Media Circus: NHL writers discuss how to improve the league’s television product (2024)

The NHL is sensational to watch in person. The in-arena experience, as long as your sightlines are good, gives you a remarkable sense of how skilled hockey is played at the highest level. Though the television product has improved significantly over the last decade, the game is not close to a finished television product. Hockey, as much as any significant sport in North America, is really helped by advancements in TV resolution technology and data. (The game will really transform in 8K, whenever that day comes.) The NHL plans to deploy Puck and Player Tracking technology in time for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs and when that data becomes immersed into the first and second screen experience, the product will get that much better. An NHL spokesperson told The Athletic on Sunday that the league willtest the Puck and Player Tracking technology during the second half of the regular season and have a limited rollout then.

Viewership remains challenging for the NHL, but keep in mind the sport is regional at its core. NHL regular season viewership averaged 424,000 viewers across NBC Sports’ properties, per Sports Media Watch. That was up 2 percent from 2018 (417,000), but down 11 percent from two years ago (474,000). It was one of the two least-watched seasons since 2010-11.

The postseason was a much better viewership story. The entire Stanley Cup playoffs averaged 1.53 million viewers including streaming, the most-watched postseason since 1996. The seven-game Blues-Bruins Stanley Cup Final was also a big winner. The series averaged 5.33 million viewers on NBC and NBCSN, the most-watched Cup Final since Blackhawks-Lightning in 2015 (5.55 million).

With the 2019-20 NHL regular season beginning Wednesday, I thought it would be a good time to examine how to improve the NHL as a television product. (Disclaimer: I work for Sportsnet 590 radio in Toronto and Sportsnet airs the NHL in Canada.) I paneled NHL writers from The Athletic for their thoughts on how to improve the television experience and presentation. Let me know what you would do in the comments section.

Rick Carpiniello, Rangers writer:

This is a pet peeve of mine with most U.S. hockey broadcast outlets, but especially NBC Sports. They sell, sell, sell the rough stuff — NBC’s old Wednesday Rivalry Night slogan was “The Night You Love To Hate” and their opens feature fights, etc. — yet at the first sign of a fracas, the camera instantly switches to a closeup of somebody not remotely involved. It’s as if they’re ordered to not show the tough parts of the game live. Then they will show the full replay in slow motion etc. But live, nope. It’s breakneck speed to get away from what is actually happening on the ice. The Canadian outlets generally focus in on what happens pre- and post-whistle. I could go on, but that’s the one that really bugs me, and NBC is a major offender.

Ryan S. Clark, Avalanche writer:

Having a broader national reach would be the most notable step taken toward improving the television product. The NBC broadcasts constantly show Original Six teams plus the Flyers, Penguins and Capitals. Yes, there are games with other teams like the Blues, but having other franchises to market could help, especially when you look at the way the league is going. The Sharks are a Stanley Cup contender, as are the Golden Knights. The Panthers could have an interesting season while younger teams like the Flames and Avalanche showed in the playoffs they can provide entertaining hockey. There is no way to show every single team, but broadening the footprint beyond nine teams could aid in potentially growing the game.

This next one could be a bit more difficult to achieve: Creating and then building off of a subculture beyond just the games themselves could potentially be an avenue worth exploring. The NBA, for example, has welcomed things like fashion, shoe culture and gaming culture. It has given people who either did not care about basketball or were fringe fans something to care about. Tristan Thompson was the most searched athlete in 2018 and a lot of it has to do with the pop culture component of being in a relationship with Khloe Kardashian. Not saying the NHL needs its players to start dating reality TV stars, but the NBA has made a point to offer personality to its fans and a larger audience. The NHL has personalities and some interesting stories that fans at large would likely find endearing. Take Matt Nieto. He’s a forward with the Avalanche who has a sister with autism and Down syndrome. His sister, Erin, is non-verbal and can only speak 20 words. One of them is his No. 83 and that is why he will never change numbers. A story like that resonates with people on so many wavelengths and offering those kinds of details could help attract a broader audience.

Lisa Dillman, Kings writer:

Less might be more when it comes to the on-bench, in-game interview with the coach or an assistant coach. A good idea, in theory. But the coach usually looks like he would rather be almost anywhere else and it is often cringe-worthy TV.

It got to be a thing in LA when then Kings coach Darryl Sutter was corralled for an on-bench interview. Those of us covering games couldn’t hear him, of course. So the fun part was asking TV viewers, via Twitter, at home: What did he say this time?

