Good Morning, we hope your week is off to a good start. There’s not a ton of news out there today but we’re going to bring you the latest and still keep it under 5 minutes.

Here’s what we got today:

• ESPN and Barstool Can’t Get Along

• PSG Drama In France

• MLB Playoff Picture

• NFL Preseason Update

Here we go.

Penn Gambling Rebrands With ESPN

We could make this a very long article but we’re going to do our best to keep it clear and concise although we need to jump around the timeline a bit.

First let’s say that Fox Sports was in on the gambling talk a few years ago, even before we had the gambling craze that we have now. We’re going to leave Fox out of this though.

ESPN was a little hesitant about making gambling talk a main part of their shows, they didn’t seem to think it was great for the optics.

Barstool Sports has always talked about gambling and the not so accepted fringe topics have been their identity all along.

So let’s set the timeline here. Penn Entertainment aka $PENN aka Penn made a deal and bought Barstool back in 2020. This was a strategic move for both parties because Penn could leverage the Barstool fanbase to grow a betting platform and Barstool could churn out more gambling content, helping Penn’s stock go up, making Barstool more from the sale of Barstool which was being paid out in some Penn shares. BOOM, it’s a win-win.

Things seemed like they were going well, minus a few fires that Dave Portnoy had to put out at Barstool. Sure, the constant defense that Portnoy always had to put up was likely difficult when you can’t just say whatever you want because everything is scrutinized by regulators(because he’s part of a publicly traded company now), but it didn’t seem too bad.

Things at ESPN?? They were not going so well. Disney which is ESPN’s parent company has been making cuts all over the place and ESPN has made 2 big job cuts in the past year and a lot of those were with big talent.

Well ESPN has pulled the rug out from under Barstool again. (Back in 2017, ESPN pulled a Barstool show called Van Talk that ran 1 episode in a late-night spot).

ESPN and Penn have structured a licensing deal where Penn will pay ESPN $1.5 billion in cash over 10 years and will also provide ESPN with another $500 million in Penn stock. Penn will be rebranding their betting apps as ESPN BET.

ESPN won’t have any affiliation with Barstool and even though it hasn’t been said yet, it’s basically written in the words. This deal won’t go through if PENN is tied with Barstool.

Surely there was a way to tie in all three parties in a mutually beneficial way but the Barstool business is being sold back to Dave Portnoy and it’s unclear if they will have a sportsbook in the near future. I wouldn’t be surprised if they sign a licensing deal just like ESPN.

PSG Drama In France

Things aren’t working for Paris St. Germain and I’m not sure who to blame.

PSG went out and bought a ton of talent a few years ago. PSG has been catering to their star players and their requests for many years and PSG isn’t giving in anymore.

The relationship with international star Lionel Messi quickly soured after he won the World Cup with Argentina and played phenomenally but didn’t perform well on the pitch for PSG this past season. We all know where Messi is now.

Soon after, Kylian Mbappe, who might be the current #1 player in the world also said he wanted to leave PSG after his contract is up next season. He wasn’t demanded a trade or anything, he simply said he wants to finish out his contract and move on.

The front office wasn’t thrilled with that, so they practically threatened that they wouldn’t let him play if he doesn’t sign a long-term deal.

Now another star wants out. Neymar has expressed a desire to leave PSG and he’s under contract until 2025. Things are going to get tricky for PSG as the summer transfer window closes on September 1.

MLB Playoff Picture

We’ve got about 40-something games left for each team in the MLB season. Here’s the current playoff situation for both leagues.

AL Playoff Overall

1. Baltimore Orioles: AL East

2. Texas Rangers: AL West

3. Minnesota Twins: AL Central

4. Tampa Bay Rays: Wild Card 1

5. Houston Astros: Wild Card 2

6. Toronto Blue Jays: Wild Card 3

AL Wild Card Race

• Wild Card 1: Tampa Bay Rays (+5)

• Wild Card 2: Houston Astros (+1.5)

• Wild Card 3: Toronto Blue Jays

  • Seattle Mariners: 2 games behind Blue Jays

  • New York Yankees: 4.5 GB of Blue Jays

  • Boston Red Sox: 5 GB of Blue Jays

  • Los Angeles Angels: 7 GB of Blue Jays

NL Playoff Overall

1. Atlanta Braves: NL East

2. Los Angeles Dodgers: NL West

3. Milwaukee Brewers: NL Central

4. Philadelphia Phillies: Wild Card 1

5. San Francisco Giants: Wild Card 2

6. Chicago Cubs: Wild Card 3

NL Wild Card Race

• Wild Card 1: Philadelphia Phillies (+3)

• Wild Card 2: San Francisco Giants (+3)

• Wild Card 3: Chicago Cubs

  • Cincinnati Reds

  • Miami Marlins: 0.5 GB of Cubs

  • Arizona Diamondbacks: 2 GB of Cubs

  • San Diego Padres: 4 GB of Cubs

NFL Preseason Update

We’ve got a few stories to cover before the NFL Preseason games start tomorrow. Let’s check out a few things going on.

Washington Commanders’ players aren’t ready for OC Bieniemy

It sounds like a few guys on the Commanders’ offense aren’t used to being coached hard. Head coach Ron Rivera said he had a few guys come to him and we’re a little concerned with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s intensity. Bieniemy said he expects a lot of his players but he’s also their number 1 fan.

They better toughen up in D.C. !

Jonathan Taylor Not At Practice

Some folks were making a big deal that Jonathan Taylor wasn’t at practice yesterday for the Indianapolis Colts and thought it was connected to the public conversation Taylor is having about contracts, salaries, and wanting to be traded. Taylor is just rehabbing an ankle and wasn’t on the sidelines watching practice as normal. Doesn’t seem like much of a story but I also wouldn’t be surprised to learn he gets traded during the preseason for a first-rounder or something.

Kareem Hunt Is Looking For A Job

Kareem Hunt has visited with New Orleans Saints and will be visiting with the Indianapolis Colts today. He’s looking to get signed as a backup behind either Alvin Kamara or Jonathan Taylor. Whichever team he signs with, he’s sure to get some touches

That’s all for today. We’ll catch up with you tomorrow.

-The Daily Breakroom