Category: sports

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Bad News at ESPN

ESPN, the sports cable channel and ratings powerhouse, is laying off hundreds of employees and announcing that it will not fill hundreds of additional open positions. The cuts total approximately 10% of their overall employees.

The Covid pandemic has not been kind to TV sports and ESPN is suffering as a result. When the pandemic hit, professional and college sports were sidelined, and when the athletes returned to the fields, the viewers, for some reason, did not return to their TVs. As I noted in an earlier post, TV ratings have tanked for nearly every sport and analysts are not sure why.

The economic model for most major media channels is based on advertising revenue. Ad dollars follow audiences made up of prospective consumers of the products that advertisers need to reach. If ESPN can recapture sizable audiences for their programming, advertising revenue will follow and that will allow them to rehire workers. But until then, they have to find ways to cut their losses. And remember, ESPN has huge costs that are baked-in. According to Morning Brew (and the New York Times), “ESPN is paying more than $7 billion for the rights to air live sports in 2020, the NYT writes. But due to the Covid-19 outbreak, it basically had no games to broadcast for four months of the year.”

It is important to note that Disney, the parent company that owns 70% of ESPN, is in no position to bail them out. With motion picture production on a slow track and theme park and movie theater attendance way down, Disney has its own challenges.

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Pro Sports TV Viewership Down

There has been plenty of speculation about why viewership has been down for professional sports this summer and fall. With just a few exceptions, see the chart below, viewers are NOT spending their quarantine time tuning into professional sports.

There are plenty of theories about the collapse of viewership starting with the fact that all of the sports were shifted from their regular seasons. In some cases playoff games from one sport were scheduled across from games from another sport. In fact the NBA championship game between the Lakers and the Heat had to compete with an NFL game between the Seahawks and the Vikings.

Another theory is that the politicization of professional sports has taken a toll on viewers who their sports to be a distraction from the hash reality of life. Social unrest and BLM protests following cases of police brutality became a cause for NBA players and many of their fans. But while many fans may agree with the political stand, they may also want to separate their politics from their sports viewing. The argument against this theory is that sports that have not made strong political statements have also seen lower numbers.

Still another theory is connected to the lack of fans in the stands. According to this theory, TV viewers subconsciously feel this as a statement about reduced importance of the games. Fewer/No fans = low energy = less interest.

What do you think? And if you’re not watching…why not?

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With $B at Stake, NBA Not Sure Freedom is Worth It

How much is freedom and free speech worth to you? You may never know until it costs you something. That’s what the National Basketball Association and star players are discovering in the wake of a tweet-storm that began with a statement by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey in support of the Hong Kong protestors. Because of the nearly 300 million NBA fans, political statements about China come with a price-tag.

First a little background. Hong Kong was a British colony for 99 years and was returned to Mainland China in 1997. China, known for its record of authoritarian rule and suppression of human rights, has been criticized by much of the Western World for imprisonment of dissidents and persecution of religious and cultural minorities. The current protests in Hong Kong have been widely embraced by those around the world who want China to end its battle against human rights.

In response to the tweet from Morey, the NBA issued its own statement calling it “regrettable.” A few days later LeBron James said that Morey spoke too soon, that he “wasn’t educated on the situation.” What situation exactly James was referring to is unclear.

LaBron has a history of speaking out about social issues here in the USA. If he believes that human rights deserve world-wide respect, he owes it to his fans, and to the people of China, to stand for the protestors in Hong Kong. Yes, standing up for human rights and free speech does come at a cost…in this case the cost is more than lucrative contracts and endorsement deals.

According to an editorial in Slate,

The league has certainly not covered itself in glory in its handling of the blowback over the Morey tweet and, in the process, reminded fans across the U.S. that the NBA is, at its core, still a profit-seeking international organization serving multiple constituencies of which the most important one is money.

Elliot Hannon

LeBron was right about one thing…before you wade into politics on social media you need to consider the cost.

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Going for Ratings Gold

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games, aka XXIII Olympic Winter Games, are underway in Pyeongchang, South Korea and millions of viewers are tuning in to see nearly 3,000 athletes compete in 102 events in 15 sports. In addition to the traditional winter sports of figure skating and alpine skiing, you can watch athletes compete in big air snowboarding and mixed doubles curling.

Shaun White’s back-to-back 1440s for the gold medal and a high-flying gold medal performance by Chloe Kim in the half pipe have given Americans something to cheer about. And if you like spills and chills, pay attention to “notorious curve 9” on the luge course.

Besides the obvious appeal of world-class athletes competing on a world stage, the Olympic Games offer compelling stories with drama at every turn. Who can forget the Jamaican bobsleigh team or the US Hockey team’s miracle on ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics.

There’s also the political angle. Athletes from Russia are banned from competing in Pyeongchang under the Russian flag because of doping charges. However, Russian athletes are being allowed to complete under the banner of “Olympic Athletes from Russia.”  Also, the opening ceremony unity displayed by the teams from North and South Korea has prompted plenty of discussion about future prospects for peace.

But this is a media blog, so we need to mention that the US broadcast rights were purchased by NBCUniversal for $963M (part of a larger $4.38B rights package that extends through 2020 summer games in Tokyo). NBC will provide 2,400 hours of coverage with 176 hours of broadcast coverage, the most in winter Olympics history. The remaining coverage will stream on NBCOlympics.com and on their NBC Sports app.  More stats here. Some of the coverage will be in 4K UHD (Ultra High Definition) and HDR (High Dynamic Range) giving viewers options for high quality at a premium price. How to watch, and more info here.