More often than not, clichéd questions generate clichéd answers. The easy solution: time to retire that in-game fixture.

Tarik El-Bashir, Capitals writer:

I tuned into a Premier Lacrosse League game on television this summer because I wanted my son, a new(ish) lacrosse player, to pick up some tips from the best players in the world. What happened next, however, was something I did not expect: I became a fan of the new league, too. Not so much because of the high-level lacrosse (although it was great), I was hooked because of the innovative broadcast.

The color commentator interviewed a goal scorer — who was still huffing and puffing — via an earpiece and mic in the player’s helmet about the play he’d just made. The player explained why he cut left, why he fired when he did and he took a shot at the ref over a missed call, to boot…all in the span of a few seconds. Minutes later, the sideline reporter interviewed a coach after he’d huddled with his team on the sideline. The coach explained, in precise terms, his team’s strategy for hanging on in the final seconds of the game.

Sure, I had a seen NASCAR drivers conduct occasionally hard to hear interviews with the booth while the cars circled the track under caution. But this was different. I felt like I was part of the action. The lacrosse was great. The broadcast was even better. After watching the PLL, I now want to hear from Alex Ovechkin “under the helmet” as he heads back to the bench following a goal. I need to hear from Bruce Boudreau after he calls a timeout with 45 seconds to go in a one-goal game. It can be done and the PLL proved it.

Sean Gordon, Canadiens writer:

In the mid-2000s there was a lockout at CBC and the network broadcast football games with no play-by-play announcers or color analysts (I also have a dim memory of the same thing happening with hockey at some point when I was a kid). It was awesome. So if someone fell on their head and put me in charge, viewers would have the option of watching a feed with no commentary. As a corollary, it’d be great if producers took a page out of soccer’s book and encouraged the broadcast teams to converse about and dissect the game rather than describe it.

Kevin Kurz, Sharks writer:

Something I would love to see is what the NFL has done in recent years by bringing in an unbiased official to comment on any plays or penalties that might be controversial. So many infractions in hockey are the referee’s discretion, and for some of the fans that might just be getting into the sport it can be confusing at times — especially if they go on social media. This probably isn’t doable at the local level, but for national broadcasts, maybe a well-known retired referee could be in the booth with the broadcasters to clarify what’s going on.

Corey Masisak, Devils writer:

I wish there was more X’s and O’s education and analysis during NHL broadcasts. An average NFL fan knows what a safety blitz or a screen pass is, but I think the general understanding of how NHL systems and strategies work is lower than other sports. More diagrams to show how teams are trying to defend, how special teams work and goals are scored beyond the typical “Team X just outworked Team Y there” explanations. I think that would help open the game to more casual fans, and make some casual ones more invested. Also, more cameras. Anywhere. Everywhere. Ref cam for every game. Goalie cams. A “behind the QB skycam” for power plays. More options for replays to better show how the game really works.

Craig Morgan, Coyotes writer:

• Have a daily or thrice weekly NHL Power Play show like “NFL RedZone” that shows every goal from every game and other highlights like every power-play opportunity. People’s attention spans are shorter than ever. Highlight all your best and most exciting action. It’s fantasy-friendly and sports fans are familiar with consuming content that way. Maybe it’s free every Wednesday on NHL Network and accessible via a premium subscription at other times.
• Tweak the timing of things. Broadcast crews get something like eight minutes on the air before puck drop, 18-minute intermissions, but virtually no time after goals or during commercial breaks to help explain and entertain. Allow additional time to show replays after goals or key plays. Canada and the U.S. approach this in different manners. Canada likes the long intermissions; most U.S. markets feel it’s an opportunity for people to turn off the TV.
• Open up access for behind-the-scenes content. The Coyotes actually grant excellent access to their broadcast teams. I believe FSAZ was the first RSN to have the live look of the coach’s talk between periods, but the league could do more and it varies too much from team to team. I don’t think the Islanders TV group can even interview rookies.
• Broadcast positions continue to get higher and higher with all of the new buildings. Some clubs have moved their broadcast teams to positions much lower in the building, providing a better view and therefore better analysis, but in many cases, they haven’t offered the same position to the visitor’s show. It would be great if the league instituted an equality policy.
• Use more cameras, whether it be the overhead camera that the NFL uses so well or cameras behind the nets during power plays so we can see more plays develop from those angles.
• More matinees on weekends.
• More trackable, in-game stats through an app or an on-screen option so that fans can check periodically without waiting for the producer to choose, or opening up NHL.com.

