Earlier this summer, Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks jetted into Nantucket for a three hour meeting that would reshape the lineup of Fox Sports 1, and shake up its Big Noon Kickoff college football show.

Shanks’ brief visit to the New England vacation destination was to help close a deal with Dave Portnoy and his digital media brand Barstool Sports. Portnoy’s $42 million compound on Nantucket (the most expensive home ever sold in the state of Massachusetts when he bought in 2023) overlooks the harbor, where ferries bring visitors and residents in and out from the mainland all day. All paid for by his self-described “pirate ship” of a media brand, which he had sold to Penn Entertainment for $551 million, and bought back just a couple of years later for $1.

Shanks’ visit underscores how the sands have shifted in media. It wasn’t that long ago that talent would be summoned to meet with execs in their New York offices or Los Angeles studio lots. Now when there is talent in demand, the executives will go where they need to, even an island 30 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.

Fox had been chatting with Portnoy for “five or six months,” the Barstool founder said on his company’s Unnamed Show on July 17, culminating in the deal announced the same day, which will see Portnoy appear weekly on Big Noon Kickoff and Barstool creating a live two hour show for FS1, as well as social content.

“We had that ESPN deal, they didn’t even want to talk to me, right? They couldn’t stomach the sight of my face,” Portnoy said on the podcast, referencing Barstool Van Talk, the ESPN2 series that was canceled after one episode after the network became uncomfortable with comments made by talent on social media. “[Fox] wants our audience, they know what audience we have, and we’re going to try to come up with a bunch of things with them. And it’s a wide-ranging relationship.”

The world of media has changed, and authenticity rules. Being outspoken is even better, and with cord-cutting wreaking havoc on TV viewing, traditional TV players that used to develop their talent in house are increasingly turning to outsiders to help give them relevance to an audience that might otherwise bypass their content.

“Dave has built a one-of-a-kind brand that connects with a new generation of sports fans – authentic, bold, and original,” said Shanks in a statement. “[Barstool’s] unique voice and loyal fanbase makes them a natural fit for our evolving multiplatform content strategy.”

A lot has changed since ESPN canceled its Barstool show in 2017. Look no further than ESPN’s deals with NFL player turned radio and podcast host Pat McAfee (who cut his teeth in digital media at Barstool, no less).

McAfee has occasionally found himself in hot water, like when he accused ESPN executive Norby Williamson of “sabotaging” his show, or when recurring guest Aaron Rodgers made unfounded claims about Jimmy Kimmel and Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier in July, McAfee apologized to an Ole Miss student who was named in a viral but false internet scandal (Portnoy also apologized for some of Barstool’s talent spreading the false report).

Sitting on a panel in ESPN’s commissary in Bristol, Connecticut last year, McAfee exuded confidence as he parried questions from skeptical journalists about his deal, which sees ESPN license The Pat McAfee Show, an unusual arrangement for a daily program.

“We haven’t been kicked off ESPN yet, I view that as a success. Now, granted, we would still just continue doing business on YouTube and on our TikTok and everything like that, and we’re very lucky to be on ESPN,” McAfee said. “Whenever people in here have tried to get me fired for taking clips out of context or quotes out of context, and misrepresented everything that I’ve said, and the human that I am and the deal that it is, we know that we’re good. So you can fire us, you can try to kill us, you can do whatever you need to do. But our success is the fact that we have a following, and they’re going to ride with us.”

ESPN chief Jimmy Pitaro said that he has been laser focused on the problem of “how can we resonate with younger people?”

“If you look at my kids, Netflix, Instagram, TikTok, Fortnite, they’re incredibly distracted. So how is it that we can make programs like Get Up and First Take resonate with younger people? Obviously, Pat McAfee is very, very helpful there,” Pitaro said. “I was just in a research meeting where our folks presented to me the response that younger people have had to Pat McAfee, and it’s been staggering and really helpful to our brand in its entirety.”

The talent benefits too. Portnoy told his company’s podcast that they are already thinking about how Fox talent like Greg Olsen and Tom Brady could participate in Barstool segments, while McAfee says that “we got legitimized by ESPN.”

“Some suits that wouldn’t let their clients come on our show before, because we were just an internet show,” he said.

Sports media, with its hot takes, fierce debates and big personalities has been a natural proving ground for TV’s digital creator era (consider Omar Raja, the House of Highlights founder who also joined ESPN in 2020), but there are signs that TV news is the next frontier. Brett Cooper, a popular YouTube creator who blends entertainment and cultural commentary with conservative values, was signed as an on-air contributor to Fox News.

“It’s about connecting with the audience, first and foremost,” says Lauren Petterson, president of the Fox Nation streaming service and head of talent development for Fox News. “Brett does that through her cause – which is culture. And the way she does it is also unique, through thoughtful discussion and persuasion. She is also a very direct person: she’s consistent with what she says and what she’s doing in her own life. She’s the same person on the screen as she is in person. That kind of authenticity appeals to people of all ages.”

