The big money of NFL communications and the rising wall for media access and truth for fans

As we continue to see Baltimore Ravens players slip out the back door after losses and the questions seem to get softer for all of the players and coaches as accountability – and availability – dwindles, we wonder what the future of sports media holds for the fans and truth and answers. Our longtime pal and lifer NFL and Hollywood public relations pal Chip Namias returns to discuss billionaire owners, incomprehensible money and power and the communications changes in football over the years.

In a discussion about the evolution of sports public relations (PR) and media, Nestor Aparicio interviews Chip Namias, a veteran PR specialist with experience across multiple NFL teams and in Hollywood. They touch upon the changing nature of sports media, the increased commercialization of sports, and the decline of personal relationships between media, players, and management. Specific examples include the shift from small-town operations to multibillion-dollar enterprises, the rise of social media as a direct communication channel for athletes, and the impact of gambling on sports coverage. Additionally, they reflect on the nostalgia for simpler times in sports PR and the challenges faced by modern practitioners navigating the complexities of contemporary sports media landscapes.

Houston Oilers Memories and Introduction

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the topic of the podcast, focusing on the upcoming Houston Texans game and reminiscing about the Houston Oilers.
• Nestor recalls his initial interactions with Chip Namias, who was the Houston Oilers PR Director, and mentions various notable guests Chip has hosted on his show.
• Chip Namias joins the discussion, expressing pleasure at reconnecting with Nestor after many years.
• Nestor highlights Chip’s diverse background in sports PR, including his roles with the Dolphins, Bucs, and Oilers, and his transition to Hollywood PR.

Evolution of Sports Media and PR

• Chip reflects on his 48-year career in sports media and PR, noting significant changes in the industry over the years.
• Nestor and Chip discuss the shift from smaller, intimate operations to large corporations within sports organizations.
• Chip shares insights on the evolution of player communication through social media and the changing dynamics between players, media, and PR departments.
• Nestor comments on the current state of sports media, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and the challenges posed by modern technology and social media.

Impact of Commercialization on Sports

• Nestor and Chip discuss the growing commercialization of sports, including the proliferation of alternative uniforms and branding strategies.
• Nestor shares a humorous anecdote about mistaking Dolphins for Bengals due to their alternate uniforms.
• Chip talks about attending a recent Dolphins game and receiving criticism for the team’s uniform choices.
• Both hosts reflect on the impact of commercial interests on the integrity and identity of sports teams.

Changes in College Sports Fandom

• Nestor and Chip switch the focus to college sports, discussing the differences in fan culture between regions like the Southeast and the Northeast.
• Nestor humorously contrasts the passion for college sports in the South with the relatively low interest in local colleges like Towson State and Coppin State.
• Chip acknowledges the regional variations in college sports fandom and the influence of historical traditions.
• Nestor shares a personal story about his tower engineer, highlighting the unique bond among diehard college sports fans.

The Role of PR in Building Community Relationships

• Nestor asks Chip about the role of PR in fostering positive relationships between sports teams and their communities.
• Chip recounts his experiences with various teams, including the Oilers, Bucs, and Dolphins, and the challenges of maintaining community support amidst relocation threats.
• Nestor emphasizes the importance of genuine engagement and goodwill in building long-term success for sports franchises.
• Both hosts agree that the personal connections and trust established through effective PR efforts are crucial for the sustainability of sports teams.

Modern Challenges in Sports Journalism

• Nestor and Chip delve into the evolving landscape of sports journalism, discussing the increasing pressure on reporters to produce sensationalist content.
• Chip explains how traditional PR roles have expanded to encompass managing social media presence and dealing with the constant demand for engaging content.
• Nestor shares his perspective on the changing dynamics between journalists, coaches, and players, noting the rise of confrontational attitudes towards the media.
• Both hosts express concern about the loss of nuanced reporting and the commodification of sports coverage.

Reflections on Personal Experiences in Sports PR

• Chip shares anecdotes from his time in sports PR, including memorable encounters with athletes and media figures.
• Nestor recalls his own experiences with players and coaches, highlighting the importance of maintaining professional yet personal relationships.
• Both hosts acknowledge the value of long-lasting connections in the world of sports, despite the challenges presented by modern practices.
• Chip reflects on the camaraderie among former NFL PR professionals and the shared understanding of the industry’s past and present.

The Impact of Gambling on Sports Coverage

• Nestor and Chip discuss the rapid growth of legalized sports betting and its effects on sports journalism and PR.
• Chip recounts instances where he and his colleagues were advised not to share certain information to avoid influencing fantasy football outcomes.
• Nestor notes the transformation of sports coverage into a form of insider trading, driven by the desire for exclusive access to betting tips.
• Both hosts express concerns about the ethical implications of integrating gambling interests into mainstream sports reporting.