Aaron Portzline, Blue Jackets writer:

I think the league has done pretty well with its NBC package, but as a guy who lives in a “small market,” I can tell you there’s massive frustration in those markets that the same 6-7 teams seem to always be part of the national broadcasts, the outdoor games, etc. I understand why that is, of course — ratings, ratings, ratings — but some very talented teams and players play in anonymity. It never ceases to amaze me how many Blue Jackets fans care intensely how many national games the Jackets have each season. They want their team on a national stage, and, frankly, they want to see more variety. From your reporting on this last season, I think the NHL took a step in that direction, even showing some games involving Canadian clubs, which don’t benefit them in the least when it comes to ratings. That’s a step in the right direction, but two or three more steps would be a refreshing change. I feel like nobody even thinks of NFL franchises as big- or small-market, and a player (Odell Beckham Jr., for instance) can be as big a star in Cleveland as they are in New York. Maybe the NBA is that way, too, ever since ESPN started pumping the league a number of years ago. To me, it feels like an NHL player’s star potential is very much related to the club they play for, and I wonder how much of that is because of TV exposure.

George Richards, Panthers writer:

I’ve always thought one thing about hockey coverage that was lacking — for the casual fan — was who was on the ice and when. I don’t watch a lot of NASCAR, but one thing I always thought was cool was how they have a box with arrows pointing to the car as they move through the track identifying the drivers. They don’t do it all the time, but enough to know who is who. With everyone watching on big screen TVs, I think it could be done. Some baseball broadcasts have done something similar, showing who was playing the infield, for instance. I know hockey is more fast paced, but maybe it could flash up every once in a while so not to clutter things up too much.

Michael Russo, Wild writer:

One thing I’d love to see is more time after goals to show replays. The league is in such a rush to drop the puck, but technology is so much better now with super slow-mo replays and various angles that it would be cool for the league to allow the telecasts a few more seconds to show replays. The TV networks have such little time that they aren’t always able to show everything after a goal. I’m not saying there should be 30 seconds more or anything, but an extra 10 or 15 seconds won’t kill anybody. They tried this a decade ago, but when the league noticed that the broadcasts weren’t taking advantage of the extra time, they took it away. But technology has changed dramatically since.

They could also enhance their use of advanced stats within the broadcasts like baseball does. How they instantly have pitch speed, location, exit velocity, distance traveled, etc. Hockey could probably help attract and educate fans if it instantly displayed shot velocity, speed of the skaters, distance of a shot or pass.

Another thing would be increased robo cam usage like they have for football. It gives great perspective from behind a quarterback, would be great to be able to see more from a players point of view like behind a point man on a power play or from behind a goalie.

Hailey Salvian, Senators writer:

I would start by minimizing the amount of pre, during and post-game interviews with players. I think we’ve gotten to the point as viewers that we hear the same answers so often, what is there to really gain from seeing so many of them over the course of a broadcast? If there is something important going on, or the situation requires it, of course do the interview. But some broadcasts just have too many now. I’d rather see more features, sit-down interviews and other original content at intermissions. The players tend to be more open in those pre-recorded pieces than they are standing in the hallway after stepping off the ice.

Sean Shapiro, Stars writer:

The first and simplest thing would be having NBC broadcasts include a shot count. It helps when someone joins a game in action and gives a slight indication of how play has actually gone compared to just the goals. On a local level in Dallas, I would like to see the Stars split the simulcast they currently use. Dallas’ broadcasters do a good job trying to serve both mediums, but there is only so much the broadcasters can do since you need a slightly different approach for TV and radio. It’s the only thing that really holds the Dallas broadcast back, they have to serve two masters.

Fluto Shinzawa, Bruins writer:

• Live microphones on multiple players, both coaches, and referees. Who cares if they swear?
• In-game chat with someone from hockey operations. Young viewers like to interact with whoever they’re watching.
• No more Camera 1 shot from the side. More views from the ends, like the ones used in video games.
• Graphic incorporation of player tracking data. Power bars, for example, that show how much energy a player has remaining based on shift length.

