Hour 3: ESPN’s NFL Network Acquisition Official, plus Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau In-Studio

0:00Rich Eisen:So good, so good, so good. New markdowns up to 70 % off are at Nordstrom Rack stores now. And that means so many new reasons to rack. Because I always find something amazing. There's so many good brands. Because there's always something new. Join the Nordiclub to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. Spring is here, and there's a whole new way to chai at Starbucks that's made perfect for you. Choose your sweetness, dial it up, or keep things light. Add a touch of pistachio, a hint of strawberry, or vanilla, or make it a spring classic with lavender.

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0:51Rich Eisen:This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody! Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck! You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. I would say to the Pats now, who wins the game is not the team with the best players. Who wins the game is the players with the best team.

1:34Rich Eisen:Earlier on the show, actor Josh Lucas. Coming up, actor Nikolai Koster-Waldau. Super Bowl 60 storylines. Your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. We're on ESPN2 now, everybody. and we're going to go through a wardrobe change because we're on the deuce. That's an old-school reference. That's an old-school reference. We're on ESPN2 now, but of course, still streaming on Disney +, the ESPN app, ESPN Radio. We're on Terrestrial Radio, Sirius XM Channel 80. For those who listen on our podcast, we say hello to you. All three hours available every day, wherever you get your podcasts.

2:22Rich Eisen:The Overreaction Monday podcast is up and running. Chris Brockman and I recorded it before we did this live show and so wherever you get your podcast there or our YouTube channel youtube.com slash rich eyes and show great chat with Josh Lucas the actor in our two he's a diehard Seahawk fan we're about to get Nikolai Koster-Waldau out here he's he's arriving shortly and as you know in addition to his current work right now he's coming on in support of his show that's in its second season called The Last Thing He Told Me on Apple TV. We're all over the Apple TV programs. We had Shrinking last week and Palm Royale in our number two.

3:09Rich Eisen:We also know he was the Kingslayer, Jamie Lannister. So we got, I don't know how we wound up with this, but when we first moved in here 11 years ago, you know, the folks at DirecTV, the set designers are like, what are your favorite shows? What do you like? And we mentioned Game of Thrones. They got this Game of Thrones board game. And every single person who's been on the show that has been a guest here, we have them sign this. And it's been signed by John Bradley, who played Samuel Tarly, right? Ewan Rion, who played Ramsey Bolton, a real SOB. Wasn't a fan. I believe Sir Davos is up top right here.

3:51Rich Eisen:Yeah. Okay. Ian Cunningham, Sir Davos, Lena Headley has been on this program. Right. So Lena, sorry, Lena, it's, that was a whole, that was a, pardon me. That was a, sort of a blazing saddles, Lena Headey moment right here. So she should come back soon. And Kit Harrington. And Kit Harrington was right. So we're about to get another signature on this year. True one-to-one. So that's coming up right here. Rich Eisen show. Oh, that's right. Give that to me again. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen show. Why don't we use that more? We're going to hit the rejoins. They're great. Yeah. You know, we have a Hodor door jam too.

4:34Rich Eisen:Oh, we have a Hodor door jam. We actually have Sir Davos signed. I got him to sign the Starbucks cup too, if you remember that. Okay, that's right. We got that going on here. Controversy in the last season. Very good. So we'll go down that wormhole a little bit coming up shortly. Let me talk about this and then we'll take a phone call. so you know this is year 24 for me covering the nfl whoo dang with the nfl network i believe i forget the math it started we started in the 2003 season in uh november that season it's 24 and um you know uh what a group it was to start that thing and it was um quite a time and if you had told me in that first week of november i believe it's november 4th of 2003 when i strolled out and uttered the first words uh on a set in the history of nfl network the first words ever uttered was steve sable because we created that hallmark that you always say that the following is a presentation of nfl network first voice you heard was steve sables and i I believe there's like a two minute NFL films cut together a two minute montage to count down from two minutes to the start of NFL Network.

5:50Rich Eisen:And then I came out to lead off NFL Total Access and delivered the first on air words in the history of NFL Network. And that was highly, highly combed through by a handful of executives, every word, every syllable I said. and one of them by the way i can't believe i we didn't mention he just passed away last week the great jeff mason was a long time producer in our business espn he's um if you saw the the recent um film on the um assassinations in munich uh last year um it was about jeff mason producing the moments in Munich and of that awful moment when the Israeli team was assassinated in the 72 Olympic Games.