Final Thoughts on the Future of Sports PR

• Nestor and Chip conclude the discussion by considering the future direction of sports PR and journalism.
• Chip predicts continued expansion of digital platforms and social media as primary tools for communicating with fans and stakeholders.
• Nestor emphasizes the need for sports organizations to balance commercial interests with community values and authentic engagement.
• Both hosts agree on the importance of adapting to new technologies while preserving the core principles of sportsmanship and integrity.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

NFL PR, Chip Namias, Houston Oilers, media relations, sports commercialization, social media, player representation, community engagement, sports history, fantasy football, stadium attendance, team branding, sports documentaries, fan interaction, sports ownership.

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SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Chip Namias

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W n s t am 1570 task of Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positively into a a football week here that has a lot of extenuating circumstances with injuries and whatnot. Luke is out in Owings Mills. Any breaking news weapon first on the W n s t tech service that is all brought to you by coal roofing and Gordian energy. And of course, our friends at GBMC provide our hotline, which this week might as well be the injury hotline regarding Lamar Jackson and Ronnie Stanley and Rokon Smith and Nandi Mada BK and, Lord knows, with Marlon Humphrey. But we’re gonna play some football here, and the Houston Texans are coming to Baltimore this week, which always makes me remember the Houston Allers and this guy here. I met him at the very dawn of my radio show, which is 27 years we’ve had W, N, S T, 34 and a half years I’ve been on the air. He fetched me at one point, Bubba McDowell to come on my show, because when I went on the radio in 1991 we weren’t in the NFL, and we were never going to be in the NFL, and nobody ever thought there’d be a thing called the Ravens. All these 30 years later, Chip damiest was the Houston Oilers PR director that I absolutely harassed somewhere out on Westheimer in Houston, Texas. He got Jack Pardee on my show, and we spent a lifetime of knowing each other. He went on to become a Hollywood PR person. If you ever saw Adam Sandler on our show, or nearly got Burt Reynolds came, it’s close to getting Burt Reynolds on, but that brings Snoop by my set at one point too. We want to chip back onto the program. Because when I think of Houston, I think of you and I went to the Hollywood Bowl a couple weeks ago, and you’re all baseball play off up. And I thought, if I’m ever gonna have chip on, I might as well have him on the week we’re playing Houston, something. That’s what I thought.

Chip Namias  01:49

Good to see you, Nestor, it’s been a long time. We’ve, uh, we’ve known each other. It’s been it’s been fun.

Nestor Aparicio  01:55

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Well, you were at a football game when I text you and ask you to come on that you make your life in South Florida. I know you well enough to know you have, like, a whole soccer background and a football background with the dolphins and Don Shula. But I only knew you through Houston. Houston, it’s like a small little snapshot of this thing you did. You were in Tampa. I wore some cream sickle Costas for you here. I mean, you made a life in sports, and you’re kind of out of sports, but they kind of suck you in because you’re a Yankees guy and you go to sporting events stuff. I hear you as mouthy about modern sports, but you have a great reason to be. You worked at a lot of different places, in a lot of different ways in this game.

Chip Namias  02:37

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I’ve been, I’ve been working in sports media and sports PR for, geez, since 1977

Nestor Aparicio  02:48

so that’s 50. I almost said 50, but I didn’t want to make you mad.

Chip Namias  02:51

48 we’re 48 Yeah, yeah. Hard to believe. Hard to believe. It’s been quick, but yeah, I had three stops in the NFL and and then after that, got to through some friends in the NFL, got to be an NFL replay official for about 20 years. And that was fun. And doing the Hollywood stuff has been fun, so it’s been great. And yep, I didn’t move from one coast to the other about two years ago, from from LA to Fort Lauderdale, which is where I am now, and here we are.

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Nestor Aparicio  03:23

Well, you went to that dolphins game and what? First things first, the league itself. You pointed out online, after I invited you on, that you haven’t been to many games as like a paying fan, and since they threw me out four years ago, I haven’t been to a football game. And it’s really weird, after 30 years of being in every locker room, every place I am, but the whole accountability, the PR side, the localization that we need to sell tickets that Joe Robbie would go through, or the Culverhouse family or bud Adams in their markets, and it was your job, not just to keep the players safe and make the right messaging and all that, but it really was in a long term play of, let’s make fans for life. Let’s be honest with people, because, like, they’re still going to be here all their lives, and they’re going to hold us accountable. Now the lying part, the dishonesty part of all of it, and the monetization part, that’s so overt, whether you’re waking up in Dublin at 930 in the morning, or they’re playing in Brazil at 10 o’clock at night, or even when they’re playing in Miami, and they had uniforms on chip. I swear to God, I was in state fair getting carry out for my wife in Catonsville. I looked up at the two TVs and the both games were going on, and I’m like, who’s playing? I could and I saw a Bengal logo, and I saw the orange, and I’m like, what are the Bengals wearing? And it’s, it turns out it’s the dolphins. I mean, the first things first, you walked into a building, and I’m thinking, like, Did you recognize the dolphins? Which is strange.