And of course the costs will be passed along to advertisers who are paying top dollar to reach the desirable demographics provided by Olympic programming. However, with viewership in decline among younger viewers, the future of multi-billion dollar Olympic deals may be in jeopardy.

 

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Televised Sports and Politics


I’m sure you’ve seen and heard the noise in recent weeks around the topic of politics and sports. From ESPN sportscaster Jemele Hill’s critique of President Trump to the #TakeAKnee protest this past Sunday, sports and politics appear to be on a collision course. LeBron James and Steph Curry have traded tweets with President Trump regarding the Warrior’s invite to the Whitehouse.

I don’t know about you, but my social media feed is overflowing with opinions as NFL players responded today to President Trump’s comments a few days ago calling out players who have protested racism during the playing of the National Anthem.

Thankfully this is a media blog and not a political blog…so I’ll do my best to limit my comments to the issues related to the mass media industries and free speech and expression protected by the First Amendment.

Televised sports has largely been a place where fans have gone to escape politically charged issues. With a highly integrated roster, pro sports teams have actually been able to avoid much of the racially divisive issues that have troubled other sectors of society. There have been notable exceptions of course: the Black Power protest at the 1968 Olympic games, Muhammad Ali’s protest of the Vietnam War, and others.

Even though we have been experiencing a highly polarized political climate of late, TV programmers (with the exception of Sunday morning political talk shows, cable news networks, and late night comics) typically avoid political debates. When advertising revenue is your bottom line, political issues are dangerous because they risk alienating large segments of viewers who turn on their TVs to be entertained, not excoriated.

To be clear, professional athletes, like all Americans, have a First Amendment right to express their political concerns. But the First Amendment does not apply to non-governmental entities. So while the government can do nothing to penalize these protests and protestors, team owners can legally enact policies that restrict players’ rights to express themselves while representing the team. That’s how MLB owners can restrict visible tattoos that contain brands, the NBA can fine Kobe Bryant for an anti-gay slur, and any team can discipline a player for his/her private use of social media. In an interesting twist, college athletes playing for a state-school are legally much more protected for their personal use of social media since the university is an agent of the state which is an extension of government. (see more here)

P.S. No matter what you’re political opinions, you might have strong feelings about the Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty against Von Miller in Sunday’s game against the Bills! 🙂

 

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Supersize That!

wingsSuper Bowl LI is this afternoon and the hype is living up to expectations. I read earlier today that “experts” are predicting that Americans will eat 1.3 BILLION chicken wings today. (In case you were wondering, “1.3 billion chicken wings is enough for every man, woman and child in the United States to have four wings each”). It just so happens that the “experts” quoted are the National Chicken Council. Here’s their press release…the one that generated the news stories. As you can probably tell, this is all about promoting chicken wings. It’s not news, it’s advertising. And journalists and news outlets that carry the story are part of the problem facing real journalism.

And speaking of journalists, there will be approximately 5,000 of them covering the big game. Is that really necessary? I know what you’re thinking…I’m just jealous and wish my organization (fat chance) had sent me to Houston to report on the game and the many associated parties.

Of course I’ll be watching the advertisements. Every year there are a few good ads…ones that might even be worth the $$$ that keeps increasing every year. This year a 30-second spot will set the advertiser back a cool $5.5 million. Over the past half-century, total ad spending in the big game is approaching $5 billion. And while I don’t have hard data to support my claim, I think it’s fair to say that not all of those dollars were well spent. But there have been some great ads that have been worth every penny. Coke “Mean Joe Green”, Apple “1984” and Budweiser “Frogs” come to mind. (See them here.)

Okay, enough ranting. But before I close, I thought I’d revisit that whole chicken wing thing. PETA has, characteristically, found a way to make you feel guilty for indulging. Don’t click this link if you plan to enjoy some hot wings at your party…I warned you!

 

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The Cubs and Indians Gave Us a Much-Needed Break

mlb-2000-ws-trophy-590The seven-game race for the MLB championship was a much-needed break from this year’s ugly race for President. Thankfully the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians gave us a welcome diversion from the bare-knuckle politics that have dominated the headlines in recent weeks. Winning a major-league championship is a big deal, and winning after a 108-year drought is even bigger.

So let’s take just a minute to reflect on the state of nation, and media, the last time the Cubs won the World Series (in 1908).

  1. Yellow journalism was still the norm…and the Spanish-American war had just ended 10 years earlier.
  2. The wild west was slowly being tamed. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed in Bolivia just a few weeks after the Cubs won the World Series. And the State of Colorado had only been a state for 32 years.
  3. It was an election year, and William Howard Taft was running against William Jennings Bryan. Taft, the Republican, won. Women were allowed to vote in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho, but not elsewhere.
  4. Human flight was taking off (pardon the pun). Wilbur Wright demonstrated his plane in Europe for the first time in 1908.
  5. Model T’s were available from the Ford Motor Company in any color you wanted, as long as you wanted black.
  6. Émile Cohl makes the first fully animated film, Fantasmagorie.
  7. Journalist Edward R. Murrow was born.

 

(Credit: http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-11-03/what-world-was-when-cubs-last-won-world-series)

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