Joe Smith, Lightning writer:

I think anything broadcasts can do to highlight the off-ice personalities of the players — behind the scenes access you can likely only get as rightsholders. Mic’d up segments are great. If there was a rule/discipline expert they can use on-air when questionable calls/hits come up (like Fox does w NFL) would be helpful. Also, I think fans would be very interested in the player tracking stats if approved. How fast Brayden Point is skating. The mph of a Steven Stamkos shot .. etc

Arthur Staple, Islanders writer:

More players need to be mic’d up and the audio aired during the broadcast. It’s obviously harder to get a sense of NHL players with the helmets and all, but they chirp at each other constantly on the ice. Would be a great way for fans to hear some personality from them.

Adam Vingan, Predators writer:

As someone who appreciates the analytical side of the sport, I would find it informative to have an expert on the subject as a regular part of the coverage. Many local broadcasts have started to sprinkle “fancy stats” into their coverage; MSG, for example, tracks “total offensive zone possession” for Buffalo Sabres games, which isn’t an official statistic but informative nonetheless. Then again, NBC doesn’t even have a shot counter on their broadcasts, so I’d consider that progress.

John Vogl, Sabres writer:

Improvement in utilizing the on-ice audio would certainly spice up the broadcasts. Understandably, they can’t go live to the referees or players who are mic’d up because of profanity, but the short clips they show of “Nice work, Ray” or “Way to go, boys” are boring and not reflective of the game. They need to work in the trash talk between players, the jokes made by teammates and the refs explaining calls to the players. The best lines of the night are usually said on the ice, not in the broadcast booth, and no one gets to hear it even though the technology is there.

Josh Yohe, Penguins writer:

Hire more Canadians. Seriously. More to the point, steal some people from CBC and elsewhere and bring them south. It’s true that hockey doesn’t translate as well to television as other sports, but watch one “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcast: The production is better, the sound quality is off the charts better, and the overall feel of the broadcasts is vastly superior to anything NBC provides. You feel like you’re at the game when you’re watching a “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcast. NBC offers a legend in Doc Emrick and the wonderful Eddie Olczyk. Otherwise, it typically feels like a second rate broadcast. Watch and learn, and the ratings will grow.

Scott Burnside, national writer:

I have never understood why, during national broadcasts in the United States or even regional ones for that matter, they don’t do more to share highlights of games going on at the same time. If I’m in a pool or have an interest in teams other than the same small core of teams that make up the majority of national broadcasts I’d like to know what’s going on in the Florida/Tampa game or Dallas/Colorado. Would be a great way to introduce fans to players outside those “prime” markets some of whom are no longer really ‘prime’ anymore.

Dom Luszczyszyn, national reporter:

One thing I would love to see is basic statistical literacy. I would never rag on actual X’s and O’s analysis (TSN’s Ray Ferraro remains the gold standard here), but there are often times where the actual discourse on hockey broadcasts isn’t even that. It’s not so much stats vs. eye test, but good stats vs. bad stats from people that don’t see the game as thoughtfully as Ferraro does. Spare me from anything about plus-minus (or combined plus-minus!), faceoffs, hits, home and road power play splits, and any other trivia that holds little merit. It all feels so archaic and outdated, and while I hope that player tracking helps greatly with that, I don’t currently trust those in power to properly utilize that info to better inform their audience. Tell me what you see, the systems, how teams tick, what players are trying to do — it’s all great, especially when done well — but if you’re going to bring numbers into the equation, you should know what you’re talking about.

Sean McIndoe, national writer:

I want to watch people who seem to like hockey. To be clear, I don’t want cheerleaders. I don’t want to be constantly told that the NHL is the best thing ever. I don’t want anyone pulling their punches when criticism is warranted, which with this league is often. There’s a time to be negative. But it’s not all the time. I don’t want to spend hours watching a bunch of dour old-timers complain about everything. At some point, that apparently became standard issue for NHL broadcasts, especially the national ones. You make time in your day to tune into the game, you sit down in front of your TV, you watch the action, and then you get treated to a bunch of cranky faces telling you why you shouldn’t be enjoying any of it.

Compare that to the NBA of NFL, where we get coverage and commentary and yes, criticism, but it all comes from people who actually seem to like the sport. Nobody feels like they were dragged into the studio against their will. And nobody wants to shout at us about how everything was so much better decades ago. The NHL could learn from that.