Chip Namias  04:49

Man, yeah, I it’s funny. I, I detested the uniforms of the dolphins were wearing last night. I won’t make any bones about it, and I probably. Got about seven texts in the first quarter from friends around the country saying, What the hell is up with those dolphin uniforms? They’re god awful, and they were god awful. But as you talked about the commercialization, it’s another chance, you know, to sell alternate jerseys. And, you know, I don’t know, I don’t know why they do it. Yeah, the teams weren’t recognizable last night as the the dolphins and the Jets, as you mentioned and I touched on it a social media post this morning that was only the second game as a NFL game as a fan that I had been to since 1982 my passion right now, football wise and basketball wise is the logo on my chest. My alma mater, the sad sack University of Florida, gators, at least sad second football national champions in basketball. So that’s, that’s good.

Nestor Aparicio  05:55

Well, it and I would say, well, they spent the most right? And you could say that out loud now in college, and not offend anybody from Kentucky or SMU or, you know, any, any of the places that had the death penalty for money and paying players. I mean, it’s a different game. I mean, I had Sean Merryman on earlier this week, just talk about the Terps and n i L and how the Terps have gotten good, and my tower engineer, who’s one of the people really responsible for a lot of my career, I never give him love. So I will. Jim Richardson, Jr, Richardson, who is my tower engineer, and has been for 27 years. You know, down here in Towson, Maryland, we found a little radio station. He is a gator maniac, like he, he never, I never have a conversation with my tower engineer without having to talk about because you ain’t Gator, you Gator bait. And so I know all about that. So the gator thing, the college thing, in a town like Baltimore is just, it’s a little foreign. I mean, the Terps have never really caught on here over a lifetime in the way that you think they might.

Chip Namias  06:54

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You don’t get behind mighty Towson, state or town.

Nestor Aparicio  06:57

I’m cop and sponsor. I love copping. I like Towson had a bomb scare earlier this week. Crazy stuff going, No, I mean, I love small college. I all of I’ve been to all of those games. Have their coach. I do all of that. I’m just saying from a passion play. There’s something about being in the south, especially in the state of Florida. But you got to anywhere in the south, you got to declare a school. You know, once you go to pass North Carolina, somebody’s got to have a school.

Chip Namias  07:19

Yeah, obviously the Northeast Corridor is not, you know, known traditionally, as being as passionate about college sports as as the southeast and, yeah, absolutely. Well, you

Nestor Aparicio  07:30

had to adopt a whole new ethos in college sports fan over the last five years with n i L the professional ranks, and I want to ask you this, and I’m not being snide, and this isn’t even about Chad Steele throwing me out, or Kevin Byrne, who never would have thought to throw me out. What was your job when you did the job like when you take a job with the dolphins, the Buccaneers, the Oilers? I’m sure I’m leaving something out. Places you’ve been in the NASL back, you know, all the jobs you had, the job you had as PR director or communications, whatever the title vice presidency. It feels to me, over my lifetime of having enough press passes to wallpaper any wall in your Floridian home, over 45 years of having boxes of press passes from all the sports and everywhere I’m I just feel like I don’t I’m not a Get off my lawn. I like change. I’m liberal, you know, I’m good with all that. I just sometimes I wake up on days and I don’t recognize what sports is trying to do in a market like I don’t understand what the Orioles are really trying other than win and sell stuff, but the authenticity and the hand to hand combat that like a Larry Aquino had here a generation ago to turn Camden Yards in my community from little sleepy Orioles village and to 3.6 million people coming to games, I felt that explosion here. But the way sports works now, when social media and players and agents and n i L and they’re being handled when they’re 12 years old. The whole thing is very unrecognizable to me, and I know it’s not going back to the way it was, but what was your job?

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Chip Namias  09:09

Well, you know, it was a lot more quaint back then, and it wasn’t, when I think about it wasn’t all that long ago. I mean, my former intern with the Buccaneers is now their chief communications officer, and he mentioned me recently that when I my last year there, there were a total of 27 employees. Now there’s 384 so these were these teams. Went from mom and pop operations where, you know, we went to work in shorts, and I had a conniption when the marketing guy wanted to put a sponsorship backdrop on our press conferences. That would be small potatoes now, but, you know, these businesses went from being run like corner grocery stores to run like, you know, IBMs and Xeroxes, and, you know, it’s a whole different thing. And then obviously the players getting their own voice on social media. And having a way to connect and communicate their thoughts directly with the fans. And, you know, a lot of players thinking, you know, they don’t need the media anymore. The media is not a, you know, a necessary thing for them in their eyes. And that’s totally changed. That dynamic is, as you learned a little bit up in Baltimore. But back when I did the job, you were basically, you know, you were, you, you had two or three responsibilities. You were servicing the media and helping them, you know, do their job on a daily basis. You were the spokesman for the organization, and the front facing face when something came up and commenting on it. And you were, you know, running a special event game day operations, whether it was during the game, a game when you were running the press box from the stat crew and overseeing the photographers on the field and all that kind of stuff and and, of course, doing press releases and keeping statistics, those were basic, your basic jobs. And you know now it’s, it’s so much different. And a lot of us who worked in PR back in those days for for sports franchises, and some who who covered both eras, then and now, you know, those of us who aren’t doing it now anymore are consider ourselves very fortunate and lucky that we were around during the golden era and not around now, I don’t know that I would enjoy my job the way I did then, if I was doing the same job now, because it’s a lot more contentious. It’s a lot more I don’t know if strategic is the right word, but you know, you’re, you’re, you know, there’s a lot more opportunity for conflict.

