ESPN Ombudsman: Deal with it

[420grover]

Been going downhill since they quit showing swamp buggy races.

 

[SuporChin]

In the last five or so years I've really tuned out espn, outside of UK games. I've gotten to the point I'll mute whatever pregame they have going on, and usually change the channel come halftime or walk out the room to avoid listening to their "experts."

This is coming from someone who use to watch a ton of espn. It's not even the political stuff for me, it's just I don't care for the vast majority of people they want to put on my screen. Too many of these types think they're bigger than the actual games.

I completely agree. The political and social commentary doesn't bother me, but I just don't care for all the stuff ESPN puts on now days. It's like talking head central now instead of actually having sports. Like someone else said, MTV use to be about music, and ESPN used to be about sports.

 

[ganner918]

Maybe they need to go back to showing strongman competitions and lumberjack competitions and aussie league football. When the winter olympics come around I'll sit and watch curling for god's sake, put any kind of sports on and I'd watch.

 

[ganner918]

 

[KYFOSSIL]

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When Bruce Jenner got an ESPY to become Jane Jenner or whoever they lost me.

 

[TBCat]

Maybe they need to go back to showing strongman competitions and lumberjack competitions and aussie league football. When the winter olympics come around I'll sit and watch curling for god's sake, put any kind of sports on and I'd watch.

I think that's missing the point. The problem isn't the events they cover it's how poorly they cover what they cover along with the obnoxious over politicizing of sports. I don't tune in to UK vs North Carolina to hear about gay marriages. And I'm not impressed with their Riki Lake like shows in place of sports coverage. If they think that's where their audience is they ESPN will continue to shrink as a market force.

Simply put ESPN used to be the place to go for info, updates and rumors about sports. It no longer is. The only reason I tune to ESPN at all is because of the events they cover such as the Draft last night. Now they are even starting to botch that because they are reducing the talent that covers those events in order to keep the SC 6 people that nobody cares about.

 

[FICane]

I think that's missing the point. The problem isn't the events they cover it's how poorly they cover what they cover along with the obnoxious over politicizing of sports. I don't tune in to UK vs North Carolina to hear about gay marriages. And I'm not impressed with their Riki Lake like shows in place of sports coverage. If they think that's where their audience is they ESPN will continue to shrink as a market force.

Simply put ESPN used to be the place to go for info, updates and rumors about sports. It no longer is. The only reason I tune to ESPN at all is because of the events they cover such as the Draft last night. Now they are even starting to botch that because they are reducing the talent that covers those events in order to keep the SC 6 people that nobody cares about.

But the point is ESPN will not be able to survive long term "just" being a place to go for sports rundown info. Those days are over and not coming back. There's TOO MANY places/alternatives to go to for sports rumors and info for ESPN to only stay in that space.

 

[TBCat]

But the point is ESPN will not be able to survive long term "just" being a place to go for sports rundown info. Those days are over and not coming back. There's TOO MANY places/alternatives to go to for sports rumors and info for ESPN to only stay in that space.

I don't get that argument at all. Sports is your audience. Sports is not going away and not coming back. If anything it is one of the few entertainment ventures that is absolutely expanding. There might be other places for rumors, news, etc but you would still rather hear Andy Katz on the subject as opposed to "JoeNobody56" on some message board. And even if gay marriages, resist Trump or transgender politics was what I was looking for I am pretty sure ESPN is not the channel I would tune it to to see it.

I've also not seen any data that tells me that the content they have decided to cover far and away draws bigger audiences than the sporting events do. Show me the data that covering transgender bathrooms will out draw the Super Bowl or World Cup on any network. I'm still not getting the argument that these social issues are replacing sports in a way that will doom sports coverage forever. If anything the opposite is true. This is more like foregoing 80% of your audience in order to pander to 2%.

 

[ganner918]

I think that's missing the point. The problem isn't the events they cover it's how poorly they cover what they cover along with the obnoxious over politicizing of sports. I don't tune in to UK vs North Carolina to hear about gay marriages. And I'm not impressed with their Riki Lake like shows in place of sports coverage. If they think that's where their audience is they ESPN will continue to shrink as a market force.

Simply put ESPN used to be the place to go for info, updates and rumors about sports. It no longer is. The only reason I tune to ESPN at all is because of the events they cover such as the Draft last night. Now they are even starting to botch that because they are reducing the talent that covers those events in order to keep the SC 6 people that nobody cares about.

I've argued against that point in this thread, that it's the highlights and analysis model itself that is dying due to other sources for that, and the way they cover and "politicize" is a strategy to draw attention in other ways. A more effective strategy would be to move away from highlights and analysis and just show more competition.

 

[ganner918]

I don't get that argument at all. Sports is your audience. Sports is not going away and not coming back. If anything it is one of the few entertainment ventures that is absolutely expanding. There might be other places for rumors, news, etc but you would still rather hear Andy Katz on the subject as opposed to "JoeNobody56" on some message board

You can say that, but I and millions of others, especially younger people, aren't tuning in for highlights and analysis and it has nothing to do with it being political. I'm liberal as hell and so are many of my friends, ESPN isn't turning us off with politics yet we aren't watching it any more than the demo that is offended by it - maybe less. I get highlights on twitter and reddit. I read articles from all over the place, I don't just go to one site like ESPN to see what they have to say. And I haven't watched a single episode of Sports Center in years. But I'll tune in to watch competition, even if it's something out of obscure sports quarterly.

 

[catben]

Individual team coverage has killed the ESPN model as much as anything also. I can get great stories and coverage of MY favorite teams(UK,Reds,Bengals,etc) straight from specific team media.

I don't have to sit through watching Patriots, Cowboys, Yankees, Dodgers, Cleveland, Golden State coverage for the majority of time during EVERY ESPN show.

Twitter, Facebook and the internet in general has compartmentalized ALL news, especially sports for your favorite teams.