The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz: "The Big Suey: The Wartime Consigliere"
Date: February 19, 2026
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami
Hosts: Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Mike Ryan, Zaslow (Zaz), David Sampson
Episode Overview
This Big Suey episode dives into the intersection of sports, business, controversies, and pop culture with Dan, Stugotz, and company, featuring a heavily insightful segment with David Sampson. The panel explores topics ranging from NFL ownership and the challenges facing sports executives, to the murky fallout of prominent scandals, tanking in pro sports, and a playful but revealing ranked list of Robert Duvall movies following the actor's passing.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Unusual Sports Bets & Paying Up
(01:06 - 02:26)
- Dan riffs on outlandish bets—referencing Houston reporter John McClain's vow to walk naked downtown if C.J. Stroud is traded, drawing a parallel to sports fans making wild promises they rarely honor.
- Greg Cote’s bet to walk to Seattle after a Mariners loss is cited as another in this pantheon.
- The team gently roasts David Sampson’s eclectic fashion sense right before pivoting to serious sports business talk.
2. Seattle Seahawks Sale & Sports Franchise Economics
(03:41 - 06:23)
- Sampson: Explains that the Seahawks (plus Trailblazers, Sounders) are being sold per Paul Allen’s will to benefit a charitable trust, with the timing left to his sister, Jody Allen.
- “It just so happens they won the Super Bowl...But that's not really how buyers look at these assets. It really is a matter of what the ego premium is.”
- Debunks the idea that winning a championship dramatically spikes a team's sale price, emphasizing revenue and industry trends as the key valuation drivers.
- Notable quote (05:34):
“You really try to sell... hope, because the new owner comes in. What are the chances of going back-to-back Super Bowls? ... Not one time did it come up in the selling of the Marlins: ‘Man, you guys didn’t win 81 games, your team is worth less.’” — David Sampson
- Notable quote (05:34):
3. Epstein Files Fallout: Sports Figures, Accountability, and Media Pressure
(06:23 - 13:57)
- Dan raises the issue of Giants owner Steve Tisch’s alleged downplaying of his Epstein ties and ponders the NFL's likely response.
- “The owner is supposed to be held to a higher responsibility... The only way any of this is going to happen is if the media flames climb on it...”
- Sampson: Predicts the NFL “cannot get away without” investigating and ultimately punishing Tisch:
- Quote (08:43):
“Steve Tisch is going to get punished. There is no question he will not be involved in NFL activities. He will not be allowed to be involved in NFL activities. It's a matter of: is it a year or is it forever?”
- Quote (08:43):
- Mike Ryan and Dan riff on standards in sports vs. politics/corporate America, using Casey Wasserman’s situation as an illustration:
- Wasserman steps away from his agency due to Maxwell/Epstein correspondence, yet keeps his LA Olympic Committee role—a contrast to higher-visibility figures in government.
- Sampson: Clarifies the business vs. non-profit handling and why Olympic organizers were more tolerant due to the march toward the 2028 Games.
4. LeBron James Farewell Tour: Streaming Rights and Salary Cap Loopholes
(17:52 - 21:41)
- Mike Ryan introduces the idea of LeBron potentially selling exclusive streaming/content rights to his final NBA season.
- Sampson: Endorses the creative approach, likening it to Shohei Ohtani’s backloaded MLB deal, and confirms that content deals are “not part of the rules” for salary cap implications—unless a team is directly involved.
- Quote (20:30):
“Players can absolutely go ahead and do documentaries, they can have cameras follow them, they create their own content. That is totally fine.”
- Quote (20:30):
5. Fixing Tanking: Stan Van Gundy’s No-Draft Proposal
(21:41 - 25:27)
- Van Gundy’s bold solution to eliminate tanking: abolish the draft, make every rookie a free agent.
- Sampson: Aligns, having long advocated for free agency every year, though he admits tanking remains a valid, sometimes optimal strategy.
- Quote (22:02):
“I’ve been calling for no draft for as long as I can remember. ... I want all one-year deals and the maximum, whatever a player can get.”
- Quote (22:02):
- The crew debates fan experience vs. the obsession with winning—the American culture of championship-or-bust versus other models (like European soccer/fandom).
6. The Waning Financial Importance of Fans-At-The-Game
(26:41 - 27:42)
- Dan questions how essential in-person attendance is to modern sports economics, especially with the shift to TV rights and streaming revenue.