Scott Wheeler, National Prospects/NHL Draft writer;

My biggest problem with hockey broadcasts is that the dissection of the game itself (tactics, systems, schemes, player evaluation) has always felt thin to me. With the technology that’s available now, and the expertise that some former players and coaches have on broadcasts, there’s no reason that the average fan should still have such a huge gap in knowledge as to how the game is actually played. Too much emphasis is placed on the mistakes that are made in a game, and not enough of the focus is dedicated to the circ*mstances and context that contributed to those mistakes. I would love to see more diversion away from panels towards more thorough attempts to slow down a game that plays faster than viewers are capable of evaluating in real-time.

The Ink Report

1. Some Week 4 NFL media thoughts:

• Great job by Fox Sports NFL rules analyst Dean Blandino and analyst Charles Davis on an overturned touchdown catch by Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay during the third quarter of Kansas City’s 34-30 win over Detroit. First, Davis immediately let viewers know that the issue at hand was whether Golladay had completed the process of the catch and that the booth would automatically look at it. Both Davis and play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt thought it was a touchdown. “This is a really close play,” Blandino said. “He does get control initially, both feet down, but watch the football move as it hits the ground. Is it just moving, or does it come loose? That ‘s going to be the question. I believe the pass is incomplete …What ultimately will be the decision here is do they think he lost control when he hit the ground?” The touchdown was ultimately overturned after an informed back and forth with the broadcasters on a close call. Blandino was also correct on a fourth-quarter touchdown by Golladay that was reviewed.
• I watched a lot of the Lions-Chiefs game and thought Davis was particularly terrific on Sunday. He educated viewers on most of the controversial plays— as there always seem to be with the Lions regarding pass-catching — as well as smaller things like analyzing the position of defensive backs or praising offensive line play when deserving (as he did on the last Kansas City score). Davis has an easy manner that allows his play-by-play partner (Kevin Burkhardt) to excel. Same when someone from the outside (Blandino) is part of the booth. I wrote about Davis when he moved from college football to the NFL in 2015 and he was stunned by the assignment. “I had heard about Donovan McNabb’s unfortunate trouble and had wondered how and if things might be affected on the NFL side,” Davis said in 2015. “I knew that Donovan had been tabbed to call games this fall. But nowhere in my grey matter, my frontal lobe, did it ever occur to me that if McNabb was not going to call games, I would get the call. Normally, there’s an inkling, some talk about moves before they occur, but this happened so fast that the grapevine never even got activated. There was never a thought that if an opening occurred my name would be part of the discussion. I was already happily part of the lead college football broadcast team for Fox Sports and prepping to attend conference media days and for the season. I cannot emphasize just how surprised I was to get that call from [the then executive producer for Fox Sports] John Entz. My legs literally buckled for a second.”
• Fun feature produced by ace CBS Sports producer Charlie Bloom on two Bills’ fans who were married at halftime of yesterday’s Bills-Patriots game:

At halftime of today’s @BuffaloBills game, Mackenzie Park and Jordan Binggeli will tie the knot at the 50 yard line in front of 75,000 guests. Here’s the incredible story behind their relationship. pic.twitter.com/tPTQWUXKgf

— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) September 29, 2019

• The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan, via ownership sources, reported last week that the NFL is now focused on expanding the regular season to 17 games. The current schedule is 16 games. If the NFLPA ultimately agrees to this change, the NFL is set up to add another package of games given the added inventory. Keep an eye on ABC (ESPN’s network arm), Fox, Turner Sports and streaming players such as DAZN.
• The NFL said the Thursday Night Football game between the Eagles’ and Packers was seen by an average audience of 18.6 million across all platforms, including Fox, NFL Network, Fox Deportes, NFL digital, FOX Sports digital, Amazon Prime Video, Twitch and Yahoo Sports. The 18.6 million viewers was up 25 percent versus the 2018 11-game Fox Thursday Night Football average and the second most-watched Thursday Night game aired by Fox behind Saints-Cowboys in Week 13 last season (22.2 million). The TV audience was 17.7 million. The Amazon number was 877,000.
• As of last Sunday, Fox had averaged 19.1 million for its NFL games – the network’s best start since 2016 and up seven percent over last year at the same date.

1a. There is no easing into “Diego Maradona.” Director Asif Kapadia immediately thrusts viewers into his extraordinary documentary thanks to an opening scene that feels like a car chase out of “The French Connection.” With the pulsing beats of “Delorean Dynamite” by Todd Terje as the backdrop, the film begins inside a speeding car carrying soccer icon Maradona through Italian streets and highways as they hurl toward Stadio San Paolo, the home of S.S.C. Napoli. The date is July 5, 1984, and Maradona is 23 years old. He has just left FC Barcelona for Napoli and this transfer will prove to be the pivot of his story. It will never be the same for Maradona after this, both good and bad. As a viewer, you are experiencing what it is like to see a man walk out of one life and into another. This is the best sports documentary of 2019 and if you missed my piece on it from Friday, here you go.

