NESN Nation Takes Different Swing at Sports FAST Channel
New England sports outlet NESN thinks it can tackle new viewers with a free, ad-supported outlet that shows more than just clips, archived studio shows and old games.
The primary broadcaster of games from the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins, NESN is launching NESN Nation, a FAST channel that CEO David Wisnia believes will lure viewers to its telecasts by providing something other outlets don't: original programming.
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'We are launching this initiative as another way to create unique storytelling about what matters to our fans and our viewers,' he says in a recent interview. 'We are looking to reach viewers not only inside the region we cover, but also nationwide.'
NESN, backed by both Fenway Sports Group and Delaware North, is grappling with new disruption in the world of regional sports coverage. So-called regional sports networks have long commanded top affiliate fees from cable and satellite systems, but as more consumers choose streaming venues and even direct-subscription options, economic support for those linear assets has eroded. Last year, for example, YES Network and MSG Networks, both of which showcase New York sports, launched a digital joint venture that streams games from the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, Brooklyn Nets and New York Yankees.
NESN Nation will sport more than 30 hours of live and original programming each week, including live games, live gameday content, live press conferences, interviews, game and sports betting analysis, features, documentaries and video podcasts, as well as content from NESN's library. The FAST channel will serve up four live Red Sox games from Spring Training in February and March, as well as live streams of the 'Morning Skates' and 'Pregame Skates' studio shows. 'Unobstructed Views,' a commentary-driven game coverage alternative will also appear on NESN Nation, as will a weekly three-hour block of Livepool FC coverage that features match highlights, recaps, and analysis plus behind the scenes content produced by the team.
'We are going to have a wide variety of stuff distinguishing us from the rest of the FAST channels,' says Wisnia, who joined NESN as president and CEO in September after working at Alvarez & Marsal, a global management consulting firm, where he was a managing director, specializing in media and entertainment operations and strategy. He succeeded Sean McGrail, who is retiring after 40 years at NESN.
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New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Denzel Clarke's catch of the year candidate. Plus: Top prospect Roman Anthony arrives
The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic's MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox. I'm not saying the Red Sox front office reads The Windup, but less than 24 hours after Ken's comments, Roman Anthony was at Fenway Park. Coincidence? Also: Ken has Yankees-Red Sox notes, former Rockies weigh in on the place they escaped and holy moly, this might be the catch of the year. I'm Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup! Yesterday was a big day for the future of the sport. Neither instance made much of an impact on the immediate present, however. Anthony, who is 21 years old, joins a pretty exciting group of youngsters in Boston, including Ceddanne Rafaela (24), Kristian Campbell (22) and Marcelo Mayer (22). Alas, his big-league debut wasn't the most ostentatious entrance. He went 0-for-4 against the Rays and misplayed a ball in right field that put Tampa Bay up 3-0 in the fifth inning. He did get some redemption in the ninth: Anthony's RBI groundout pulled the Red Sox to within a run, and the game eventually went to extra innings. The Red Sox lost 10-8 in 11 innings, though. Allow me to remind you that a pitcher's first start back from Tommy John is rarely ever dominant. It takes a while to get back to full steam. This was no exception — Pérez lasted just three innings (70 pitches), allowing four runs (all earned) on four hits and two walks. He also struck out five, though. He hasn't turned the corner, but he might be peering around it. Leftover notes from Saturday's Red Sox-Yankees broadcast on Fox: Paul Goldschmidt's resurrection: His frustrations reached the point last season where Goldschmidt, 37, asked the Cardinals to assess whether his physical skills were eroding. The answer came back 'No,' so Goldschmidt determined the problem was with his swing. His timing was off both in trying to get into a good position to hit and in making his forward move. His issues actually dated back to the second half of 2023, but he got hot against San Diego at the end of August, and with his strong finish gained confidence that he could still perform at a high level. Advertisement ASG '23-ASG '24: .236/.706 Post-ASG '24: .271/.799 2025: .312/.833 Trent Grisham's improvement: Grisham's offensive improvement isn't just due to opportunity. As he puts it, 'I'm thinking better.' He said he lost his mental edge in San Diego and needed to rebuild it, eliminating distractions and focusing solely on playing his best. Grisham said, 'That requires constant work, constant reframing, constant everything really, to retrain myself. I just got into a bad spot.' Marcelo Mayer's adjustments: Off the field, his biggest adjustment — and for many players jumping to the majors — is to the travel. Minor-league teams play six-game series and travel