- Sampson: Stadium revenue “used to matter way more than it does,” and that’s why modern stadium deals are built around real estate development, not ticket sales.
7. The Tony Clark MLBPA Scandal & Union Legacy
(30:26 - 33:21)
- Tony Clark resigns amid a reported scandal; Sampson explains that his legacy is more about “player comfort” than economic wins, and that the union is shifting to a hardline, dollar-focused stance.
- Quote (31:08): “He was a players leader... into comfort. Tony Clark was, he was the guy who was looking out for player comfort, worried about start times...willing to trade meaningful things in order to get these player comforts.”
8. Infamous Betrayals: The Hierarchy of Scandalous Sibling Affairs
(33:21 - 35:16)
- Dan playfully ranks the “worst” kinds of familial betrayals in the context of union scandals, eliciting laughter and mock-serious debate.
- Sampson: “Your brother’s wife definitely would be number one... If you ask a woman whose husband has left for another man versus another woman, every woman... would rather her husband leave for another man because it’s far less personal or damaged.” (34:22)
9. Top 5 Robert Duvall Movies (Per David Sampson)
(36:12 - 39:10)
- With Duvall’s passing, Sampson puts forth a quirky, idiosyncratic list:
- The Paper
- Apocalypse Now
- Mash
- The Apostle
- Deep Impact
- Godfather is omitted (“He is in the Godfather. But that is a Marlon Brando movie.”).
- Banter about TV adaptations, movie trivia, and exactly what qualifies as a “Robert Duvall movie.”
10. Women’s Olympic Hockey: Rivalries and Relationships
(40:13 - 41:31)
- Sampson and Dan (with a characteristic edge) discuss a real-life player breakup between a U.S. and Canadian women’s hockey star on the eve of the gold medal match, debating whether sports rivalries are more intense when there's a personal/familial relationship.
- Sampson: “I want to beat my sibling way more than I want to beat a stranger. I want to beat my spouse.”
Notable Quotes & Moments
- David Sampson on Franchise Sales (04:12):
- “It really is a matter of what the ego premium is.”
- Mike Ryan on Cultural Double Standards (10:34):
- “It’s wild that there are punitive measures for people on the fringes [of Epstein] and not at the very top.”
- Dan on Fan Experience vs. Winning (27:22):
- “How much does the paying customer actually matter? ... It used to matter way more than it does.”
- David Sampson on Tanking (22:52):
- “Winning is what matters. Winning is what helps your turnstile the following year.”
- Robert Duvall Movie Rankings (37:54):
- Dan incredulous at Godfather’s omission: “Wait a minute. So no Godfather, you’re going with The Paper? Not even close. Goes above Apocalypse Now.”
- David Sampson on Sibling Rivalry (41:07):
- “I want to beat my sibling way more than I want to beat a stranger. I want to beat my spouse. ... That's the whole heated rivalry show.”
Key Timestamps
- 03:41 – Seahawks sale and the economics of sports franchises (w/ David Sampson)
- 06:23 – The NFL/Steve Tisch/Epstein files controversy
- 11:18 – The Casey Wasserman predicament and Olympics leadership standards
- 17:52 – LeBron’s potential farewell tour streaming rights and the salary cap
- 21:41 – Stan Van Gundy’s proposal to eliminate the draft
- 26:41 – Are stadium fans financially relevant anymore?
- 30:26 – Tony Clark and the MLBPA leadership legacy
- 33:21 – The greatest betrayals in family/union scandal scenarios
- 36:12 – David Sampson’s Top 5 Robert Duvall movies
- 40:13 – Women’s hockey, relationships, and the psychology of rivalries
Tone & Style
The episode is a swirl of irreverent banter (roasting fashion, mispronunciations, tongue-in-cheek rankings), business acumen (sports ownership, revenue mechanics), and unflinching commentary on controversy and scandal. Sampson brings directness and candor, while Dan and the crew needle, probe, and occasionally spiral into digressive, but insightful, humor.
For New Listeners
This Big Suey is a quintessential Le Batard Show ride: sharp, unsparing sports talk that’s as comfortable skewering the powerful as it is dissecting the trivial, punctuated by laughter and off-the-rails asides. If you want a breakdown of sports, scandal, and the absurdities underpinning both—with zero fear of offending power—this episode delivers.