Welcome back to The Varsity, my twice-weekly private email on the money, power, and egos that dominate the sports industry. Happy Summer Solstice to all my druid and pagan friends!

Listen, I cut Marchand a break last week and didn’t make a crack at his expense… just because I’m that kind of guy—nice, thoughtful, filled with brotherly love, appreciative of a pointillist in his Blue period, etcetera. But the wolfpack readership of The Varsity would not accept an issue without a Marchand crack! All right, I’ll let you all eat your cake: Forward this email without permission and Marchand will be at your front door lip-synching along to the Eras Tour in all its glory.

Let’s get to it…

1. Another NBA non-update update: Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but we’re still two weeks away from any formal agreements on the NBA’s media rights deal. (We’ve been “two weeks away” for months now!) Now that the NBA Finals have finished, that timeline feels more plausible, given that league execs have more time to focus on these deals. There does appear to be one area of movement: The idea of a fourth package is about as dead as it can be. As a source told me this afternoon, “There’s probably a 1 percent chance of it happening, but, yeah, you should bet your life that there’s no fourth package.”

   Executives from Amazon, Disney, and NBC haven’t heard anything about a fourth package, virtually confirming the notion. The current offers are all based on three packages, and all three companies would have to scramble if the NBA decided to add a fourth, regardless of where those games came from. Their position, of course, is that a fourth package sold to a big media company would dilute the value of the eventual deal. It’s unlikely any of the companies would walk, but they would definitely negotiate for lower prices.

   However, if Warner Bros. Discovery uses its matching rights for Amazon’s “C” package, that could lead to a similar dilemma. After all, Disney and NBC’s deals were not predicated on having three linear TV partners. NBC could also make the case that some of the value of its bid is based on getting TNT out of the NBA business entirely—which would cause Comcast to decrease the license fees it pays to TNT should the network lose its highest-profile programming. Although, again, it’s extremely unlikely that either Disney or NBC would walk away from their deals.

2. What’s happening with the WNBA?: This week, I received an email from a newscaster wondering about where the WNBA fits into the current media rights negotiations. “Is CBS or ION in the mix to get WNBA rights going forward?” he asked.

   I’ve already reported that the league has made WNBA rights part of the current media rights negotiations. Similar to how the NBA’s rights deals are shaking out, Disney will wind up with the WNBA’s “A” package. Amazon (which currently shows WNBA games) and NBC (which does not) will both pick up significant packages.

   Of course, that doesn’t leave a lot of inventory for other broadcasters. But a source tells me that the NBA will likely hold back one smaller package for WNBA to sell to media companies like CBS or ION. A source tells me that ION has to be considered the favorite for this package. The Scripps-owned broadcaster already has invested a lot into WNBA programming, including dedicated studio shows around the games it carries.

3. The Diamond dates: Diamond Sports’ bankruptcy is in the middle of a procedural phase where all sides seem to be arguing with each other. (Read Anthony Crupi for a fascinating punch-by-punch breakdown.) But we’re still a month away from the date that really matters: July 18, the deadline for leagues, distributors, and creditors to object to Diamond’s plan to exit bankruptcy.

   We already know that MLB will file an objection—and it’s looking increasingly likely that the NBA and NHL will, too. The leagues increasingly have lost patience with Diamond, which partly explains the fireworks that occurred in bankruptcy court this week, when Diamond and distributors balked at the leagues’ push to see each of their carriage agreements.

   Those objections will serve as a preview—but not necessarily a determinant—to the planned July 29 confirmation hearing, which is when we should know once and for all whether Diamond Sports will continue to operate its regional sports networks, or whether the company will begin to wind down its operations. What’s going to happen? I don’t know. Nobody does. As anyone who’s been involved in these types of hearings will tell you, it’s almost impossible to predict what will happen in bankruptcy court.

4. Remembering the ‘Say Hey Kid’: When Willie Mays passed away on Tuesday, it was a foregone conclusion that his legacy would become a major part of tonight’s MLB game at Birmingham’s Rickwood Field. After all, Mays started his pro career with the Birmingham Black Barons. When Fox Sports coordinating producer Bardia Shah-Rais heard the news, he knew immediately that the whole tenor of the network’s 90-minute pregame show had to change. His team scrambled to make the necessary adjustments. “It wasn’t about just changing elements and moving things around, it was about the whole tone of the show,” Shah-Rais said. “We want to make sure that we’re celebrating this legend’s life. We have an incredible opportunity to be the first ones to really do it on a national level.”

   Shah-Rais said the show’s on-air talent—David Ortiz, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez—took an active role in making sure Mays was properly remembered, finding personal photos of Mays and directing producers to old interviews they did with him. When asked what he was most excited about seeing on-air, Shah-Rais pointed to an obit from sideline reporter Tom Rinaldi, and an interview with Mays’ godson Barry Bonds that was taped three weeks before Mays’ death. “Barry rarely does anything, so it was awesome that he trusted us with his voice to do something like that.”