at most once a week. Major-league teams on a lengthy road trip will travel every three or four days. On the field, Mayer's experience at third base prior to joining the Red Sox consisted of only 24 innings in spring training and 31 at Triple A. But he loves playing defense, saying it's probably his favorite part of the game. And he's growing increasingly comfortable at third. Ceddanne Rafaela's selectivity: The biggest thing he's working on is his swing decisions early in counts. The Red Sox know Rafaela will be aggressive. But if he's going to swing early, hitting coach Pete Fatse wants to make sure he does it on pitches where he could make an impact. Rafaela's getting there. His strikeout rate has dropped from 26.4 percent last season to 19.8 percent entering Monday, in part because he has adopted a better two-strike approach. Anthony Volpe's hot and cold: His streakiness remains confounding. Yankees hitting coach James Rowson, however, believes Volpe's ability to make adjustments eventually will make him a good hitter, saying, 'He constantly forces you to try a different way to get him out.' While Volpe, whose OPS this year sits at .772, now has over 1,500 plate appearances in the majors, Rowson says that as he gains even more experience, he'll avoid lengthier slumps. Imagine being Nolan Arenado or Trevor Story — each of whom went to the playoffs with the Colorado Rockies — and seeing what they're up to these days. It has to feel a lot like looking at your ex's social media page and seeing that they've posted about nothing but pyramid schemes for a year. In case you missed it, the Rockies swept the Marlins last week. Those were their 10th, 11th and 12th wins of the year, and they followed it up with another sweep — this one in favor of the opposing Mets. They're 12-53, and on pace to obliterate the historic futility of the 2024 White Sox. Advertisement If they keep up this pace, they'll finish 30-132. I can give you no better context for that than this most recent Jayson Stark column. 'Ten ways the 2025 Rockies are making history (in all the wrong ways)' the headline reads. It feels like piling on, but what's a columnist supposed to say? 'At least the essential oils do smell pretty good, though'? Anyway, back to Arenado and Story. They're among the several former Rockies that Andy McCullough spoke to for today's article. The most damning quote came from Troy Tulowitzki, who offered this, via text: 'I don't comment on that organization.' Perhaps the most insightful comments came from Arenado, who had this to say: 'The only way you get out of this, my opinion, is you have to really start over; trade guys that have value and deal with the restart. But I don't know if that's what (owner Dick) Monfort wants to do. That's not really what they like to do.' That's a broad stroke, but starting over involves dealing with failures on a number of fronts: bad trades, bad refusals to trade, bad drafting, bad development and bad luck with Kris Bryant's back when they did decide to spend in free agency. When so many factors are failing, the blame finger can only point up. The Rockies' best chance at relevance might be for Monfort to sell the team. But if Monfort won't even lean into wholesale change at the many levels below him, why would we ever think he'll hold himself accountable first? Holy moly. This is a nominee for not only the catch of the year, but one of the best home run robberies I've ever seen — ever. CATCH OF THE YEAR – Denzel Clarke goes wayyyyy over the fence to rob a HR from the Angels' Nolan Shanuel [image or embed] — CJ Fogler (@ June 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM This happened in the bottom of the first inning last night, as 25-year-old A's rookie Denzel Clarke robbed the Angels' Nolan Schanuel in center field. My favorite part? OK, well, the catch is my favorite part, but also: Look at the reaction by A's opener Grant Holman: By the way, this wasn't Clarke's first highlight-reel catch, even though it came in just his 16th big-league game. Just a few days prior, he did this against the Orioles. And on May 30, it was this home run robbery against the Blue Jays. We have a new No. 1 in this week's Power Rankings, as the trio of writers identify one big question each team needs to address before the trade deadline. The Reds and Guardians started a series last night. The Reds won, 7-4, led by Terry Francona, who was making his first return to Cleveland since stepping down as manager. Advertisement I loved this article by Jon Greenberg, who tells us from a Cubs perspective about the art of the oral history in baseball clubhouses. Speaking of the Cubs … with injuries to their top two starters, Matthew Boyd has gone from an interesting lotto ticket to a reliable bedrock of the rotation. Likewise, José Berrios gave the Blue Jays some stability as they kicked off the hot birds series with the Cardinals with a win. The College World Series bracket is set, with surprise Cinderella Murray State crashing the party. Sam Blum spoke with Michael Kelly of the A's — I believe it's the first time anyone has spoken to one of the players who were last season suspended for a year for gambling. Rays shortstop Wander Franco has been charged with gun possession amid his sexual abuse trial. Keith Law gives us a scouting report on some top Mets and Nats prospects. On the pods: Most-clicked in our last newsletter: David O'Brien's newser on the Braves calling up Craig Kimbrel for one game. 📫 Love The Windup? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.


