Friday Four-Pack 5.31.24

Kyrie v. the Celtics and their fans. A third all-sports station in Boston? Red Sox push a minor league promotion. Friday Notes!

Heard Barstool’s Dave Portnoy mention on Thursday’s The Unnamed Show that his Celtics ticket rep relayed to him that the demand for this NBA Finals vs. 2022 when the team faced the Warriors “is 3 to 4 times more.”

Portnoy frequently sits courtside for big Celtics games. My guess is the fans looking for those types of seats - aka the filthy, filthy rich - well the demand is up because the Celtics are a more popular team now than they were even two years ago. Jayson Tatum is one of the Top 5 players in the NBA. Jaylen Brown is one of the Top 15 or 20. Boston has followed up a dominant regular season with a 12-2 run in the playoffs.

They are the “it” team in the city right now and the gap to the Patriots is pretty significant.

As the -225 favorite Friday morning on DraftKings, they are supposed to win the NBA Championship. So yeah, demand is up, people want to be part of history.

But what’s also going to fuel ticket demand at the TD Garden this series is the presence of Kyrie Irving.

From the Portnoys of the world sitting courtside to the peasants in the last row of a 300-level section, fans are going to want to show up and boo the hell out the Kyrie.

And I totally get it. He was slotted to be the next Celtics superstar. He - alongside free agent Gordon Heyward - was supposed to usher in a new era of Boston Celtics dominance.

I mean, look at all that talent.

But it was not meant to be.

An injured Kyrie capped off his first year with the Celtics by no-showing the team’s Game 7 ECF loss to the Cavs. Recovering from a deviated septum, Irving was not on the bench to support his teammates in a game that could have sent them to the NBA Finals. An ominous move, for sure.

The next fall, Kyrie announced to season ticket holders at a team event he was excited to sign long-term with Boston.

That dream died just months later when he was spotted at the All-Star game chatting up Kevin Durant - conversation later revealed as their planning to go play together the following season. Even before that meeting, Irving started to backtrack on his promise to sign back with the team.

"I don't owe anybody shit," he said when asked about his promise to the team and the fans. He later added, “Ask me July 1st” when pressed to talk about his free agency.

Those plans to team up with Durant materialized in New Jersey with the Nets. His time with the Celtics was over, but his ability to piss off Celtics fans continued to shine.

He “saged” the TD Garden.
He stomped on Lucky.
He essentially called the fan base racist.

And that’s just the Big Three.

Irving is the biggest Boston sports ‘villain’ still actively playing in any of the four major sports. There is no doubt there will be fans that spend a little more (a lot more?) than they planned for the chance to taunt the Mavs guard starting next Thursday in Boston.

What makes this all a little awkward is that Tatum and Brown are still friendly with Irving.

“We’ve all moved on from it,” Tatum said back in March when the fans were all over Kyrie in a 138-110 Boston rout. “But you understand that fans are passionate and things like that. So, I guess that is to be expected but none of the players have any animosity towards [Irving] or anything like that.”

“It’s just kind of been like that since he left,” Tatum said about the crowd going after Kyrie. “Obviously, we all know what happened but that was a while ago, it was a couple of years [ago]. I have a great relationship with him. The few of us that are still here that played with him have a great relationship with him.”

And look, for as much as Kyrie v. The Boston Fans is a fun subplot, the main storyline is Tatum and Brown leading the organization to Banner 18. There is a lot of pressure on the team - led by their two stars - to cap off what has been one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history.

Falling short of an NBA Title would constitute a failure for the 2023-2024 Boston Celtics. You can’t really argue otherwise.

Losing to Kyrie in the process? That would be devastating for the team and especially for Tatum and Brown.

Being a huge favorite in the betting markets does not guarantee a Celtics win. But having a Boston sports villain like Kyrie involved ensures a loud TD Garden for those in the building and watching at home.

Meanwhile, there’s a buzz about a third all-sports station in Boston. We have a sad Red Sox promotion. And the Friday Notes are 🔥🔥🔥

All ahead in today’s Four-Pack.

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On the buzz of a third all-sports radio station in Boston…

A clip from 98.5 The Sports Hub went viral this week.

This is not that clip.

But I found it much more interesting than the one that did.

It’s Mike Felger and Jim Murray on their aptly named The Off-Air Show - found once a week via Facebook only - having the same discussion a lot of folks in radio both locally and nationally are having:

What is the endgame for iHeart and 100.7 WZLX?

“Have you heard ZLX’ going sports?” asks Felger.

“I’ve heard that,” Murray answered quickly. “With Rich (Schertenleib) doing sports talk there in the morning, not playing any music, it would make sense because I know that the Red Sox rights are gonna be up, I think at the end of the season, WEEI in bankruptcy…just put two and two together…”

Sounds familiar - from our 5.17.42 Four-Pack on The Rich Schertenleib Show’s launch:

Given how ‘sporty’ this new show sounds, is this the sign that WZLX parent company iHeart Radio might try and acquire the radio rights to the Celtics, Bruins, or Red Sox? The Celtics and Bruins - both heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub - those deals are up in a few years. There is a chance the Red Sox rights could be available as soon as next season, with WEEI parent company Audacy coming out of bankruptcy and in millions of dollars of debt.

