The big news in the sports media world this week is that Dan Patrick, the longtime face of ESPN's SportsCenter, is joining up with Sports Illustrated, while Rick Reilly, SI's most prominent writer, is jumping ship to the Worldwide Leader. It's not quite the Patriots trading Tom Brady to the Colts for Peyton Manning, but it's a big move for both sides. And just as there would be endless debates, after a Brady-Manning swap, about which team got the better deal, that's a good question to ask here.
From a financial standpoint, it appears that everyone is coming out ahead. Reilly's salary has been reported at $2 million, a significant bump from the already hefty salary he was making at SI. Patrick's financial package is a little harder to figure out, since he's getting a percentage of the revenue from his syndicated radio show, but suffice to say that he's doing quite nicely.
But which of their employers comes out ahead?
ESPN is getting a guy who brings immediate journalistic credibility to its magazine. Reilly has won a bunch of national sports writer of the year awards, and he has about as big a following as any sports writer in the country. On the other hand, there's a large and vocal group of readers who think Reilly is past his prime. And since Reilly will be doing more TV work, and ESPN the Magazine comes out half as often as Sports Illustrated, Reilly will spend less time writing columns, which is what he's best at.
Sports Illustrated is getting a big name who instantly becomes its most famous employee. Tens or hundreds of thousands of people will visit SI.com to listen to the live stream of Patrick's radio show. But the best segments on Patrick's old ESPN Radio show were when he had other ESPN employees on as guests, and that won't happen anymore. Patrick will now be a contributor to the magazine, which might attract a few readers, but frankly, hiring a TV guy as a columnist seems like a step in the wrong direction of SI, which once had the highest of journalistic aspirations.
My verdict: ESPN, and Reilly, are the winners. Reilly's talent is greater than Patrick's and ESPN can use him in more different capacities than SI can use Patrick. A year from now, a lot more people will be saying, "Did you see what Rick Reilly wrote in ESPN the Magazine?" than "Did you hear what Dan Patrick said on SI.com?"
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-25-2007 @ 2:25PM
Patrick said...
In the words of Nick Bakay: Push.
No one wins here. Both of these guys have shticks that are nearly as grating as Chris Berman making up nicknames for everyone (My Bironas? I want to kill myself after almost 20 years of that crap) and that noise he makes ear-piercing screech he makes when someone fumbles.
patrickdonohue.freedomblogging.com
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10-25-2007 @ 2:51PM
Itza Minkman said...
Don't get me started on Berman...the only thing moldier than his tired schtick is the crust in his underware.
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10-25-2007 @ 2:56PM
Stan Minkman said...
How played out is "The Schwam?" What a fool! It's pretty pathetic when you have to make up nicknames for yourself! And could he possibly be more out of synch with the Hall of Famers and former players he has on the Sunday NFL show? It's painfully obvious they have ZERO respect for him since "he NEVER played game" and he is too stupid to recognize that he will never be "one of the boys."
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10-25-2007 @ 3:48PM
extrapolater said...
My general impression is that Reilly is more beloved by an older generation, so I'm not sure that's the direction ESPN needed to go. Patrick has hip and smug, which are qualities beloved by a younger generation.
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10-26-2007 @ 12:48PM
recashflow said...
Reilly is a HACK!!! If the story isn;t to his liking he makes up the facts!!! He is a complete joke with no credibilty! Patrick on the other hand has integrity and is believable. Patrick by a landslide in this. No contest!
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10-26-2007 @ 1:23PM
carl said...
Patrick is funny when he has good writers and help..but on his own he is garbage..reilly is a prick but a good writer when he stays away from the pc stuff
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10-26-2007 @ 1:26PM
gerald penwell said...
Who cares ... both of them are EASTERN ESTABLISHMENT ELITES
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10-26-2007 @ 4:13PM
Larry Brown said...
I could care less either way, though I used to listen to Dan Patrick more than I read Rick Reilly. The reason I quit listening to Patrick was the constant Bush bashing that he and his Eastern Elitist buddy did every day til I quit listening. Hopefully now that he is on his own he will stick to sports and I might start listening again.
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10-27-2007 @ 1:35PM
arrogantbostonian said...
Wow, are there still people who are upset at 'Bush Bashing'??? Wow. If you're that stupid, I don't know how you can keep up with either Patrick or Reilly when they use big words. Like, you know, 'cat'.
Anyhow, as for this deal, I'd lean more towards ESPN making out better, because Reilly *will* have some opportunity to write, which is what he's best at. And if they use him a lot on the web site, that would be even better.
Patrick? He's not going to enhance the magazine all that much. Yeah, they'll get some bounce off of his radio show. But that completely leaves out TV, which is what Patrick is best at. He's an OK radio host, but his best gig was Sportscenter, and SI has no TV presence. I'm not sure what at all they get out of this. Name recognition, that's about it.
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