6:46Rich Eisen:At any rate, I think of Jeff because he passed away last week and he was just beloved by so many people. And Steve Bornstein, the man who created NFL Network with the 32 owners of the National Football League and the commissioner at the time, Paul Tagliabue. um steve put together an all-star cast to help us launch and jeff mason said to me um i'll never forget it because i had just left espn or you know they cardboard boxed me back in in 03 and uh you know my my head was swimming just wondering you know um what the future was holding and whether what just happened to me where my full identity is a sports center guy and an espn guy hired in in 96 as a 26 year old now as a 33 year old now with nfl network which was just launching um what was going on and he he saw i was struggling with it a little bit and he pulled me aside jeff mason and said nothing in this business is as rewarding as you starting something from scratch that could potentially last forever he said that to me and i moved by it again because He just passed away last week.

7:59Rich Eisen:And I think hopefully you guys all feel the same here, you know, on the show that we started something new together. I know my name's on it, but this is all ours. I came in late. But you're part of this pretty much from jump as some part in the DirecTV universe. But the reason why I bring all of this up is if you had told me that on that day of launching NFL Network and me wondering if what's happened in my life and what's going on because my ESPN tenure had just come to a conclusion that this one day on the final Friday of January in 2026 would be sold to ESPN. You would have told me, I would have said, you are out of your minds.

8:44Rich Eisen:Like, what are you, like, what planet are you from? Is this the English language? I wouldn't have been, I wouldn't have believed it. but the news came out on Friday that the league's sale of NFL network to ESPN. Don't want to get too deep in the weeds. Cause I, you know, I haven't seen the term sheet, you know, for the NFL gets a stake in ESPN and ESPN gets NFL network that came out Friday. And, you know, people are texting me or taught, reaching out to me like, what do I think about it? And, you know, First of all, it is the hard work and the testament of everybody at NFL Network since its inception and the support it's received from various parts of the league at various times and also throughout.

9:32It's a testament to the hard work of everybody in that office, in those offices.

9:38Rich Eisen:Once upon a time in Culver City here in California, in Southern California, now in Englewood across the street from SoFi Stadium. It's a testament to hard work.

9:53Rich Eisen:And the 2.0 of NFL Network has arrived. Through no choice of anybody's at NFL Network. But it has arrived. and clearly clearly we have an insight here on this program being part of the disney world and universe i guess i have to use that phrase uh since september that i'm excited i'm excited because everybody that i've you know been reintroduced to as well as introduced to through this show winding up on disney plus and espn espn radio we're on espn 2 right now we're on espn last hour i mean it's crazy what's going on um that taking nfl network's creation and 24 years of work and hard work and dedication to bringing you the fans the nfl in the way that we imagine it needs to be brought in our voice and our brand and our experiences in our time of being nfl employees for almost a quarter century some of us um putting that in the hands of the distribution and the resources of espn is an exciting exciting thing an exciting time and And, you know, we know from this experience, you see inside the NBA being on.

11:22Rich Eisen:Okay. Pat, by the way, for any fans who are like thinking, you know, where's Pat today? He's going to San Francisco. He's going to be there. And then just talk to anybody on that program and see, you know, what inside the NBA, it's the same thing that you've seen. It's just a different set of letters at the bottom of the screen. And so I'm excited because there's a bunch of dedicated, hardworking, lead pipe wielding professionals who love the NFL and know what it's like to present the NFL and have done so and have a track record about doing it that is ready to do the work for NFL Network 2.0. And I can't wait.

12:12Rich Eisen:That's just my genuine excitement. I honestly do not know what the future holds. I have no idea. People are like, oh, this is a game in Paris. You're going to call that game? I have no idea. I have no idea what the setup is going to look like. I have no idea about what's going to be expected of the current version of NFL Network in the universe. I have no clue other than the fact that I know the people who are taking ownership of it know what they're doing. Certainly from our experiences here. and I'm excited to see you know our studios across the street from SoFi Stadium be a vibrant production community sports production community and and seeing what the the crossover is going to look like I mean in terms of what what is NFL Network and ESPN look like together I mean I I used to have hair on both networks and I'm sitting here on ESPN2 ESPN Radio you so let's do it yeah it's exciting is what i'm saying you were there you were there once upon a time yeah i was five years at nfl network i know how much hard work went into to building that place right and bringing it where we are now and so just the fact that we're now on espn it's really just still so wild to think about but it's also so exciting well you know that men and women who walk around the halls of nfl network are diehards yeah diehards about the sport and about presenting the sport and are excellent at it and we have created our own voice and i believe from what i've been told and what i hear you know and what i've experienced here is that our voice is going to continue to echo and it'll just be presented maybe a little differently distributed differently The answer is I don't know, and we're all eager to find them out.

