Sports Media Exam 1
NBC issues
Pro-American bias Tape delay shows Only show specific sports/people
Tiger Woods Background
o "Eldrick Woods" - Tiger is a nickname from his father o Was a golfing prodigy o 1978 - appeared on The Mike Douglas Show in 1978 o Shows off putting skills in a putting contest against Bob Hope
Swimsuit criticism
o "Not sports content" o "Dehumanizing women to a male audience" o "Sexist" o They're not always wearing swimsuits o 1978 Cheryl Tiegs photo (nips basically showing): almost 3,000 letters to the editor and 340 cancelations o Former SI editor Terry McDonnell asked employees what they thought about having a swimsuit issue, and they had very split opinions
George Plimpton
o "Participatory journalism" o Pitched in an exhibition game o Sparred for three rounds against Archie Moore and Sugar Ray Robinson o Preseason --- o April 1, 1985: Sports Illustrated o Plimpton wrote about Siddhartha Finch, a pitcher in the Mets spring training camp who threw a baseball at 168 mph o Had never played before, lived in Tibet o SI received almost 2,000 letters about this guy o Teams complained to MLB commish o Finch retired a week after the article was published o April 15, SI admits the article was an April Fool's joke
Sports writers as celebs: Rick Reilly
o "The closest thing sports writing ever had to a rock star" -USA Today o National sportswriter of the year, 11 times o Written 11 books o Wrote for newspapers o Sports Illustrated 1985-2007 o ESPN 2008-2014 o The Athletic
Sports writers as celebs: Rick Reilly (#awards, #books, which 3 places did he work for?)
o "The closest thing sports writing ever had to a rock star" -USA Today o National sportswriter of the year, 11 times o Written 11 books o Wrote for newspapers o Sports Illustrated 1985-2007 o ESPN 2008-2014 o The Athletic
Cardale Jones
o "Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL..." o Suspended for one game; it's now cited in textbooks on social media o He owned it though... had "we ain't come here to play school" on his grad cap
Katherine Webb: The Internet Explodes
o "You see that lovely lady there? She does go to Auburn, I will admit that, but she's also Miss Alabama, and that's A.J. McCarron's girlfriend, okay? ...Wow, I'm telling you, you quarterbacks, you get all the good looking women. What a beautiful woman." He said more after that, too. Most articles were negative about the situation o People weren't happy - "creepy, awkward, uncomfortable, inappropriate, embarrassing, and went too far" • She gained 90,000 twitter followers by the end of the game - including Lebron - and had more than her star quarterback boyfriend - McCarron was asked about it in the post-game presser
Personal life
o 2004: Tiger marries Elin Nordegren o Swedish and a former model o Have two kids together
Swimsuit issue $
o 2005: $35 million in ad sales ♣ Over 10% of the entire yearly income ♣ Earned over $1 billion in revenue o 2014 edition was 252 pages
Becoming the Problem Child (column, podcast x2, criticism x2)
o 2008: ♣ Simmons stops writing his column, feeling he's being edited too much ♣ Set to interview Obama for a podcast. ESPN canceled it. He was furious ♣ Simmons quits podcast after portions are edited out without telling him o 2009 ♣ Simmons suspended two weeks for being critical of a Boston sports radio station o 2013 ♣ Simmons suspended for being critical of ESPN's First Take
Marvin Austin
o 2010: U of NC football player tweeted pics and messages from a trip to Miami o Austin was suspended and eventually dismissed from the team o NC Football team faced a one year bowl ban and lost 15 scholarships, head coach fired and athletics director resigned o He tweeted we was getting "bottles" (alcohol) on a vacation in Miami. Turns out, those bottles were coming from athletic staff
SI Cover Jinx
o 37% of people who have been on the cover of SI have had something bad happen to them in the following weeks - injuries, losses, streaks snapped, underperforming o Example: 3 out of 4 of the 2010 Yankees on the cover got injured in the following weeks; Jeter had one of his worst years ever o 1988: Michael Spinks is set to fight Mike Tyson. Spinks was thought to win by everyone including SI, and they put him on the cover. Spinks was KO'd by Tyson in 90 seconds and he never fought again
Early sports coverage
o 850 BC: wrestling, throwing, boxing, and racing were all events that were written about in ancient Greece o 1823 AD: NY Evening Post is the first newspaper to cover boxing o 1850's: sports coverage continues to increase o 1870's: newspapers start setting up separate sports departments o 1883: first Sports Editor hired o 1930s: 80% of all male newspaper readers read some portion of the sports page
SI Covers