1b. Week 5 was a down viewership week in college football based on viewership. The most-watched game was Ohio State’s blowout win over Nebraska, which drew a 3.9 overnight on ABC. Clemson at North Carolina on ABC drew a 3.1 overnight, the highest-rated game of the day in the late afternoon window across any network.

1c. Here are the overnight ratings for Saturday’s CFB pregame shows (11 a.m.-noon ET).

This week:

“College Gameday” (ESPN): 1.7

“Big Noon Kickoff” (Fox): 0.6

• Week Four: 1.8 to 0.7
• Week Three: 1.6 to 0.7
• Week Two: 1.7 to 0.7
• Week One: 1.6 to 0.8

1d. Per Fox Sports vice president Mike Mulvihill: Fox’s average CFB overnight rating is up 38 percent for the season-to-date. Fox decided at the start of the year to place its best game in that window. Ohio State and Michigan each appeared twice over the first four weeks.

2. NBC ‘s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL regular season begins Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN with the Blues raising their championship banner prior to the opener against the Capitals. The late game (10:30 p.m. ET) features the Sharks and Golden Knights in a rematch of last year’s playoffs.

Some additional NHL broadcast notes.

• Here’s NBC’s list of NHL game announcers and studio announcers

• This will be the second season of “Wednesday Night Hockey” on NBCSN, which is designed to feature teams in both conferences. NBC said 14 of 25 “Wednesday Night Hockey” airings on NBCSN will be doubleheaders and showcase nearly 75 percent of NHL teams this season. The Blues will make four appearances, while the runner-up Bruins will have three appearances.
• All U.S. teams will be featured on NBC or NBCSN; Canadian teams will make a combined 14 appearances on NBCSN.
• ESPN+, begins its second full season of NHL on ESPN+. They will feature 51 games in October, beginning with the Rangers-Jets at 7 p.m. ET. on Oct. 3
• NBC will air the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic between the Predators and Stars from Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Texas, on Jan. 1, 2020. It will be the southernmost Winter Classic since the annual game began in 2008. There will be 12 NHL games airing on big NBC this year, beginning with the 2019 NHL Thanksgiving Showdown on Nov. 29 between the Bruins and Rangers at TD Garden.

3. Episode 70 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features two guests: Jane McManus is the Director of the Center for Sports Communication at Marist College, a sports columnist for the New York Daily News and a former ESPN and espnW columnist. Katie Strang is a national writer for The Athletic based in Michigan and a former NHL and MLB writer for ESPN.

In this podcast, McManus and Strang discuss covering stories that focus on mental health and sexual assault in sports; how to cover such stories thoughtfully, intelligentially and accurately; how such stories are looked at internally by sports media outlets; the language used by the media when it comes to sexual assault and mental health; how the public reacts to such stories; how to educate yourself on the topic if you work in the sports media; whether places such as ESPN should have mental health experts on staff to talk on air; Strang on the emotional toll of covering the Larry Nassar trial; the challenges of reporting and writing on this topic and much more.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more.

3a. Some quick notes on Fox/WWE as we head toward the debut of “Friday Night Smackdown” on Fox this Friday at 8 p.m. ET.’

• Fox will not be involved in any WWE storylines. “If there are things they want to go over we will have those conversations, but nobody knows there product better than them and that’s the WWE’s world to create that show and world,” said Brad Zager, the executive producer for Fox Sports.
• SmackDown will feature Michael Cole handling play-by-play, Corey Graves serving as the analyst and Renee Young as a special contributor. Zager said that Fox Sports was involved in the process of choosing who would broadcast Smackdown but WWE had the final say on announcers.
• Zager said there will be a new set, logos, graphics, theme music and the use of pyro. “That is kind of the influence of being part of the Fox family because when we first sat down to talk to them those were the kind of things that we said fit our image – big, over-the-top moments and the entrances,” he said.
• “WWE Backstage” will air weekly on FS1 on Tuesday nights. That will be hosted by Young and Booker T. Look for former and current wrestlers to appear on the show. “What is cool about that is there really has never been a weekly WWE studio and that is 100 percent produced by the same people who produce our Sunday NFL show,” Zager said. “We want to take a Fox perspective on the week that was and what is coming up on the storylines. I think what Renee and Booker have shown in the rehearsals so far is that they have very strong opinions.” There will be a heavy social media push with this show.
• Zager said WWE programming will be “treated like all of our other jewel properties. The same amount (of promo) you would get from the NFL or Thursday Night Football or MLB. We look at WWE slotting after Thursday Night Football and before college football on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday. Hopefully, we get a bump from Smackdown to college football and then college football to NFL.”