5. Sunday Ticket update: Whenever I have a question about the NFL’s Sunday Ticket trial, I shoot a Slack to Puck’s resident legal expert, Eriq Gardner. This morning, he had this for me: “Things don’t seem to be going well for the plaintiffs,” he wrote. He pointed to the judge’s comments earlier this week, expressing frustration with the plaintiffs’ lawyers. “This case has turned into 25 hours of depositions and gobbledygook,” the judge said in court. “This case has gone in a direction it shouldn’t have gone.”

   I’m not a lawyer, but it appears that the plaintiffs are trying to make the point that Sunday Ticket is too expensive, and the NFL is admitting that it’s a premium product. The open question, however, seems to be whether it’s illegal for the NFL to make its out-of-market package prohibitively expensive. Gardner warned that it’s not that simple: “Price-fixing is illegal. It really depends on whether plaintiffs can get jurors to buy the notion that each of these teams is capable of acting independently.”

   To that end, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones testified that it’s impractical for teams to act independently. “I’m completely against each team doing TV deals. It is flawed,” he said.

ESPN, which has parted ways with a lot of its signature on-air talent during the past few years, knows this. Stephen A., for better or worse, is their Rachel Maddow: homegrown, polarizing but beloved, beyond parody. And probably one of the only remaining sports media talents worthy of old-school dough. ESPN has been working hard to re-sign Smith, whose contract ends in a year; last week ESPN made its initial offer of $18 million per year for five years. I’m told ESPN execs pitched Smith’s WME agents that he would be their highest-paid star, earning more than Monday Night Football’s Troy Aikman or Joe Buck.

Will that be enough? Smith has reportedly been seeking some $25 million per year. While $18 million might seem like a ton of dough, I’m told Stephen A. wants McAfee bucks. Indeed, WME’s response to ESPN was to point to Pat McAfee’s deal, which nets close to $30 million per year between his studio show and College GameDay appearances. WME also had the chutzpah to use ESPN’s $700 million deal with Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions as a comp.

ESPN, of course, is crying foul on those comps, pointing out that neither is a talent contract and that they are both production deals. ESPN buys McAfee’s show, which includes all the costs he pays for the production and staff. It has a similar deal with Manning, who produces the popular ManningCast and some other ESPN shows through Omaha Productions. But that doesn’t mean Smith sees it that way.

ESPN’s ultimate decision on Stephen A. will be fascinating, considering the network’s trimming of its high-priced talent in recent years. Smith has been a focal point of ESPN’s strategy to invest in a few stars, like Mike Greenberg, Scott Van Pelt, etcetera, and his appearances on different shows—First Take, SportsCenter, NBA Countdown—and provocative on-air statements have helped drive the conversations on other ESPN studio shows. Jimmy Pitaro and Burke Magnus have a choice to make: Does ESPN want to go higher than $18 million? After all, Smith is not driving viewers to the live games that pay ESPN’s bills. How much would First Take viewership really drop if Shannon Sharpe, who Smith personally recruited last August and who just signed a multiyear extension with ESPN, took his place? Is Smith truly a Maddow? What if he’s more like Tucker Carlson or Megyn Kelly—stars who never quite transcended the network that spawned their success?

ESPN should tread carefully. While Smith almost certainly wouldn’t jump to another TV network, there’s a big market for a bona fide star—including the streamers looking to break into sports, the gambling companies looking to stand out, and the satellite radio networks. One point that probably bears repeating: Stephen A. is represented by WME, the agency that convinced MSNBC to bump Maddow’s salary from $7 million to $30 million. Let’s see if they can work their same magic here.

More on that: “While I agree with the letter writer’s point around a ‘business model problem,’ this person has a fundamental misunderstanding of how a private equity firm operates. They provide a financing source and strategic planning for said business. It’s equity, not debt. P.E. almost always wants as much control as possible and will gladly fill any leadership vacuum.” —A Varsity subscriber

On ESPN’s Flagship strategy: “It’s intriguing to see the additional services Disney is looking to integrate into the future platform. Seems spot-on to make it more than just another place to watch ESPN. You can already do that on their streaming app with a cable login.” —A Varsity subscriber

More on ESPN Flagship: “Really strong and fair take on Jimmy Pitaro and his D.T.C. plans.” —A former ESPNer.

One more on ESPN Flagship: “I thought I’d remind you that things started getting shaky re: cord-cutting under John Skipper!” —Another former ESPNer

On Puck’s soon-to-launch sports business pod: “Do you know why the first episode of your pod will break records? Folks will finally hear the correct pronunciation of your last name! Can’t wait. Stay cool.” —An entertainment lawyer

More on the pod: “You buried the lede! Your podcast is coming back!” —A sports media executive

On Marchand’s silent retreat: “No mention of Marchand today?!” —A Varsity subscriber

Another: “No Marchand crack?! This can't be a real email.” —A journalist