Nestor Aparicio  11:43

Chip damiest is my guest and my friend, longtime PR man in sports and in Hollywood and helping. Helping. God, it just fell off my tongue, helping. I wrote that word down. You said your job was to help the media. Help the media do what? Yeah.

Chip Namias  12:00

I mean, help the media cover the team make it you know, back then you were kind of as a PR guy. You were kind of a red velvet rope gatekeeper, you know, I could decide who, you know, to a smaller extent than now, you know, who came into the tent, who covered the team, and when they did cover the team. You know, you wanted the team to come off positively. So you wanted to do whatever you could to help the media do their job and kind of curry a relationship with them, and kind of work hand in hand to, you know, to to help them not promote the team, because that’s a bad word when you’re talking about the media, but to do their job and report on the happenings of the team. And sometimes there was conflict. If a, you know, a guy wrote a story that was negative about a player, and the player would have a little tantrum and say, I’m never talking to that guy again. And, you know, I used to bring in the player and the writer into a room, close the door and basically make it like a a professional wrestling survival match where nobody was going to leave that room until those two guys shook hands and buried the hatchet, so that you didn’t have long standing grudges that were being held.

Nestor Aparicio  13:14

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But I participated in that, by the way. I, you know, I, I had one of those with Davey Johnson and John maroon and Roberto Alomar and and Rafael Palmeiro at one point, and Alomar was literally the liaison. Alomar sat between me and Paul mero and tried to fix things. You know what I mean? Like, literally I can’t these days, they just throw you out, or they vilify you, or they it’s to me on the outside, now that I am an outsider, not a real media member anymore, Chip watching the the reality television part, not just of the Ravens or the Orioles. I’m talking about sports in general, that Brian Billick, back in 2000 allowed Steve sables group to come in and make hard knocks and then Hard Knocks became this unbelievably awfully sanitized show that just was by the time they got to the Texans, JJ watts, throwing tires, and it looks like like the incredible I mean, it wasn’t reality in the way that we thought it was going to be. And I think reality TV has moved 25 years further along, and all of these sports teams now, whether it’s the ceremonial pen that signs the contract in front of the backdrop, the product placement, I mean, I’ve seen outtakes now where they like, literally reshoot pieces like Hollywood, because somebody walks out into the hallway into a shot that they’re trying to I mean, they’re literally just doing internal reality TV. Their brands are all snarky in some way and making fun of the other just sort of, it’s sophomoric to me as a 57 year old. I guess it has some appeal to a 16 year old. Roll on tick tock, or they think it’s going to sell a fan. But I am, I am amused be mused, and in some ways, I just hit the Escape button, because I think the social media voices of sports teams can really be annoying. You know, even if you like the team, maybe even the Florida Gators. You follow it all and think this is a little annoying. This is a little too much, even for me. If I love the Yankees, to follow the teams, the sanitized version of the rah, rah, rah, shish, boom, bah, that goes above and beyond fandom and into it’s making me itch a little bit because product play, just all of it. It makes me itch a little bit to see 50 images of guys in suits getting off of planes to sell a zip sponsorship for the Ravens.

Chip Namias  15:51

Well, first you mentioned Brian Billick, we got to give him a shout out for possibly being the only coach and in sports history who went from being an assistant PR guy to being a coach. So you know, you gotta like Brian Billick for that, but a late round draft pick as well. But yeah, you know, every time there’s a hype sports documentary coming out about a specific athlete or whatever, and you’re excited to see it when you first hear about it, you get less excited when you find out that the subject of the documentary is also the executive producer of the documentary, so you know. And you’re right. You mentioned hard knocks. I mean, I loved, I don’t know how many years Hard Knocks has been on, but for the first batch of years, I loved it. Because even though I had, you know, lived it. It was really cool to kind of see it realistically brought to the TV screen. But the hard knocks that’s airing now, and certainly the one that aired this year with the bills, bears no distant relative status to the Hard Knocks that that we used to know. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  16:57

then, you know, it’s not real anymore. Well, you know, even for fans our age that have seen behind the curtains, you see this and you see it as facetious. I don’t it’s, it’s, it’s like reality fiction to some degree, and it’s, it’s just weird to me. It’s not worth my time chip, that’s the honest to God truth. You know, I don’t know that

