In many ways, the NFL has gone from being a sports company to a media empire. However, the NFL owned and operated media company continues to make some bizarre moves.
The most recent comes from the closure of the popular Around the NFL podcast. Both the decision to close it and the clumsy way the move was handled become commonplace at the new Goofy Golf Course that NFL Media has been playing on lately.
The podcast was shut down without notice in May. After receiving several questions of PFT readers and Live PFT viewers in June, we asked an NFL Media spokesperson about the show. Several times. There was never an answer – not even an acknowledgment of the question.
On Sunday, the league announced (in a strange way) what Around the NFL It’s not anymore. One of the three hosts, Gregg Rosenthal, will move on to a different show. The other two, Dan Hanzus and Marc Sessler, are leaving NFL Media.
Some fans of the show aren’t reacting well. And for good reason. When most shows end, there is an announcement. A farewell episode. Close.
For Around the NFL, he was here one day, went the next and never came back. With no explanation other than, “Hey, here’s a brand new program! Please pay no attention to the fact that two long-time, loyal employees are no longer here!”
While not surprising in light of other non-people-friendly “football is family” moves the NFL has made this year, this one brought with it weeks of uncertainty, confusion and silence leading up to one of the slowest weekends of the year, when the news was leaked to a specific media outlet and was amplified by the NFL Media X account.
While the NFL does a great job of producing and presenting football games, it is not so good at managing media operations. Unless, of course, the goal is to take him down. If that is the goal, good job.
