Michael McCarthy

New York

Senior Writer at Front Office Sports

Senior Media Reporter: @FOS. Previous bylines in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, USA TODAY, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Sporting News and Adweek.

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Articles

Inside the Most Exclusive Luxury Suite at Knicks Games

6 days ago | frontofficesports.com | Michael McCarthy

NEW YORK — With the Knicks-Celtics NBA playoff series heading to Madison Square Garden for Saturday’s Game 3, the most exclusive club in the city will be inside the World’s Most Famous Arena. Welcome to “Suite 200.”The almost-mythical private owner’s box is the ultimate perk for media moguls, celebrities, and entertainers. You can’t buy or bully your way past the velvet rope into this exclusive lounge, where celebs let their hair down and mingle with their own kind.
Joy Taylor Contract Decision Looms As Fox Nears Crossroads

1 week ago | frontofficesports.com | Michael McCarthy

Decision time has arrived for Joy Taylor and Fox Sports. Taylor’s contract with Fox expires this summer, sources tell Front Office Sports. The network is still reeling from the salacious sex scandals and explosive lawsuits of recent months. There are several ways this high-profile talent negotiation could play out. On one hand, FS1 could cut Taylor loose after recently splitting with executive vice president Charlie Dixon.
Bill Belichick’s 7-Step Plan: Crisis PR Experts On His Way Back

1 week ago | frontofficesports.com | Michael McCarthy

Crisis PR experts warn reputations that take decades to build can be destroyed in seconds. That’s the stark challenge facing Bill Belichick. Ever since 24-year-old Jordon Hudson crashed his interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, the legendary coach has found himself in the eye of a media storm. Right or wrong, the picture is coalescing of Belichick as a besotted old man meekly taking orders from a bossy girlfriend 49 years his junior.
Roundball Rock Will Return to NBC Alongside NBA Media Rights

1 week ago | frontofficesports.com | Michael McCarthy

Roundball Rock is officially back for NBC Sports—right in time for the return of its NBA coverage. During NBC’s coverage of the 151st Kentucky Derby on Saturday, the network aired a promo officially announcing the return of one of history’s most popular sports anthems. The song will highlight NBC’s return to hoops coverage starting with the tipoff of the 2025-2026 season in October.
Belichick's PR Nightmare a Product of Losing Longtime Confidante

2 weeks ago | frontofficesports.com | Michael McCarthy

During one of the longest weeks of his career, Bill Belichick fumbled and stumbled during and after his cringey interview with CBS. Former players and NFL pundits asked: How can the 73-year-old coach put his career and legacy in the hands of 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson? Sources tell Front Office Sports Belichick’s biggest problem is the absence of his secret weapon: Berj Najarian.
Trump Says He'd ‘Love to See' Stephen A. Smith Run for President

2 weeks ago | frontofficesports.com | Michael McCarthy

The Stephen A. Smith for presidential candidacy bandwagon has picked up a powerful promoter: Donald Trump. During a call-in interview with NewsNation’s Cuomo Townhall, the president said he’d “love” to see ESPN’s biggest on-air star make a run for the Oval Office in 2028. “Stephen A. is a good guy. He’s a smart guy. I love watching him. He’s got great entertainment skills, which is very important.
Burleson: NFL Has Taken Christmas Crown From NBA

2 weeks ago | frontofficesports.com | Michael McCarthy

Sorry, LeBron James. CBS host Nate Burleson says Christmas Day now belongs to the NFL. The NBA long dominated sports TV on Christmas Day, airing up to five nationally broadcast games. But after only playing sporadically on the holiday for decades, the NFL began encroaching in 2022, playing its first Yuletide tripleheader. Last year, the league streamed two Christmas games on Netflix. Moving forward, Commissioner Roger Goodell is promising a every season.
Bill Belichick's Cringey CBS Interview Raises Larger Questions

2 weeks ago | frontofficesports.com | Michael McCarthy

Did Bill Belichick learn anything from his year as a member of the media? His trainwreck interview with CBS News Sunday Morning is making me wonder about that. What should have been a feel-good chat about his first book, The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football, went off the rails when girlfriend Jordon Hudson shut down questions about how the couple met, even though she wasn’t part of the interview. “Not talking about this,” she sternly told CBS reporter Tony Dokoupil.
Mel Kiper Jr.'s Shedeur Sanders Fixation Hurt ESPN Draft Show

2 weeks ago | frontofficesports.com | Michael McCarthy

Mel Kiper Jr.’s overly dramatic performance during the 2025 NFL Draft made me think he should find a way to relax—a warm bath, meditation, a beverage of choice; any of them would work. He seemed more upset about the fall of Shedeur Sanders into the fifth round than the Colorado quarterback himself. Kiper Jr. is the elder statesman of draft gurus and a living legend. NFL Draft coverage would not be the phenomenon it has become without him.
NFL Network’s Jamie Erdahl on Draft Plan: ‘It Is About Hope’

3 weeks ago | frontofficesports.com | Michael McCarthy

Jamie Erdahl will be working her first NFL Draft telecast for the NFL Network Thursday Night. The host of NFLN’s Good Morning Football will have one of the key jobs in the network’s draft coverage. She’ll interview the players on stage just after they’re selected during Rounds 1-3 on Thursday and Friday night. Erdahl spoke to Front Office Sports senior media reporter Michael McCarthy the day before NFLN kicks off its 19th straight year of Draft coverage from Green Bay, Wisc.