Media in Sports

How Sport and Media have became Strong Partners

By: Brandon Akins
 

 

 

On October 26th, 2012 in class we talked about if sports and the media could survive without each other. When you look at sports in connection to the media today, they pretty much need each other to maintain.  But first I to revert back to some figures Dr.Higgs provided us with earlier in the year.

1. 15% of all major network coverage is devoted to sports

2. USA Today devotes 1/4 of it print space to sports and dedicates 100 journalist to this section alone. 

3. Sports constitutes the 4th largest industry in the U.S. (11th in the world). Gross revenue is estimated at $350 billion.

Source: Social Media

I decided to include number three because I believe it holds volume. What I mean by it holds volume is the figure itself is staggering, and to me it puts the connection between sports and media in perspective. When you look at media it has to be appealing to the consumer because if it wasn't it would be unsuccessful and alot of people would be out of a job. Since sport is so popular through out the world it makes sense it constitutes much of the media we see on a regular and daily basis, because it is very appealing to the consumer. Though media is not just based on sports they do depend on it alot in the aspects of print media (newspaper) and television. Recently I read an article "Why ESPN Is Worth $40 Billion As The World's Most Valuable Media Property" which basically talks about how ESPN is the most profitable Media property in the world and is worth $40+ billion. In the article it states that cable networks were the driving force behind Disney’s earnings. These cable networks were responsible for 57% of the company’s total operating income. The channel doing most of the heavy lifting for Disney is ESPN, which along with a contribution from the Disney Channel, generates more profits than the rest of Walt Disney combined. ESPN makes about $6.1 billion in international affiliate fees which helps stabilize revenue each quarter. On page 411 of the text Coakley talks about how television companies in North America also depend on sports for programming content and advertising revenues. Sports are a major part of the programming schedules of national television networks and many cable/ satellite companies. He then goes on to say television companies even create and sponsor events that they promote and televise, such as ESPN's ownership and presentation of the X-Games. Also as of late social media has became a big part of sports. You can see on Sportscenter all the time about how this player said that on twitter, that coach said this on twitter and as the analyst is talking about what was said on twitter their twitter name appears under them. I can not talk to much about all sports but i know in the NBA and the NFL at the all star games the players have a machine on the sidelines where they can tweet during the game. I mean that right there shows how big social media have became in sports. I have seen cases where players have been fined for things they have said on twitter and players lose scholarships for things they have said on twitter. A couple years ago you seen teams and sports organizations were all promoting Facebook pages telling fans to go like there page. There are many ways that Sport and Media depend on each other but to answer the question ("can sport and the media survive without each other?") I think not.