Chip Namias  17:15

it’s not real, but it’s certainly not spontaneous, and it’s certainly planned. I mean, how many years has it been on Hard Knocks since we actually a staple of hard knocks? Used to be a head coach cutting a guy in his office. How many years has it been since you saw a guy get caught on hard knocks? 10? So it’s just all the things that made it great and interesting as a spontaneous vehicle. It’s now really kind of a propaganda vehicle and and, you know, the teams get to screen the episodes before they air and take out anything that they want to take out. And it’s just a different show.

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Nestor Aparicio  17:58

Chip damius is here. He is a long time a PR man. So your Houston years. I hit you this week because we’re playing the Texans, and I thought we could have chip on, talk a little this and that, and I was even going to wear my Derrick Henry oiler jersey, but I think that’s a whammy on the Ravens. I won’t do that, but the oiler memories and moving to France is one of the things about PR. And certainly here, when you know Bob Leffler is running PR and they’re trying to get the Colts out of town and Urs trying to get May flowers in. I mean, you were in some contentious spots too, where part of the PR and part of not having Justin Tucker be a serial predator in your community, or Ray Rice punches wife in a glass elevator where there’s video evidence that everyone in the building lied about and nobody lost their job. A decade later, I look at this franchise in Baltimore, and I say the notion that they got $600 million in the last few years of civic money here to kick the the media out of the press box, the Kevin Byrne press boxes that I call it the little box. It’s a tiny little press box up in the corner. Now that they’ve that they’ve gotten their money and the citizens have paid for it. But the PR part of the Houston Oilers and of the Tampa bucks playing in the big sombrero and never filling it up and trying to sell tickets and trying to sell enthusiasm. You came for some hard scrabble places. I mean, you were in Miami after they won the Super Bowl and had Don shul and Dan Marino and like all of that. But you went to some other places where, like the NFL was a tougher sell. And I Baltimore could have been a much tougher sell the second time around in Houston, it’s been a tougher sell the second time around, this community just embraced it. Bought all the PSL, 30 years later. You know, they’ve never really had to sell a ticket here, or know how to sell a ticket here. But man, in Tampa and in Houston, Arizona, some of these places where the NFL went, even Nashville, where the Oilers went, Jacksonville, Carolina, where they didn’t come here. It was. More hand to hand with not just the media and the local media, but businesses and regular fans. And how much of those tickets, and are they good guys and in racist communities where just things that have happened here over 25 or 30 years, where the NFL feels like an automatic everywhere, wherever you and Kevin Byrne and Scott birch to all the old school guys that were trying to really we need to be good corporate community citizens here, because the most important thing we’re going to do is still be here tomorrow and the next day and the next day. I I don’t feel like any of these entities behave in that fashion. And I don’t just mean the Yankees or whatever, or the Dodgers. And I was there last week, and the Dodgers feel really community oriented. When I’m there, it doesn’t feel like insert ATM as much as it could feel that way. And I feel like a lot of teams are that way now, but the corporate part of making the money and the goodwill of of keeping the peace in a community, you had a couple of jobs where that was really difficult to do well.

Chip Namias  21:02

I mean, it usually came down to, like in Houston, i Excuse me, I was, I left about a year before the team moved, but I was there during the threatening the community years when, you know, Bud Adams, the owner of the team at the time, was saying, you know, I need a new stadium. If I don’t get a new stadium I’m out of here. And he was traveling around the country with his son in law, meeting in other communities and, you know, and basically the error, which, I guess it’s a good thing, it doesn’t really exist in sports anymore, or recently, we haven’t seen it, where teams are holding guns to the heads of communities and threatening to take their team away if they don’t get fill in the blank. We haven’t seen much of that recently, but, you know, we sound a little bit like you alluded to it earlier. You know, get off my lawn type guys. I mean, unfortunately, sometimes things change, and you said you embrace change, but I don’t always embrace change. I was talking to a guy, Mark Berman, who was a long time sports anchor in Houston for almost 40 years, and was the only TV guy I’ve ever seen in the country who broke as many stories as print guys did, and he was talking about an old oiler. Mike Rozier was in town last week and called Mark because he was playing golf in Houston. Mike lives in New Jersey, and he told Berman to come out and say hi to him. So Berman got in his car and drove 45 minutes just to say hi to Mike Rozier. And Mark was talking about how those relationships, even though they could be contentious at times, between media member an athlete. Back in the era of the 80s or the 90s, there was still a closeness there, because the the media guys were in the locker room every day. It was much more informal. They were just hanging out in the locker room talking to the players.

Nestor Aparicio  22:54

You know what it is? It’s the humanization. Well, they were establishing relationships with the players.

