1. ESPN’s long-awaited direct-to-consumer product made for cord-cutters launches Thursday.
There are lots of bells and whistles for people younger than me, but there are also a couple of very notable features for people like me, who just want to watch games.
The first thing I should tell you is that if you are currently subscribed to a cable package or some other pay-TV package that carries ESPN, you will have access to EVERYTHING on the ESPN app.
If you don’t have a base package and have cut the cord, the ESPN app will cost you $29.99 per month. There are also several bundles available to you.
As for those bells and whistles, ESPN will launch “Verts” within its app. Think of Verts like a sports TikTok. It will feature swipeable vertical video which will be personalized to your viewing habits.
ESPN’s app will also launch SportsCenter For You, a personalized daily version of SportsCenter using AI technology. Hannah Storm, Gary Striewski, Christine Williamson and Omar Raja will be the faces and voices behind SportsCenter For You.
When it comes to watching games, ESPN’s app will provide sports fans with a multiview option, where you can watch four games at once, which is huge.
One caveat on this. Right now, ESPN will put together the multiview options that you can choose from, except if you have Apple TV. If you have an Apple TV device, you will be able to control which four games you choose to watch in the multiview.
I can’t stress enough how great this is for college football fans (and degenerate gamblers), when there are about a billion games each Saturday carried by ESPN. Each and every one of those games will be available for you to multiview if you have Apple TV.
The other new feature that people interested in watching games will enjoy is “Catch Up To Live,” which will allow viewers to watch highlights of all the key plays they may have missed during a live game already in progress.
2. If this report about Major League Baseball’s broadcast future is true…
🚨 SCOOP: MLB rights deals are “close to being done,” per sources.
— Kendall Baker (@kendallbaker) August 19, 2025
What I’m hearing:
- Apple is fully out. RIP Friday Night Baseball
- NBC/Peacock is in, for Friday and Sunday exclusive and Wild Card
- MLB TV being sold to ESPN (for a boatload of $$$)
- Netflix gets HR Derby
- Good riddance to Apple and the ridiculous Friday night exclusive game.
- NBC clearly has a plan for Sunday nights. Sunday Night Football in the fall/winter. Sunday Night Basketball in the winter/spring. Sunday Night Baseball in the summer.
- While I think NBC will be a great partner for MLB despite putting a ton of games on Peacock, I think it hurts the sport to not have ESPN in the mix. Every league wants to be involved with ESPN. The Worldwide Leader is still the go-to for sports fans. Plus, without carrying games, you have to wonder how much ESPN will cover MLB.
- In addition to MLB TV, look for ESPN to get involved with regional sports networks and carry them on the new direct-to-consumer app.
- I couldn’t care less about the Home Run Derby, so I have no thoughts on that.
3. How bad is it that I never heard of Deestroying until I saw this tweet from Andrew Marchand on Tuesday?
NEWS: YouTube will use content creator Deestroying as one of its sideline reporters with Rich Eisen & Kurt Warner on its first exclusive NFL game between the Chiefs and Chargers
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) August 19, 2025
Full detailshttps://t.co/uWkDI76m7N
4. Sports fans are well aware that Fox’s Matt Leinart was a great college quarterback and a bad NFL quarterback. Amazon’s Alexa is aware of this, too.
5.
🚨 Happening now at Petco Park! 🚨 A kid just ran onto the field during the Padres vs. Giants game and had the whole stadium on their feet 😱⚾ From the crowd’s roar to security’s chase, this was WILD! 😂 #PetcoPark #Padres #Giants #SanDiego pic.twitter.com/gdbhH1L4tw
— The Best of San Diego (@TBOSD8) August 20, 2025
6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with TNT’s Mike Golic Jr., who will be an analyst for Big 12 college football games this season.
Golic Jr. talks about going into a full-time role as an analyst after working just four games last year, the changing television landscape in college football and trying to keep up with which teams are in which conference.
In addition, Golic Jr. reveals the best and worst thing about doing a daily show with his father, what his reaction was to the end of Mike Golic Sr.’s longtime radio show Mike & Mike and how they both navigate the world of gambling while doing a show for FanDuel.
Golic Jr. also talks about the role social media has played in his career and where he stands with social media today.
Following Golic Jr., Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins me for my weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. We talk about my day at a CBS NFL media event, Sal getting duped by a fake Odell Beckham Jr. retirement announcement, the circus of rumors surrounding Howard Stern and the future of his SiriusXM show, a terrible taxi cab incident and more.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: This was very enjoyable.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple , Spotify or Google . You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram .
This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN Comes Through, Will Provide Multiview Options in New App.
