47
You're playing the money line. Yeah, just throw it down.
36:50
Plus 250 at Circa. We'll jump aboard on that one
36:53
for my other plays One baseball game tonight.
36:56
I'm there. Literally only is 1 baseball
36:58
game tonight. And I'm going to grab the
36:59
Marlins with Perez on the mound and that's the reason behind it.
37:03
So I'll take the Marlins minus the 1:20 there one in the WNBA
37:07
tonight, the reeling Chicago Sky.
37:10
I'll grab the. Points.
37:13
I believe that is correct. When I was looking this morning
37:16
at it hadn't been an official designation, but that's what
37:19
everything was leading to. Still going to grab the points
37:22
as Atlanta playing really well. Maybe a flat spot for the Dream.
37:27
That's what I'm kind of looking for tonight.
37:29
All right, well, we'll grade your work tomorrow.
37:31
Tomorrow, Tom Caker will join us before Hawkeye Media Football
37:35
Day. That starts at what, Just before
37:37
2:00? Yeah, I think Kurt goes at like
37:38
140. 5145 S Caker will be here. Mitch can send some tape.
37:43
Obviously, Travis Hines is going to join us to kick off our
37:47
number 2 and then we'll get Mike Palm late in the show and the
37:51
latest we go behind the counter with Mike.
37:53
Paul, our penultimate footballist Football Friday,
37:57
that's. Wild, isn't it?
37:58
It truly is. She almost made a buddy.
38:00
There, I hear you. You can slow down now though.
38:03
You can watch some football. Tonight, I think I just might.
38:05
Yeah, I think I just might. I hope you're going to listen to
38:08
you off the bench because it's coming up next.
38:09
They'll take you until 5, overtime, Iowa, 5 until 6.
38:13
Trent Connor, myself, Ken Miller, we talk sports with you
38:17
every Monday through Friday. Miller and Condon, noon to two.
38:20
Thanks for being with us on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.