4. Sports pieces of note:

• Pack some pillows: Life in the European hockey leagues can be a little bumpy. Via Mark Lazerus of The Athletic.
• The Inexact Science of Breaking In Gloves. By Kevin Armstrong of The New York Times.
• Football’s uneasy relationship with grief. By Adam Crafton of The Athletic.
• The NFL team run by women. By Andrew Beaton of the Wall Street Journal.

Non-sports pieces of note:

• In the medical desert of rural America, one doctor for 11,000 square miles. By Eli Saslow.
• By Antonio Olivo: Millions of dollars are missing. The sheriff is dead. A small Virginia town wants answers.
• Via Alex McLevy of The AV Club: All hail Veruca Salt: The oral history of American Thighs.
• 150 miles south of Washington, a crumbling shrine to presidential history. Photographs by Hannah Price / Text by Mark Leibovich.
• The longevity files: A strong grip? Push-ups? What actually can help you live to a ripe old age. By Christie Aschwanden of The Washington Post.
• Can a Burger help solve climate change? By Tad Friend.
• Have online reviews lost all value? By Rebecca Dolan of The Wall Street Journal.
• Worth viewing is Frontline’s: “The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.”
• The Balloon Boy Hoax—Solved! By Robert Sanchez.
• Walking with the Ghosts of Black Los Angeles. By Ismail Muhammad of Lithub.com.
• The Internet is overrun with images of child sexual abuse. What went wrong? By Michael H. Keller and Gabriel J.X. Dance of The New York Times.
• A Texas Ranger Got a Prolific Serial Killer to Talk. This is How. By Del Quentin Wilber for The Los Angeles Times:
• Via The New York Times: How a Tuxedoed Sommelier Wound Up Homeless in California.

5. The IAAF 2019 World Track and Field Championships air on NBC Sports platforms this week. Here’s the schedule.

5a. On Monday at 8 p.m. ET SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio channel will present a radio documentary on the 50th anniversary of the 1969 “Miracle Mets” World Series victory. New interviews include Nolan Ryan, Ed Kranepool, Cleon Jones, Ron Swoboda, Jerry Koosman, Jerry Grote, Duffy Dyer, Rod Gaspar, Wayne Garrett, manager Gil Hodges’ wife Joan and son Gil Jr., and Tommy Agee’s wife Maxcine, among others. Listeners will hear previously recorded memories from Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver.

5b. A very good announcing group — Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and reporter Holly Rowe — is assigned to the WNBA Finals.

5c.NBA TV will televise 20 live preseason games, including appearances by the Lakers, Bucks, Clippers, Nets, Warriors, 76ers, Rockets, Celtics, and Raptors. Kawhi Leonard is expected to make his Clippers debut against the Rockets and James Harden in Honolulu at 1 a.m. ET on Thursday on NBA TV.

5d. The Olympic Channel is currently airing “Running in North Korea,” a documentary which chronicles two Olympians (Aimee Fuller of Great Britain and Mimi Jaeger of Switzerland as they travel to Pyongyang to participate in the 2019 Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon. Here’s a trailer on the doc.

5e. On Wednesday, ESPN will once again offer an alternative viewing experience for the AL Wild Card. On ESPN2, the Statcast AI Edition will feature play-by-play voice Jason Benetti, analyst Eduardo Perez and MLB Statcast analyst Mike Petriello delivering analytics-based commentary driven by on-screen graphics, data and information provided by Statcast AI. This is the superior broadcast compared to ESPN’s main MLB group on ESPN.

5f. Tom Verducci has re-signed a multi-year deal with Fox Sports. The new deal includes MLB but also something new: He’ll do college football for “Big Noon Kickoff” and other CFB programming.

5g. Shout-out to St. Louis Post-Dispatch Cardinals writer Derrick Gould for something well beyond baseball.

(Top photo of Matt Nieto: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)