Dianna Russini returns to NFL media via BetUS betting show
Seven months after resigning from The Athletic amid scrutiny of her relationship with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, Dianna Russini launches a weekly NFL show backed by offshore sportsbook BetUS.
Dianna Russini is returning to sports media with a new weekly NFL programme backed by the offshore sportsbook BetUS, seven months after she resigned as the Athletic's lead NFL insider.
The Russini Report premieres on Wednesday, 11 November at noon ET, streaming on BetUS TV's website and its X account, according to the Guardian. BetUS has billed the programme as a "live NFL betting show" running for the rest of the season, combining game previews, matchup breakdowns and guest interviews, with an accompanying weekly analysis column.
Yahoo Sports reported that her first guests will include the former coach Bill Parcells and the radio personality Damon Amendolara, and that Russini will also contribute to the "Nobody's Safe" podcast hosted by Jon "Stugotz" Weiner. In a promotional video cited by Front Office Sports, she said she would bring greater freedom to the role, mixing personal opinion with her established reporting.
Russini told Yahoo Sports that football remained her preferred sport to cover: "Football has always been my favorite sport to cover."
Her return follows a turbulent stretch that began in April, when the New York Post published photographs showing Russini together with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel at a resort in Arizona; the pictures were taken around the same period as the NFL's owners meetings that March, and some appeared to show the pair embracing and holding hands.
Both Russini and Vrabel are married to other people. They said the interaction was platonic, with Russini stating the photos did not reflect that they had been part of a larger group gathering, and Vrabel describing any suggestion of impropriety as "laughable."
The Athletic, owned by the New York Times, opened a review of Russini's work after further photos and reporting raised questions about the nature of the relationship. She resigned on 14 April.
When the outlet's findings were announced in September, investigators found nothing to suggest her reporting had been skewed, though they concluded that her relationship with Vrabel breached the newsroom's standards outright. Vrabel was not investigated by the NFL over his involvement.
Russini, 43, had joined the Athletic in 2023 following an eight-year spell at ESPN. Speaking to People magazine, she described the past six months in stark terms. "The best way to describe what the last six months were like for me is heartbreaking," she said. "At the beginning of this, it was a nightmare."
She also pointed to backing from across the league during her time away from the industry. "The absolute best part of this situation has been the loyalty the NFL has shown me," Russini said, crediting players, coaches and others who she said checked in with her almost daily to keep her connected to football and to see how she was coping.
The Russini Report now gives her a platform to resume covering the league she has reported on for more than a decade, this time under a sportsbook banner rather than a traditional newsroom, with the first episode set to air this Wednesday.