Fox also recently cut a deal to license the Ruthless podcast, with executive Porter Berry adding oversight of new media as the company seeks out other digital deals.

And Skydance has held conversations with Bari Weiss about possibly acquiring her Free Press, perhaps bringing the outspoken former New York Times columnist into the CBS News fold when it takes over Paramount, in a bid to expand its digital footprint (or maybe to comply with promises made to the FCC).

“Skydance has made written commitments to ensure that the new company’s programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum,” FCC chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement approving the deal. “Skydance will also adopt measures that can root out the bias that has undermined trust in the national news media.”

Weiss, a frequent critic of the mainstream media, could fit that bill.

And both CNN and MSNBC are in the midst of a podcast expansion push, with MSNBC hiring executives to beef up its digital business ahead of its spinout into Versant later this year.

Both cable news channels are leveraging their own talent, of course, but there are signs they are looking elsewhere too.

Last year, podcast hosts Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway (someone also known for his hot takes) held talks with CNN about moving their show into its orbit, before reupping with their current partners Vox Media.

There is connective tissue between all of these conversations and deals. Cultural currency is more likely to be found these days on YouTube or Spotify, and viewers of live linear TV tend to skew older. With news and sports the last content standing, bringing over some of that more youthful audience could be a way to extend the lifespan of linear TV as executives grapple with a saturated and splintered streaming environment.

And with YouTube increasingly taking over the TV set, news executives are beginning to grapple with a world where the shows are just one of thousands being fed algorithmically to viewers. Perhaps its better to have those creators that figured out how to make that model work inside the house, before the whole thing collapses into itself.

This story appeared in the July 30 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe. 

The US Southern California Chinese American Youth Water Polo Team arrived in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, on Monday and started a five-day friendly visit in the southern metropolis.

On Wednesday and Thursday, they will have two Double-Fish Cups matches against the Guangzhou Youth Water Polo Team each day.

They will also join table tennis competitions, experience Lingnan (South China) intangible cultural heritage projects, visit the headquarters of science and technology companies in Guangzhou and the Los Angeles Garden in Yuexiu Park, as well as plant friendship trees with Guangzhou youths.

The visit aims to further develop youth exchanges between China and the United States.

Guangzhou, known as a millennium commercial capital, became a sister city with Los Angeles in 1981.

Over four decades, the two cities have maintained close exchanges and cooperation in various fields of economy, trade, culture, education, and sports.

The US polo team will also visit other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area after ending the Guangzhou visit.

IRVING, Texas – UTSA baseball standout James Taussig and South Florida soccer star Georgia Brown have been chosen as the 2024-25 American Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year, as chosen by the conference’s Academic Committee.
 
Taussig, who was chosen as the American’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Brown, the American’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, will each receive a $4,000 postgraduate financial scholarship.
 
Taussig and Brown were chosen from a group of 22 individual sport Scholar-Athletes of the Year who received $2,000 postgraduate scholarships. The 23 Scholar-Athletes of the Year include 16 individuals who won individual conference titles or earned all-conference accolades during the 2024-25 season.
 
Taussig, a native of Houston, becomes the first UTSA student-athlete and the fifth baseball player to be named as the American Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Taussig led the Roadrunners to their most successful season in program history in 2025 as he hit .344 with 10 home runs and 65 runs batted in to help UTSA to a win in the NCAA Austin Regional and its first appearance in the Super Regionals. He was named as Most Outstanding Player of the Austin Regional and was a first-team all-conference selection in the American.
 
Taussig graduated with a 3.94 grade-point average as a double major in finance and real estate finance and development. He was a four-time Dean’s List selection, a three-time President’s List honoree and was named the Will and Mary Hathaway Male Academic Athlete of the Year in 2025.
 
Brown, who hails from Highworth, England, becomes the third South Florida student-athlete to be chosen as the American Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, joining 2021 winner Georgina Corrick (softball) and 2023 winner Dulcy Fankam- Mendjiadeu (basketball). She is the first women’s soccer player to earn the American’s top academic honor. 
 
Brown is a two-time College Sports Communicators. Academic All-America selection, including a first-team choice in 2024, when she earned first-team all-conference honors. A standout defender, Brown also contributed four goals and two assists in 2024 on her way to a second consecutive all-conference selection
 
Brown earned a 4.00 grade-point average as an undergraduate, completing a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences.
 
Selections for the 22 Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, as well as the Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, are made by the Academic Committee on the basis of academic credentials and athletic performance. Each conference school may nominate one student-athlete per sport who has achieved senior academic standing as determined by the institution. A winner is chosen from each of the conference’s 20 sponsored sports in addition to at-large selections from sports not sponsored by the conference. 
 

Scholar-Athletes of the Year

The American Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards are among of a number of scholarships presented by the conference during the academic year.

