Episode 291 of the Sports Media Podcast features a roundtable discussion with The Boston Globe sports media writer Chad Finn and Sports Business Journal assistant managing editor/digital Austin Karp. They are followed by Alex Sherman, a media reporter for CNBC. In this podcast, Karp and Finn discuss LSU’s win over Iowa in the NCAA women’s basketball championship– the most-watched women’s college basketball game ever; what the viewership numbers mean in context; the future of women’s basketball as a media play; Jim Nantz signing off from the Final Four; the men’s tournament viewership number; the shortening of MLB games thanks to the rule changes; news-breakers on Sports Twitter; and more. Sherman discusses the WWE merging with UFC to form a new publicly traded company controlled  by Endeavor Group;  why Endeavor wanted this deal; why WWE wanted it; whether there are legit synergies between the two; the valuation of the deal; the upcoming media rights for ‘Raw’ and ‘SmackDown,’ and UFC; the WWE’s intellectual property; Vince McMahon’s future in the new company; where things stand with the NBA's upcoming media rights negotiations, and more.  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices