SI Media Mailbag: Jeff Van Gundy, Sunday Ticket on YouTube, Kenny Albert, Threads and More

In Jimmy Traina’s SI Media Mailbag, he answers questions about ESPN’s firing Jeff Van Gundy, NFL Sunday Ticket features and more.

Welcome to the 15th installment of a weekly mailbag that I will be writing about the world of sports media (and anything else you want to chime in on). Please email me any questions you have to Jimmy.Traina@si.com or send them via Twitter.

It’s amazing how you guys have questions about NFL Sunday Ticket every week. I guess I can understand the confusion with the service moving from DirecTV to YouTube.

Please clear up Sunday Ticket on YouTube. How many streams do I get,can I pause live games, can I DVR games, will it really be 15-30 seconds behind actual time, do I need to bring up the guide every time I want to change channels? Thanks very much

— Dino (@DinoRaiders) July 11, 2023

Let me see whether I can clear some things up for Dino.

If you subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube this season, you will get unlimited streams at home, plus two devices in different locations.

Yes, you will be able to record games on the YouTube TV app even if you don’t subscribe to YouTubeTV.

You will be able to watch up to four games on one screen.

Yes, you will be able to pause, fast-forward and rewind games.

There’s going to be a delay. Nobody knows how long yet. I inquired with the NFL about this many weeks ago, and they said they are working on it.

I don’t know about the guide, but I highly doubt that’s how you’ll have to change channels.

Does JVG fit in at TNT on any of their announce teams? Or does he wait out to see who gets games at next contract? Or try coaching again?

— eastcoastcheesehead (@e_c_cheesehead) July 12, 2023

Do you think Adam Silver had anything to do with Jeff Van Gundy being let go?

— TJ (@TJRamsey44) July 11, 2023

I would think TNT is intrigued by Jeff Van Gundy for two reasons: 1) He’s the best NBA analyst on TV, and 2) his brother, Stan, works there. As I said on this week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina, I think it would be a no-brainer for TNT to pair the Van Gundy brothers with Kevin Harlan on its No. 1 team. 

If TNT passes on Van Gundy, there will be new networks airing the NBA soon thanks to the current broadcast contracts expiring in 2024, so if he doesn't go back to coaching, he'll be back on TV eventually.

As for the conspiracy theory that the NBA might have had a hand in ESPN parting ways with Van Gundy, I discussed this in-depth with Andrew Marchand on this week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina. I have no idea whether Silver gave any orders to ESPN, but I don’t doubt for a second that Silver or others in the NBA front office have complained to ESPN about Van Gundy’s brutal honesty when it comes to certain topics, like officiating. 

Why was the Yankees-Cubs series this past weekend not on any national broadcasts? Very surprised this wasnt on Fox or ESPN? Probably the 2 biggest brand names in baseball.

— ESLRUSH (@sportsblog2) July 11, 2023

Eric, I get what you are saying, and, yes, you would think Yankees-Cubs would have some appeal for networks from a ratings standpoint, but the Yankees are featured on national games all the time. There is a maximum number of times that a team can be featured on Sunday Night Baseball, so keep that in mind.

Could you imagine 30 years ago that @KennyAlbert would be the only one of the original NFL PXP guys to still be doing games at FOX?

— Michael Silvers (@msilvers1979) July 11, 2023

I actually don’t find this surprising at all. Kenny Albert is the consummate pro, versatile and always gives you a solid nuts-and-bolts broadcast. He’s very valuable to all the networks that employee him.

Plus, his father worked for about a hundred years, so that work ethic is instilled in him.

On a side note, as I wrote at the time, Albert’s call of the surreal Patriots-Raiders ending last season was outstanding.

What are your thoughts on All-Star games in particular and the MLB ASG in particular?

— Craig MacCormack (@CraigMacCormack) July 12, 2023

I think all All-Star Games are a complete waste of time and I don’t watch any of them. I’ll watch the intros, but then I’m out. I don’t understand why anyone would watch games in which the players don’t try.

Not far in advance at all. I’d say 90% of the time, I book week to week. There’s nothing worse than taping a podcast and then it immediately becomes outdated because a big sports media story broke after you recorded. 

I do know that WWE superstars Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes will be on in the coming weeks leading into SummerSlam. If any of you have any suggestions for guests you’d like to see on SI Media With Jimmy Traina, please let me know via Twitter or email.

Jimmy - I’m a college football fan in general and a Minnesota Gophers fan in particular. What are the best streaming bundles to get ESPN+ and the B1G network?

— Ed Olson (@EddieCarstone) July 11, 2023

Big Ten football is a perfect example of how screwed sports fans are in the age of streaming. First things first, Ed. Forget ESPN+. ESPN will no longer air Big Ten games. However, plenty of other outlets will air the Big Ten in 2023. They include: 

• Fox
• CBS
• NBC
• Big Ten Network
• FS1

So if you’re a cord cutter who just streams, you’ll have to pay for access to all those channels if you want to watch all Minnesota football games.

With the NYT dissolving the sports section, which “back in the day” aspect of sports media do you miss the most, even if the upgrade/development has eliminated it for the better? Mine is NFL Primetime. Nothing beat Boom and TJ.

— Clinton (@ClintonOftedahl) July 12, 2023

The obvious answer is that I miss being able to just put on my TV, go to a certain channel and watch a game, but I don’t want to keep beating the streaming thing to death, so I’ll give you another answer.

Before I do, you make a great call on NFL Primetime. I used to love getting my game highlights every Sunday from that classic ESPN show.

I know this might sound ridiculous considering I work for a website, but I miss buying and reading the newspaper every day. Starting in high school, I used to buy the New York Daily News and New York Post every single day and read it from back to front. Getting the Sunday papers was extra exciting. I do miss those days.

Are you making the jump to Threads? You were my first follow back in 2010 so I want to make sure you are my first follow there

— Randy McCann (@randyamccann) July 11, 2023

Wow. What an honor to be someone’s first Twitter follower. I’m not on Threads yet for two reasons: (1) I’ve heard that Threads shows you posts from people you don’t follow. That’s just awful. The beauty of Twitter back in the day before it became the mess it is now is that you created your own feed and saw tweets from only who you wanted to see tweets from. (2) From what people have told me, people are using Threads in addition to Twitter, not instead of. If Threads is going to have the same posts as Twitter, I don’t understand why I’d join Threads.

Is asking for a "sports twitter" alternative too much to ask? I just want to follow news/games in chronological order. Am I the only one?

— Corey Witt (@CoreyWitt) July 11, 2023

Amen and hallelujah. No, you are not the only one.

Is this the year America wakes up and realizes summer is the worst season?

— Jason Potere (@jaypot23) July 11, 2023

Americans are too brainwashed to realize summer is awful. They think that just because it’s cold in the winter, that summer is awesome. Summer sucks. Being hot is probably the worst thing in the world outside of having a serious illness. One of my all-time favorite pieces ever written is this takedown of summer by Drew Magary.