22:59

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Even the Raven

Nestor Aparicio  23:00

person that ever knew me thought of me as a human, if they were a good human. You know what I mean, like? So that, that part of of you have a family, you have a wife, you have kids. Oh, you have kids. I was here today. You got drafted. Hey, where’s a good place to get wings in town, or a good place to get a crab cake or, like all of that. And to your point, there’s not a weekend that goes by that I don’t have a raven alum reach to me. I mean, I literally that doesn’t call me when they’re in town.

Chip Namias  23:24

Those relationships are not formed anymore because of the corporatization of the teams and the way everything is very stringent. You don’t get an opportunity to kind of become, become, I don’t know if I’m going to use the friend friends, but friendly with the people that you cover. And it’s the same thing in other areas. I talk with with people like Kevin Byrne and other PR guys. You know, we have about 35 former NFL PR guys. We’re on a text chain, and we we talk via text, and a lot of us, you know, if I was to make an AP or UPI top 25 list of my best friends in life, I’d say probably at least a third, if not half, of them are PR guys. And I talk to guys you know that are PR guys in sports now, and none of their best friends are PR guys. They barely know the other PR guys because there’s not an opportunity to go. We used to go to PR meetings for a week, you know, and hang out with each other or Super Bowl for two weeks and hang out with each other. It’s not just with the PR guy to players or media to players. It’s all of it. The opportunity to make personal, long lasting relationships in this business is simply not the same as what it used to be. Not, you know, for some people who are watching this, saying, you know, we’ll say, so who cares about that? But you know, just the personal relationship aspect of the business is not what it was, not even close.

Nestor Aparicio  24:55

Well, anyone to see the atrophy the Orioles here would see what bad ownership. Bad relationships with the community, with the media, with former players, with not even, you know, he couldn’t get along with Brooks Robinson. You know what I mean, like, you know? I mean when, when that happens, that that is just so anti everything, good franchises and good people and good PR people, and how sports got built. I guess you know that that’s how the Florida Gators got built, even as a university, it’s just earning loyalty, not demanding it. I mean, on a day when Trump’s in front of the military demanding it, I but, but earning respect, earning loyalty, earning your keep, or earning the money we give you, earning the time that that we’ve given, earning a friendship, or, you know, like all of those things were fundamental, they’re just not and I and and then these places are empty, and you wonder why baseball struggling? You know what I mean? You wonder why? And ticket prices are up and beers are up, and all of that it, it really is. We’re, we’re in an earthquake point for sports, where the women’s sports coming along. But I don’t know that More money’s coming into sports, or more time is coming. Maybe more gambling money is coming into it, but on a on a hand to hand combat basis, for every Towson or Coppin or Loyola, for every Maryland or Rutgers, I’m thinking Indiana University’s football program, the things that aren’t frontline but are backline, let alone hockey or UFC or all these places that are trying to make money in entertainment, the part about the jersey you wear and the laundry is some sort of I love my town, I love My team, I love my player, but there was a provincial, regional part of that in sports that the Raiders have transcended. They could play their games on the moon, right? You know what I mean, the Cowboys. They’ve become international brands where, you know, brands like the Bengals and brands like, you know, the cardinal, but more local, regional brands in the NFL, they feel like they don’t need anybody or anything because they’re selling out stadiums in Brazil.

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Chip Namias  27:09

Well, you’re, first of all, you’re you’re in a textbook market. For as far as I know, in the entire history of sports, there’s never been a closer relationship between team and community than there was between the Colts and the city of Baltimore in the 50s and 60s. That, to my knowledge, and I’m not from Baltimore, has never been replicated anywhere in sports. So that is the all time. You know, great chapter and an example of a team, of a community wrapping their arms around athletes and a team and the team and the athletes wrapping their arms around the community. Nothing will ever top what you guys had in Baltimore, anywhere in the country. But you know, as far as the commercialization, you know, when I was at the game last night as a fan and walking around outside the stadium before the game, and being in the concourses and in the stadium, whatever they’re doing to commercialize the game, it sure as hell is working, because everybody I saw was wearing expensive dolphins, crap jerseys, hats, shoes. I mean, I’ve never seen that kind of immersion. I mean, it was unusual if you saw somebody who wasn’t wearing anything that had to do with the with the teams. So whatever they’re doing, it’s working. Because, as you said, you know, the relationships may not be the same. The the relationship between community and team may not be the same, but the tickets are being sold at very high prices. The sponsorships are being sold at very high prices. The merchandise is being sold. The TV time is being sold. So if you’re strictly looking at the bottom line, it’s