One radio insider agreed with the above and also wondered if this might be a test of sorts and iHeart eventually takes WZLX all-sports.

Sounds like Felger and Murray would agree that it might make some sense. But then they also wax poetically about having a good classic rock station in Boston.

We did the whole Week 1 review of The Rich Schertenleib Show here last week and I did not listen to nearly as much of Week 2, but it was noticeable that WZLX punted on the talk show format Memorial Day Monday (Rich took the take off, presumably for the holiday) and just played music…like they do the rest of the day.

When WEEI was at its best, you had the morning show trading barbs with the afternoon show. Kirk would mock Glenn, Glenn would mock Dino, back and forth. As a listener, I lived for that stuff, even before I interned for Glenn in 2001.

98.5 The Sports Hub has had a little of that - their ‘98-Mile’ rap battle gimmick years ago allowed the shows to take shots at each other.

More recently, you see this with Barstool all the time. Their personalities from different shows and offices interact with each other. They compete in events. They shit talk. And it works.

The way iHeart has it set up now - “Hey, here’s a talk show on a music station we hope you listen to it and then listen to a completely different format the rest of the day!” - not something a lot of stations are doing. You get none of that interplay between shows and personalities. The numbers say people like that stuff.

So who made the call on all talk and no music on a music station? If you believe Rich, it sounds like he made the call.

The company even acquiesced to Shertenlieb’s demand that the classic rock the station is known for disappear in morning drive.

“I’ve just looked around and I’ve seen that there’s really no morning show that is geared mostly towards guys that truly wins while also playing music. That’s the recipe that you have to go with, at least in mornings,” he says.

Either way and maybe I’m judging this too early, but I don’t think there’s an upside in having a talk show lead into 20 straight hours of music.

Is there a road for iHeart to go all-sports talk? Sure.

As Felger says in the clip above, sports is still a “bankable” format: probably why iHeart tabbed Rich - he’s the inexpensive half of a former #1 show on an all-sports station.

The next step is getting the play-by-play rights to a team. The Patriots and Beasley/98.5 announced a new deal through 2033 this week, so that’s not happening.

The Celtics/NBC Sports Boston/98.5 synergy is pretty strong, so let’s leave them out.

The Bruins - I’ve heard their deal with 98.5 is up after NEXT season, but that was from just one person who admitted they were not 100% sure. When there are conflicts, their games usually don’t get bumped off 98.5 the way the Celtics games do. Seem to have a good deal with The Hub. iHeart could either overbid for the rights OR hope that Beasley’s commitment to the Patriots this week puts them in a financial position where they can’t afford to re-up with the Bruins. Maybe The Hub has decided they’re committed to the Celtics and Patriots. That opens the door for iHeart and WZLX. Again, not 100% sure when their current radio deal is up.

Friday PM Update: Heard from someone who would be in a good position to know and I think the current radio deal between the Bruins and 98.5 The Sports Hub is NOT up after next season. I think it’s more likely up after the 2027 season, which certainly changes the calculus on WZLX acquiring their rights.

The Red Sox - This one is more tricky. The team and WEEI have a paper deal in place through 2028.

BUT #1 - The deal calls for the team to take control of the radio booth after this season, something we were first to report months ago.

BUT #2 - I’m told Audacy’s bankruptcy could potentially allow the Sox to find a new partner after this season. Audacy/WEEI pays the team millions of dollars for the rights to broadcast the games and in turn, makes money from then selling ads in the game. But as the bankruptcy starts paying out to all the debtors, what if the price tag is too high? What if there is a world in which the new owner of Audacy (Geroge Soros) decides he doesn’t want to pay the exorbitant price tag for baseball on the radio?

Enter iHeart and WZLX.

People around WEEI have privately scoffed at this and suggested the Sox are not going anywhere, but I’m not convinced.

It will not be inexpensive - the Sox’ current deals nets them around $10 million per season from Audacy. But there might be a path to land a play-by-play deal for iHeart.

And if you do it right, you could pretty quickly have the 2nd place sports shows from 10 AM until midnight. WEEI is getting CRUSHED there, with some recent weekly ratings showing both Gresh and Fauria/Jones and Mego doing numbers in the 3s, 2s, and 1s. It’s bad.

A lot of speculation here, but it seems doable. Again, not cheap, but doable.

My goal is to bring you any and all news as Boston trends toward a potential third all-sports station. But does the market need it? You tell me. Vote here and comment below.

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On your Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics…

A few other assorted thoughts with the NBA Finals still six days away:

• Good stuff from 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Joe Murray on the rest for the Celtics heading into this series. “Teams with at least a one-week gap before Game 1 of the NBA Finals are 16-11 in the series. 59% of the teams with a week off or more win the championship. Dallas closed out Minnesota in five games and will have 7 days off before meeting Boston in Game 1. The Celtics will have had 9 days of rest.” More on Murray below.