14:09Rich Eisen:But that's my two cents on all of that. 844-204-RICH is that number to dial. Let's go to Jimmy in San Antonio, one of our favorites. What's up, Jimmy? What's up? Man, Rich, you know, people confuse you for Ryan Gosling, but not Josh Lucas. That's horrible. Well, that'll end because, I mean, when Josh and I were talking, I mean, you could hardly tell the difference, right? I didn't know who was on the screen. It was amazing. Yeah, sounds good. Okay. Are we talking Westminster or what? Day one, buddy. It's the 150th day of one, just best in breeds. This is all on the side stage. It's not in the main part of Madison Square Garden.

14:59Rich Eisen:Oh, baby. But last year, Monty, the five-year-old giant schnauzer that won, was amazing. And I was going to bet on the toy or the terrier group this year, but then I saw Graham from the working group, the English Shepherd, you know, the shaggy DA type dog? Nice, yep, shaggy DA. Keep an eye on Graham. I bet he's going to be minus 320 to make it to the Dustin show. When you watch the car show on TV, do you make Herbie the love bug references too, Jimmy? you made some really old school the shaggy shaggy da man you went deep listen i love dog i love dog shows man i would kill to do a westminster dog show i would love i would kill to host one of those 100 is missing from my resume your boy john o 'hara does that one after thanksgiving i know i know jay peterman he's been doing it for you have an empire he's been doing it for years i I would honestly, that would be that is one of the few things I have.

15:59Rich Eisen:Well, I'm fortunate to say I've done more than most. You know, I would kill to do a dog show. Kill it. So does everyone on set love the best in show that movie? Well, sure. I mean, Catherine O 'Hara, may she rest in peace. I mean, some of her some of her scenes from that movie with Eugene Levy are as classic as they come, man. And then you mentioned Carol Burnett earlier with Josh. I got to play in front of her when I was in high school, and we made eye contact, and I gave a tug of the ear, and she gave me a tug back. Oh, that's incredible. Jimmy in San Antonio. As it brings a tear to my eye, man.

16:38Rich Eisen:That's awesome. Oh, buddy, have a great day, guys. You too. There's Jimmy in San Antonio. We went all the way. We went from dog shows to Carol Burnetti or tug. I can't find any updated betting odds, but when I find them, I'll pass them on to everyone. Thank you very much. Let's go to Jared in Pennsylvania. What's up, Jared? Mr. Rich, how you doing? How are you? Hey, first off, thank you for taking my call. You bet. Just want to let you know, I'm getting ready to finish up doing sports broadcasting at Full Sail University. So I'm super excited about that. Hey, DP. Okay. So just wanted to weigh in on the Super Bowl here.

17:19I feel like everybody is kind of shying away from the Patriots. And I feel like it's going to be a dogfight, but I really do. I think Drake May has shown us that he is willing to step up and take the pressure in winning this game.

17:45Rich Eisen:Listen, Jared, at some point, what's the current line? Four and a half. Okay. Seahawks are fair. What do you think? It's going to be a coin flip by the end of the day? Three and a half? No, no, no. It's going to probably get up to five and a half. Is that really? Why? Because everyone's worried about Drake May's shoulder until he shows up in front of a podium and basically says three straight days, I'm okay, I'll see you Sunday? Is that basically what it's going to take? Didn't really practice at all last week. He got off the plane. He was holding his duffel bag in his right hand. Oh, that's great.

18:13Rich Eisen:So that showed me he's probably fine. Do you think he did that on purpose or he's just a right-handed duffel bag holder? I don't think he thinks about much. Okay, I don't think he thinks about it. Yeah. All right. Jared, I'm with you, man. I haven't heard a single person say they're taking the Patriots, though. And the one thing, and thanks for the call. I sent you this guy. Did I send you this video over the weekend? That the last 10 Patriot Seahawks games, the last 10, going back to the 80s. Did they come down like the last play of the game? Yeah. Yeah. Last play of the game or they're a one-score game.

18:45Rich Eisen:They always come down to it. There's no blowouts. None of them. And they're all crazy. Obviously, the Malcolm Butler play is the only one that sticks out. But take a look at the last 10 results. None of them have been a blowout. None of them. This would be the first of its kind. Because the Patriots and Seahawks only play each other once every four years. Right. Unless there's a Super Bowl. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a blowout. But I think the defenses are too good. on both sides for this to be a, you know, two, three score game. Okay. Let's take a break. When we come back here on the Rich Eisen Show, Nikolai Koster-Waldau is coming out of our green room.

19:24Rich Eisen:The last thing he told me is on Apple TV, but of course we might go down a Westeros wormhole. Coming up. The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

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21:49Rich Eisen:I've got Nikolai Koster-Waldau here on The Rich Eisen Show, our radio audiences return with our streaming and linear cable audience here on the disney family and networks we just saw a great clip from the last thing he told me season two premieres on friday february 20th on on apple tv i kind of just joked you know with you about no no i know everything you do runs out of source material right game of thrones we're still waiting for those the final book when's it coming man i know exactly uh so you did you went through season one without expecting maybe more to come. It's just too damn popular, and so more happened.

