Cat Videos Go Big League

If you were watching National Football League pre-season games over the weekend, you might have seen a spot promoting the upcoming regular-season game that will be live streamed by YouTube, which became the most-watched streamer without any help at all from football, the TV industry’s most popular–and most-expensive programming. 

The spot pokes fun at YouTube’s reputation for airing many, many, many user-generated videos featuring fluffy felines doing funny things. It featured one cat in a Kansas City Chiefs jersey and another kitty in a San Diego, er, Los Angeles, Chargers playing Dueling Banjos on a keyboard.

YouTube ran a similar spot featuring musical felines in 2023 when it acquired the rights to distribute the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package. 

The Chiefs will play the Charters in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on September 5. 

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The National Basketball Association last week announced its TV schedule will look like as its new deals with ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video kick in this season. The deals are worth $77 billion.

Viewers will be able to watch national NBA games every day of the week, with hoops happening on Peacock on Mondays, NBC and Peacock on Tuesdays, ESPN on Wednesday, Amazon Prime on Thursday and Amazon Prime on Friday. On Saturdays Amazon Prime will have a game in the afternoon with ABC airing a game in primetime. Sundays, ABC will have the afternoon, while NBC and Peacock have Sunday Night Basketball. 

The NBA will have 247 national games, up from 172 last year, with the New York Knicks, L.A. Lakers, the champion Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors appear the most often.

As a reminder: Inside the NBA, with Chuck, Shaq et all, will be on ESPN. And Michael Jordan will be appearing on NBA/Peacock as a commentator.

The season tips off with October 21 with a doublehead simulcast on NBC and Peacock featuring the Rockets playing the Thunder and the Lakers taking on the Warriors.

I can almost hear Roundball Rock already.

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Speaking of TV contracts, there were also reports in The Athletic and elsewhere that after being opted out on by ESPN, Major League Baseball is in talks with Netflix, NBC and Apple about airing and streaming games. ESPN is also interested in some of the games.

Reportedly NBC and its Peacock streaming service was competing for a package including Sunday Night Baseball and first round playoff games. against Apple TV+. Netflix wants baseball’s Home Run Derby. 

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A 12-game winning streak by the Milwaukee Brewers triggered a free giveaway promotion by Wisconsin chain George Webb Restaurants. 

That was a bit hard to digest for listeners to The Score 670, the top sports-talk station in Chicago, where the Cubs trail the Brewers in the standings again.

Callers and texters to the stations had some nasty things to say about the food and ambiance at the north of the cheddar curtain chain.

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Also in Chicago, radio veteran Dan Bernstein is making a comeback with a new podcast, Dan Bernstein Unfiltered, from 312 Sports. It starts August 25. 

Bernstein was fired from the mid-day show on 670 The Score in March after a social media fight. 

“I’ve got plenty to say. I’ve got stories to tell. No filters, no holding back,” Bernstein says in a promo for the podcast.

One of Bernstein's more famous rants berated Chicago sports fans for calling the Cubs’ legendary second baseman Ryan Sandberg. “It’s not RYAN. It’s RYNE. RYNE, RYNE, RYNE.”

The Score played a clip of the rant after Ryne Sandberg died on July 28.

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Today’s pro athletes have a lot of money and some of that goes to buy bling. According to The Robb Report, some of that bling is pretty classy with Major League Baseball players wearing vintage Van Cleef and Arpels necklaces on the diamond.

Particularly popular are pieces from the jeweler’s Alhambra collection, which have been worn by Grace Kelly and the Princess of Wales and retail for $9,000 and up. 

L.A. Dodger Miguel Rojas may have started the trend, the magazine says. Alhambra pieces have also been spotted on Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays and Joc Pederson of the Texas Rangers.

But when it comes to jewelry, those guys have nothing on soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. The engagement ring he gave fiance Goregina Rodriguez features a 50-carat rock estimated to be worth at least $3 million.

It’s good to be an athlete.