 

The conference has presented individual sport Scholar-Athletes of the Year in baseball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball since the 2013-14 season. The conference has presented individual awards in all other sports beginning with the 2017-18 season.

 

2025 American Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year

James Taussig, UTSA (Baseball)

 

2025 American Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Georgia Brown, South Florida (Soccer)

 

2025 American Scholar-Athletes of the Year

Year formed: 1997. 

NVL Coach: Nigel Spierts. 

Social media handles: farnborough_volleyball_club (Instagram). Farnborough Volleyball Club- FVC (Facebook). 

Website: Click here. 

After two hugely successful seasons locally and regionally, Farnborough Phoenix are relishing playing National League volleyball and testing out just how good they can be at that level. 

Things certainly bode well for the Hampshire club, given recent achievements, having won Division 1 of the Berkshire League for the last two years running and also twice finishing as SEVA winners during that time. 

Alongside that, in last year’s National Shield competition, the team also enjoyed success where they swept to a 25-17, 25-13, 25-20 victory at the Last 64 stage over a Cheltenham and Gloucester side which had just been promoted to NVL Division 2 West. 

Farnborough also put up a fight at the Last 32 stage before being edged out in five sets by Portsmouth, who completed a reverse sweep on the south coast (21-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-14, 15-12).   

From the autumn, they can look forward to the new challenge of facing the likes of Bedminster 2, Plymouth, Plymouth Mayflower, Portsmouth, Weymouth, Southampton 2, City of Bristol and Bristol 2 in NVL Division 3 South East. 

“We are consistently winning everything we can on a local and South East level,” said Head Coach Nigel Spierts. “We want to take it to new levels and see how far we can go. 

“We want to finish as high as possible in our new league. A top-three finish is the ambition, but we’ll be happy with playing our level consistently and peaking towards the end of the season. 

“Playing different teams with different styles and players is going to make things very interesting and we would love to have a good run in the Shield to go with our league matches.” 

While it is the highest-ranked women’s side that is making the foray into the NVL, Farnborough is an active club from top to bottom. 

It operates two men’s and two women’s teams, as well as a number of junior teams that play in a combination of the Berkshire Volleyball League and Surrey Volleyball League. 

In addition, the U18 boys team entered in the national Junior Grand Prix Series for the first time last season. 

With a main indoor venue for training and matches at Samuel Cody Sports College (GU14 8SS), the club welcomes people from year seven to adults who want to train, enjoy competitive volleyball and potentially play in a team. 

Nigel added: “It started as some friends coming together to play, but quickly expanded to form the club as it is now. 

“The last three years has seen significant changes with the club growing from 84 to 178 members we have to date (junior and adults). 

“There’s lots being done in the junior setting to develop things, with the club part of the Thames Valley High Performance Training (TVHPT) programme.” 

Phoenix will go into the NVL season with a 14-player squad who Nigel says are all important and have the potential to impact the game. 

In fact, he cites the strength of the bench as one of the key components to its ongoing success. 

“The experience and leadership of Carly Lane and Ramona Dienel will be important to us, as ex-Super 8s players, as well as the versatility and quality of captain Weronika Korkosz,” said Nigel. 

“The strength of this team comes from a deep bench which are alert and ready to step in at any stage. 

“One to watch is 13-year-old Maria Smolinska who played at the U15 Inter Regional Championships in May and is part of the national team pathway.” 

Find out more about the NVL by clicking here. 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Big South Conference announced the nominations for the Big South Woman of the Year this afternoon.

 Nominees for the annual honor are submitted by the league’s member institutions, and a Selection Committee of Conference Administrators will determine the Big South Woman of the Year, who will advance as the Conference’s official nominee for the national NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

A total of 10 individuals comprise this year’s institutional nominees, seven of which are the official candidates for Big South Woman of the Year — Charleston Southern golfer Odette Font Garcia (Mallorca, Spain), High Point lacrosse player Esprit Cha (Ellicott City, Md.), Longwood soccer player Alex Dinger (Fredericksburg, Va.), Longwood softball player Er’ron Burton (Suffolk, Va.), Radford volleyball player Meredith Page (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), USC Upstate track & field athlete Rachel Davis, and Winthrop lacrosse player Maddy Hodgson (Lebanon, Ohio).  Also among the institutional nominees from non-sponsored Big South sports were Presbyterian top/tumbler Abigail Katz (Columbia, S.C.), Presbyterian wrestler Chiara Barbieri (Brampton, Ontario) and UNC Asheville swimmer Riley Edmundson (Flower Mound, Texas).

 

Davis, a Management major, participated in the USC Upstate Gospel Choir, was a teacher for kids aged 8-14 at Emmanuel Anglican Church, and volunteered as a basketball coach at Drayton Mills Elementary School.

Head Coach Carson Blackwelder stated, “Rachel is the perfect candidate for this award. She embodies all the qualities you think of for Woman of the Year.”

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