Nestor Aparicio  28:58

working and yeah, and the presentation of it makes it such that even being thrown out after 30 years of doing this professionally, watching it on TV, it comes on, it goes off. I stop it. I started. I pee. I go get a beer, I do, you know, and against the $400 every Sunday, my wife and I would spend to go sit in the upper deck, in the front row seats that Chad Steele threw me out of you um, I keep the money, and I say to myself, well, I still saw the game. I see it better. I get replays. Now, especially if you’re in the stadium or something goes against the ravens, They won’t put the replay up right on the screen. So there is a point for me where the the home presentation as I sit here while I talk to you watching baseball, um, there is a point where, when I go to a baseball game out I know you’re big Yankees fan, it’s not even about the fans or the stadium or the presentation or the bananas, or, you know, the hot dog races or anything that would be a distraction. The simple fact for me to watch the game, it’s better on TV because I see the strike zone, you know. So there, there’s and. The Strike sense, 98% of the game kind of, sort of, if you’re really watching the game. So for me, watching it on TV, HD, graphics, internet, the ability to opine and tweet back and forth with you in the game and all of that, there is a experiential part of it that’s made the home thing far supersede going to games from an experiential standpoint, for me to enjoy the game, not be annoyed by Jack wagons, and then just the general cost of they make it really easy to get the game on satellite. They do,

Chip Namias  30:31

well, that’s one area where I am not joining you. I still believe and feel strongly that if it’s if it’s a team is playing that you have a strong passion for, it’s not the same watching it on television as there is it is being there, like I would much rather be at a Florida Gator football game than watch it on TV. Yes, do I lose out on seeing replays of controversial plays and other aspects that I don’t get in the stadium, but it’s still a feeling for me anyway. Of being there is something special, and I overlook all the crap that you talk about.

Nestor Aparicio  31:10

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I miss my seat. I mean, I had a seat that Marvin Lewis. My seat was in the middle of the end zone, first row. Marvin back in 96 and 97 and Jim Schwartz are like, get the seats in the middle of the edge. Get the seat next to where the coach’s camera is, and you’ll have the best angle in the state, in the same angles we have. So my seat literally was next to the camera in the well, in the first row, in the middle of the end zone. So, I mean, I saw lines open up seeing the game on TV, I will agree with you that I don’t see the secondary. I mean, having it, having it all 22 is a better camera, a better view of the game. But we’re getting to the point where I’m going to the point where I’m gonna hit a button and it’s good. There’s gonna be cameras all over the state, and I’m gonna get the camera view I want, right? I mean, there is a part of the modern sports that I do, like replay. I like I think they should ship the football, you know what I mean, on liberal and a lot of those kinds of things. I am big on fairness and just getting the call right? And because we’re gambling on it. Now, if you notice, Chip there’s gambling involved too, a little bit on the television broadcasting, like, that’s that’s got to be the thing. Like, if I would have said to you, hey, chip off from Baltimore, uh, how’s Warren’s arm doing? Should I bet on the Oilers this week or not? You never would give me a press pass, right? So, you know, part of the insider trading on all of this stuff with the gambling thing. That is the biggest difference, that if my dad came back to life and sat and watched the football game, he’d like, Oh, my God, this gambling thing, and that’s happened is in a blink. That’s happened in the last five years.

Chip Namias  32:32

Yeah, when I was working for teams, the NFL specifically told us, you know, not to furnish information to fans for fantasy football leagues. I mean, they were so concerned with gambling. We used to have fans would call our offices, you know, masquerading as as as writers, someone would, you know, my secretary would say, John Steadman is on the phone, and he wants to know what the status of Alonzo einsmiss injury is. I go, Really, let me put John through. And then I get on the phone and and the guy, I’d say, Oh, this John Steadman from from the Baltimore Sun and, you know, and I exposed the guy on the phone. I got a kick out of doing that, but people were calling and pretending to be masquerading as media members. And I take great joy in getting on the phone and say, really, Mike lupico, I happen to be a friend of yours, Mike, it’s funny. You sound totally different now, but that’s how you know, that’s how the NFL treated gambling back then. Don’t give information to fans. You know, don’t. You know fantasy football is a form of gambling. That’s a no no. We had to sign documents that said we wouldn’t participate as team employees and fantasy football leagues, because that was considered a form of gambling, and you are here for violating the NFL gambling policies. My buddy Rick

Nestor Aparicio  33:53

neuheiser went through that in Washington filling out a pool card for basketball, right?

Chip Namias  33:58

Oh, that’s all that’s changed and obviously. And, you know, the NFL, I mean, I’m stating the obvious, has embraced it and sponsorships with it. And yes, if your father came back, he would, he would certainly be stunned.

