Joe Posnanski to leave Sports on Earth for NBC Sports
Joe Posnanski's tenure at Sports on Earth/USA Today/MLB Advanced Media is over already, less than a year after it began. The relationship, which seemed like it would be perfect for the former SI columnist, resulted in the launching of Sports on Earth, a website under the USA Today and MLBAM umbrellas led by Posnanski and a staff of talented writers. Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead is reporting that Posnanski will be joining NBC Sports, likely the first salvo in the new digital relationship between NBC and Yahoo.
I'm not sure how this move is going to work out for the baseball-oriented Posnanski. Posnanski told TBL he'll be a digital voice with NBC, which I assume would cut any substantial TV appearances out of the loop. Posnanski had been appearing a decent bit on MLB Network since the creation of Sports on Earth, but that relationship may be history with his new role at NBC.
I always thought the role Posnanski is leaving would have been him at his best. He's now joining his third employer over the past year, and while he's an extremely talented writer, I'm wondering what exactly the ideal role for him will be anymore, especially with the fallout of his Joe Paterno biography. I have no idea where he'll fit in at NBC. When asked for comment, NBC said, “We're hopeful to have information regarding Joe Posnanski in the near future."
Perhaps Posnanski will be NBC's version of Bill Simmons and be an overarching online presence. Maybe he'll be the first move of many as NBC looks to fortify their NBCsports.com outlet, which is mostly a non-factor outside Pro Football Talk. The move brings more questions than answers, and I'm really interested to see how things work out... and if Posnanski ends up changing jobs again in a few months.
I don't see why he couldn't still do work for MLBN, seeing as Comcast has an ownership interest in MLBN already.
I don't understand how Posnanski fits in at NBC/Yahoo. He's a midwesterner and NBC Sports, ever since they became part owned by Comcast and started carrying the NHL has become a very NYC/Philadelphia-centric network, something that is painfully obvious in their sports broadcasting.
@Magister Calvert Not sure that I agree, obviously the east coast has more people so the tendency to show their stuff more to attract more eyes but they show Kings games, they showed a St. Louis-Minnesota game the other night. I think their NHL coverage is fairly balanced when it comes to getting other teams on the air.
@scoknuts They're reasonably balanced as getting teams on the air however they don't act like a national network. They act like the Flyers and Rangers (and other Atlantic Division teams) home broadcast network and that is blatantly obvious in the style of their play-by-play coverage and their choices for between-periods coverage. The bias is so obvious that it makes me wonder if they were the ones behind the realignment that the NHLPA rejected, which put Pittsburgh in with the Atlantic Division.
Just as a followup, NBC already has the person they need as their "overarching online presence" and one that shares the same market-bias that they do. They got him when they joined with Yahoo. They have Greg Wyshinski. They didn't need Posnanski.
As long as there are ethically bankrupt midwestern sports figures to lionize, there'll always be a place for JoPo.