• From the development of Tatum and Brown when he was their coach, to his moves at GM like the additions of Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porziņģis, plus the reacquisition of Al Horford…Brad Stevens freakin’ cooked. I thought he was replacing Danny Ainge for a year or two then headed back to coach college. Shit, he worked through the Ime Udoka disaster, too. Celtics diehards are probably talking about this, but Boston sports fans are generally not. At least not enough.

• He’s improved in the playoffs, but the Celtics still have to attack Luka Dončić on the defensive end. Get him matched up on Tatum and Brown and make him guard those guys.

• For all the “other” stuff with Kyrie, he’s still one of the best scoring guards I’ve ever seen. And his ability to score at the rim is 👀👀👀.

• Celtics in 5, even if Porziņģis comes back a little hobbled.

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On rooting against the 2024 Boston Red Sox …

I don’t hate the Red Sox. I don’t have much use for Sam Kennedy, for a multitude of reasons. But, and forgive me if I’ve said this before, I want my kids to like baseball and the Red Sox being good is good for that. Make sense?

This season, though? Go ahead and lose a million games.

After pledging to go “full-throttle,” they find a way to completely botch the off-season by not spending any money, even after assuring fans they would.

Kennedy goes on WEEI every week and pretends we’re all idiots.

The owner - so visible when the team is winning - can’t be bothered to answer questions about his team.

Ownership allows Alex Cora to dangle in the wind with no contract extension, even after handing him bad rosters following a World Series win. Just a laundry list of missteps.

For a fourth straight season, the team raised ticket prices. The results have not been good.

As MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam noted, the team has not had a sellout since Opening Day.

But the Red Sox have left a lot of tickets on the table through the first two months, too. Their average attendance ranks 12th in MLB, placing them closer to the middle of the pack rather than the top. And since attendance reflects tickets sold, a simple eye test reveals that many are buying tickets, but not using them — never a good long-term sign.

At their current pace, the Sox could have nearly a half-million tickets left unsold over the course of the season. And for that, the Red Sox have only themselves to blame.

The team has resorted to minor-league marketing tactics to boost attendance. Last night (May 30th) was the latest.

The Nashua Pride used to do this. The Lowell Spinners used to do this. Now, the Red Sox are offering you ‘free’ food and drink to come to their games. Of course, the deal is not as good as it looked. And it sure ain’t free.

It says $29, but that does not count the $4.50 fee on every ticket. PLUS an order fee of $7. So that $15 in food/drink credit gets erased pretty quickly.

So, did the big promotion (that’s not actually a big promotion) help?

Avg attendance in 2024: 31,059
May 30th attendance: 31,077
+18

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

This was also the same night you inducted Dustin Pedroia into your team's Hall of Fame…and no one saw it. Fenway Park was “about half full” for that ceremony, and “60-70% full” during the game, according to one MutStack Insider who was in attendance. At least those who were there had a good time….

Or not. They saw their team get two-hit by the lowly Tigers.

The fans don’t deserve the losses, but the organization does. Just wait until Craig Breslow dumps off all the tradeable pieces in a month. Better put that promotions team to work.

So good! So good! So good!

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On your Friday MutStack notes…

• There is a lot of terrible sports betting talk on sports radio. So when it’s good, we take notice. The aforementioned Joe Murray did an excellent segment with Julian Edlow of DraftKings Thursday night. Two guys who obviously bet on sports, talking about betting on sports. No bits. No wacky opens. It was authentic and stood out from most of the shows and their daily parlay segment - which is a colossal waste of everyone’s time. I’m tailing Edlow on a Celtics bet he mentioned, C’s to win Game 1 and the series -130 on DraftKings. Responsibly.

• Feels like the entire horse racing world is excited for The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga. Our coverage starts next Thursday with Dick Jerardi and Jessica Paquette joining me for the MutStack Podcast - Belmont Stakes Roundtable. We’ll have a play of the day each day, Thursday through Sunday, on Twitter/X.com. Belmont Preview will be part of the Four-Pack. A Saturday handicapping in a special Saturday newsletter. If you can’t make it to Saratoga, hope to see you at Mohegan Sun for their annual Belmont Bash.

• We’ll also have some Substack Only content in the notes and potentially a Belmont Day Chat for subscribers.

• Belmont at Saratoga starts with a Pick 6 carryover of $44,200, thanks to a rule that negated the carryover Sunday when two races were taken off the turf AFTER the sequence started. Players were annoyed and I get it, but I’m guessing NYRA execs were not upset about a carryover to start what is a HUGE weekend for them and the sport.

• I know it went viral and it was probably insensitive the day after he died, but Fred Toucher’s Bill Walton comments…not a big deal.

• 98.5 The Sports Hub also go some national pub for their interview with JJ Reddick. Listened back Friday morning - Felger and Mazz did nothing wrong. Reddick was terrible and clearly wanted to say nothing with an NBA coaching job in LA looming.

• The next few weekly ratings in Boston sports radio - with the Hub having C’s and B’s playoffs and WEEI stuck with a nothing Red Sox team - might be historically bad for WEEI.

It feels like we have really said it all. Special thanks to Dave Cullinane for his help with today’s Four-Pack.

And Happy Birthday Mom.

Thanks for reading. Good luck with all your bets. Back next week for full coverage of The Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.

Good weekend.