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Nestor Aparicio  34:12

Well, I wrote down the word contentious that you, you said, and I would just say this. I don’t know why the people employed in Chad Steel’s job you used to have your job, feel like it needs to be contentious. You know, they’ll make you’re like, it’s contentious now it just is. And I’m like, Yeah, every time I walked in the building, I felt the energy change with this generation of people and this generation of owners and saying, I’m out to get you, after 30 years, really same guy here. I’m out to get you that that is the difference in it is that when, when I meet young players now, they’re like your media, you’re a rat poison. Because Coach Saban told me that, my agent told me that, and my PR director tells me that, Mike and I’m like, really like that,

Chip Namias  34:57

understand? I mean, we could do another show. Know, separately, probably, and talk about your situation with the Ravens. I mean, I don’t know the details, but I’ll say this. Well, first of all, Chad Steele and the Ravens, apparently, they were ABC and Jimmy Kimmel. Before ABC and Jimmy Kimmel, they were censoring, you know, trying to exert censorship, but I don’t understand. You know, there were there media members that I credentialed during my days in the NFL that I didn’t like absolutely, were there guys that I thought were out to get the team or only be negative, absolutely? Would it ever cross my mind to try to prevent them from covering the event? Never, because if you’re an accredited media member, even if I dislike you, and even if I dislike the way you do your job, and I think it’s unprofessional if you had, as long as you had that valid accreditation, I will certainly defend your right to, you know, to be there and to be present and cover the team in whatever way you cover it, even though I may strongly disagree with it, I would never think of shutting you out or shutting you down that just is not American in

Nestor Aparicio  36:13

my and I would never think of being unprofessional with your name on a press credential, because I have 8000 of them sitting here over 45 years of doing this, right? So, like I All that being said, it is, it’s, it’s mutual respect, right? Like and, and that was implied in our era. And I was taught that by John Steadman and Ernie a Corsi, and just all of those people who said, this is the right way to do it. This is the wrong way to do it. But I knew the wrong way to do it was to lie on behalf of the team and to say, to say something’s true that’s not true. So just all of that, and knowing the terms of how to do this in now an open environment where I always thought that John Harbaugh early on, when he didn’t didn’t understand the internet existed, when Jim Schwartz was telling me none of my guys on the lions are going to tweet 15 years ago, you know. And I think to myself, you’re mad at me or Mike Preston, you should see what like is being said about you on the bar stool, you know, just before the barstool website just you should see what they’re saying on Facebook in 2008 about you and how it’s you know, it’s not nearly as dangerous as you think it is to have media people maybe better understand you or not in your corner, but at least can see your point of view and present it better than maybe you

Chip Namias  37:32

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can well. And obviously now a big part of it is if you’re just like if you’re a beat writer covering the ravens, and you just do your job like you did it 20 years ago, and write what happened in practice today, and have ravens notes and little dot, dot, dot, you know, notes about what happened today. That’s not going to get the covering the beat the way you covered the beat 20 years ago. That’s not going to be outrageous enough to get you the kind of attention that that your editors feel like you need to be getting. You’ve gotta. You can’t just do your job the old fashioned way. You’ve gotta, you know, professional wrestling, asides it, and make it you know, bigger and more controversial and more outrageous than the other guy, because this other guy is doing that, and he’s look at all the attention he’s getting, and you’re not doing that. So you know, your your voice gets drowned out, unless you you make it more outrageous. And that’s kind of, that’s kind of the way it is.

Nestor Aparicio  38:37

I’ve covered Lamar here for seven years, and now Lamar is hurt, and they’re everywhere on my time, everybody nationally is a Ravens expert this week, because at one in three, they’re one of the biggest stories in the country. Ravens taking on the Texas this week, which reminded me the Oilers, which made me think of chip Nami. So I wanted to talk Hollywood Bowl with you. I just want to say thank you for making me go. I have to wrap the segment in my time slot, but I just want to say thank you. It was one of the great nights of of my memory that exceeded the expectations that were already very highly set at the Hollywood

Chip Namias  39:10

Bowl. Well, I know you and I have talked about that for years. You’ve told me the Hollywood Bowl is on your bucket list. I mean, since, since Gary quaso was quarterbacking the cult,

Nestor Aparicio  39:26

since Maddie had the wristband,

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Chip Namias  39:29

I’m glad you finally got to go. Oh man.

Nestor Aparicio  39:32

Steven Tyler walked out with Joe Perry, and it was like, I picked the right night, because I had a dozen different nights I was going to go out there, but I picked the right next one’s going to include fireworks up on the hill. Ship. Damiest is here, long time PR director in sports in Hollywood and all sorts of places. He is my friend, because we built relationships back in the day, even with whack jobs in Baltimore that had crazy radio shows that love the Houston all or so. Look out football. Here we come. Houston Oilers number HEY. If you need a plus one in Nashville, I’m your guy. I have a closet full of blue I’m even going to get my love you blue belt. Buckle out.

Chip Namias  40:06

Love you chip. I appreciate you, man. All right, Nestor, good seeing you as always. I’m glad you’re

Nestor Aparicio  40:10

on the mend and good luck to your gators. If you ain’t a gator, your Gator bait. I’m Nestor. We are wnst. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stopped talking Baltimore. Positive you.