22:26Yeah, I mean, I think she already had an idea, but, you know, and Apple were, you know, they were smart. They obviously put in some options in case it did well. Right. But we didn't know. And what's been so much fun reading, the book is just out now as well. It's just that you learn so much about what actually happened because in season one, you don't really know why. The whole point is she has to find out. Her husband disappears, and she has to kind of find out what happened. Where is he? Right. And in season two, you'll actually discover the reason behind.

23:05Rich Eisen:What's up with all of that. Again, the season two is based on the book sequel, The First Time I Saw Him, which was just released in January. So perfect timing, right? The book comes out with. Almost like they thought of it. I love that. So you have shown up with a piece of paper. Yes. No, I have a question for you. So when you were, there's a couple of questions because I thought I'm here for you. I was going to meet you. Okay. I want to do some research. Okay, sure. So when you were starting out at Staten Island, what was it called? This is amazing. Staten Island Advance, the newspaper. Did you imagine that one day you were going to have a show like this?

23:43Was this always the dream?

23:44Rich Eisen:It's always the dream. well first of all the dream was to actually be an athlete yeah that dream was dashed well you know age six age seven kind of oh okay you know it was early on it was early on where i realized i couldn't i couldn't really um shoot a basket successfully you know the curveball and baseball would i mean this is not this is not this this is pretty hard on yourself it's okay at the age of six or seven you already go no this is not working i realized that uh my my interest in talking about it might be my way through oh there is what i basically thought so it was always sports journalism that was your passion um game show hosting late night tv show hosting um what else what else have i talked about my passion um there's that um and and stand-up comedy i did stand-up comedy for a while oh yeah in college yeah cool yeah man that's the most frightening thing i've ever had to attempt.

24:41Rich Eisen:I just... Ever. I can imagine, because I was just, like, two nights ago, a friend is trying to break through, and I went to see him and some others. In stand-up? Yeah. Oh, man. And it's brutal. What was... No, but I mean, he was good. He was good. Oh, he's good. No, no, he was good. He was good. But also, and he, like, but not every joke landed, and it's just... Yeah. That's the way it goes. Oh, you go, come on, please. Sir, please, I beg you to laugh at my material, which is the one. But these guys understand that I say that to you guys every day. Please laugh at what I'm saying. Please laugh.

25:18Rich Eisen:You know, thank you. Seeing that happen. Even though it's not very funny. So that was the first question. The next question is. Oh, wow. Wow. He's got a whole. I want to ask you about you wanted to be an athlete. And 20 years ago, you started doing this thing where you were doing a race every year. Yeah. Now you're raising money for chair. But back then, did it start like that? No, it did not start. It was with Terrell Davis. Yes. I challenged you. Wow. You've done your research. To a 40-yard dash. Yes, sir. The question I have is, you must have known that this was going to go on every year for a long time.

25:48No, I did not. Well, the reason I asked you that is because the time you put down back then was 677 in 2005. Yes, that's right. Last year was 647. So you're still faster than you were 20 years ago. Yes, I am. I'm a fine wine. But this is where, you know, we're going a little deeper here. Yeah. Because I've looked at all the times those 20 years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The time you said in 25 was by far the worst time. Yeah. Did you already then was like, I'm going to give myself some time before I.

26:19Rich Eisen:No, no. Listen, you know what it's like to shoot a movie, shoot a TV show. There's a lot of waiting around, right? Like you sit around in your trailer. Sure. Maybe you do. I don't know how you do your preparation for your work. You're excellent at what you do. I assume you know what you're doing. For me, back in 2005, I was bored out of my skull waiting to do something live. It was two and a half hours away. And I was sitting next to Terrell Davis, who at the time was just coming off of a Hall of Fame career. I was at this event where you run a 40-yard dash. And I'm standing in the stands. And I thought to myself, you know, how fast can I run it?

26:57Rich Eisen:I asked Terrell Davis. He says to me, you can't. He laughed. I cursed at him and I went down and I ran it in my suit and tie because that's how I was dressed to broadcast later on. Had no idea that the crew was recording me. Oh, cool. No idea. And I ran it and they showed it live to clown me, basically. Had no intention of doing it ever again. The next year, a coach named Mike Holmgren, who had just gone to the Super Bowl with the Seahawks, interestingly enough, which is who are in the Super Bowl this coming Sunday. He said to me, are you going to run again? I said, no. He goes, you got to beat your time.