New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Roman Anthony's hyped MLB debut did not go as hoped for Red Sox
It's only up from here, right? All eyes were on MLB's No. 1 overall prospect Roman Anthony on Monday night when he made his long-awaited big-league debut for the Red Sox. Those eyes may have gotten to the 21-year-old, though, as he made a brutal error in the top of the fifth inning with two outs when a hard hit ball to Anthony in right field went from a relatively routine play to a frantic scramble. Advertisement 3 MLB's top prospect Roman Anthony made an unfortunate error in his Red Sox debut. @TalkinBaseball_/X 3 The ball went right under Roman Anthony's glove and rolled to the warning track. @TalkinBaseball_/X It was a 111.2 MPH line drive off the bat of Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz that caught Anthony in a limbo as he charged to field the ball off its third hop — but it snuck right under his glove and wound up rolling all the way to the warning track where Ceddanne Rafaela ranged over from center and got the ball back to the infield. Tampa Bay had a runner on first when Anthony made the blunder, and he would score and extend the Rays' lead to 3-0. Advertisement 'It just can't happen,' Anthony told reporters afterward, per ESPN. 'It's tough when you lose a game like that, you feel like that's the reason we lost — little things like that. Just got to learn from it and be better.' Diaz reached third on the error, but no further harm was done after that as Boston pitcher Brayan Bello struck out the next batter to get out of the inning. The Red Sox went on to lose the AL East battle, 10-8 in 11 innings, and fell to 32-36 on the season. Advertisement As for the rest of Anthony's day, he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and a walk in five plate appearances. Anthony's whirlwind call-up came up earlier Monday when he was with the Triple-A team in Worcester and came after weeks of hype and speculation. 'It was nice to finally take the field, forget about all the outside noise and just be able to take the field with the guys,' he told reporters afterward. 'Unfortunate we couldn't get a win, but it was a good experience — good to just get the first one over with.' Advertisement 3 Roman Anthony taking the field for his first MLB game. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect While he'll still be hunting for his first MLB hit, he did knock one item off the bucket list when he recorded his first RBI in the bottom of the ninth on a groundout. The Red Sox were trailing by two when Anthony stepped up to the plate with runners on second and third with just one out. A signature walk-off homer or a game-tying base knock was certainly on the minds of Anthony and Boston fans, but ultimately he did his job getting in one runner and allowing his team to tie things up in the next at-bat. While the error may have put a damper on Anthony's debut, MLB's No. 1 prospect likely doesn't hold that title for no reason. With his first big mistake out of the way, the chances to prove himself are now even more plentiful.


Newsweek
4 hours ago
- Newsweek
This One Cheap Red Sox Trade Could Turn Their Season Around; Here's Why
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Boston Red Sox entered Monday having won three of their last four games, including two wins in a three-game set against their arch-rivals, the New York Yankees, over the weekend. But that short burst of success can't change the fact that the underachieving Red Sox, expected to contend for an American League East pennant this year, have been a major disappointment. Heading into a three-game home set against the second-place team in the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox remained three games under .500 and 8 1/2 games off the Yankees' pace. ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MAY 30: Alex Cora #13 of the Boston Red Sox sits in the dugout in front of the Wally the Green Monster head prior to the first pitch against the Atlanta Braves... ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MAY 30: Alex Cora #13 of the Boston Red Sox sits in the dugout in front of the Wally the Green Monster head prior to the first pitch against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on May 30, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. More Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images The Red Sox have plenty of issues to analyze, but one in particular has been perhaps the most glaring: starting pitching. More specifically, starting pitching in the first inning. With a first-inning ERA of 7.12, second only to the 12-53 Colorado Rockies for worst in MLB (8.58), Boston pitchers have repeatedly put their team in an immediate hole and forced the Red Sox hitters to play from behind in game after game. What can the Red Sox do to solve this problem? One answer would be to acquire a pitcher who does not give up runs in the first inning. And there is one possible trade the Red Sox could make that would accomplish that goal, while costing Boston almost nothing. Even Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet has been shaky in the first inning, allowing five runs in 14 first innings, a 3.21 ERA. His overall 2.35 ERA is ninth in the AL. Other Red Sox pitchers have been much worse. More MLB: Tigers Trade Urged for $33.6 Million 'Luxury Item' Shortstop by MLB Insider Brayan Bello has allowed four first inning runs in nine innings. Walker Buehler has given up nine in 10 first innings. Lucas Giolito has also allowed nine, but in only seven first innings. Tanner Houck, now on the injured list, allowed a staggering 11 runs in just 11 innings to start off games. In total, Red Sox starters have given up 54 runs (53 earned) in 65 innings at the start of games. There are currently only four major league pitchers who this year have yet to allow a single run in the first inning. Three of them — Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Michael Wacha of the Kansas City Royals, and Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies — are very unlikely to be available in trade. And if any were, they would come at a high price. But what about the fourth one — JP Sears of the team formerly known as the Oakland Athletics? In 13 starts, Sears has yet to be touched for a first-inning run, earned or not. In fact, Sears has allowed just six hits, none for extra bases, and two walks while striking out 13 in the first innings of games. An 11th-round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners in 2017 out of The Citadel, Sears was traded to the Yankees later that year. Debuting in 2022, he pitched just seven games for New York before being traded again, this time to Oakland. In addition to turning in shutdown first innings this season, Sears has been a workhorse throughout his career. He has made all 13 of his starts this season after making 32 in each of the previous two seasons. Pitching for just $770,000 this season, only $10,000 over the MLB minimum, Sears would represent a minimal financial commitment for Boston. He also comes with three more years of team control. Despite his first-inning dominance, Sears has a somewhat bloated 5.21 ERA this season. But that could work to the Red Sox' advantage because they likely could obtain him with one or two mid-level prospects — again, a low cost to Boston. But for the Red Sox offense, whose 330 runs are fourth-most in MLB, a pitcher who can give them a chance to score first by blanking the opposition out of the gate obviously gives them a much better chance to win. A 2020 Society for American Baseball Research study of 73 previous seasons found that teams that lead after the first inning win about 70 percent of all games. More MLB: Red Sox to Promote Top Prospect: Reports