o A competition, not just for the athletes but for the photographers as well o Most covers: Michael Jordan (50 covers) ♣ After SI released a cover saying he was embarrassing to MLB baseball, he hasn't talked to SI or posed for a photo since o 2nd most: Muhammad Ali o 3rd most: LeBron James (first cover was as a high school junior) o 4th most: Tiger Woods
Chilly with the press
o A golf writer: "Tiger learned to talk forever and say nothing..." basically he didn't want to give the press the chance to say anything bad about him again
Jenn Sterger
o After appearing in that clip on ABC Sports, she stared in several modeling and spokesperson jobs o One of her jobs was working for the NY Jets ♣ "Game day hostess" o Jenn and AJ Daulerio were friends
CNN/SI
o Aimed to combine television, in-depth sports reporting, and the internet together o Big problem: the channel reached about only 20 million homes ♣ ESPN was in 86.5 million at the time ♣ Adversities didn't want to go there ♣ Launched December 1996 ♣ Closed May 2002
Making more website statements
o Another website statement: "I have let my family and I regret those transgressions with all my heart. There is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy." o "Tiger Woods taking hiatus from golf" to work on his marriage o "Deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children"
Back to the course
o April 2010 - Tiger plays the Masters o His first tournament since the scandal broke o Finishes tied for fourth - still really good o Career picks up again - March 2013: #1 ranked golfer in the world
2017
o Arrested on Memorial Day for a DUI ♣ Had five drugs in his system ♣ Unconscious parked on the side of a road ♣ Will plead guilty later this week ♣ Year probation, $250 fine, community service
Streaming
o Avoiding the gatekeeper? o You want to watch everything? Stream. o 2.71 billion minutes of the Rio Games were streamed on NBC digital o If people can watch everything they want, when they want, then NBC may not be a gatekeeper as often
Worldwide Appeal of Simmons
o Between books, podcast, and cartoons... his column still remains the most popular o 2011: Simmons' ESPN column attracted 740,000 unique visitors one month o That probably made him the most widely read sportswriter in the USA o 2007 Simmons comes up with the idea for 30 for 30 o 30 documentaries for the 30th anniversary of ESPN o Debuts in 2009 with "King's Ransom" about the trade of Wayne Gretzky to the LA Kings o Simmons served as executive producer
What is a blog?
o Came from the word "weblog" or "web log" o A blog is a type of website which has posts (or entries) appearing in reverse chronological order (newest on top) o Blogs typically have an area for people to comment or respond to the blog post
2018
o Career is coming back ♣ Tied for 2nd place at a tournament in March (first top 5 finish since 2013) ♣ Finished second at PGA tournament ♣ Named to the US Ryder Cup team
Thinking about the Olympics
o Don't just think about events, athletes or countries o Think about how media impacts what you watch o "We don't watch the Olympics, we watch NBC's Olympics"
Sponsors
o Dropped him: Accenture and AT&T o Reconsidering: Gillette and Tag Heuer o Staying: Nike and Electronic Arts
Expanding Simmons' Empire
o ESPN The Magazine (2002) o Cartoons (2004) on ESPN.com o 2007 - Podcast "Eye of the Sports Guy" ♣ Renamed "The BS Report" ♣ Talked to athletes, media, celebrities, and his friends ♣ The most downloaded podcast at ESPN • 2 mil a month • 25.4 mil in 2009 ♣ Simmons was one of the first to recognize the emergence of podcasts o Wrote a book in 2005: "Now I Can Die in Peace" ♣ A collection of his columns with minor changes and lengthy footnotes ♣ Spent 5 weeks on NYT best-seller list o 2009: writes The Book of Basketball, The NBA According to the Sports Guy ♣ Debuted at #1 on NYT best-seller list
Hiring bloggers
o ESPN confirms it will hire bloggers to cover every NFL team o Back to the Future: NHL's Blogger Guidelines o Most visited sports websites in May 2018: BleacherReport was #3
What's Bill Simmons doing now?
o Editor in Chief of "The Ringer" ♣ Very similar to Grantland ♣ Signed a $9 mil deal with HBO - "Any Given Wednesday" ♣ It was canceled after 17 episodes - kind of a disaster o The Ringer ♣ Has a podcast network ♣ Youtube channel ♣ Website itself o HBO, again ♣ Simmons is still making documentaries with them ♣ Exec. Producer of Andre the Giant and Courtside at the NBA Finals documentaries ♣ AtG was most watched sports documentary in HBO's history ♣ They signed him to a multi-year extension for documentaries in June 2018
Sports magazines
o Editor: "we're not the monolith that we once were" o Inside Sports (sold to Sport) -> Sport -> The Sporting News o 2007: $4.9 billion dollars in sales, 2017: $2 billion o Revenue at Time, Inc. declined every year since 2011 ♣ Eventually sold to Sports Illustrated to save money
Jamal Shuman
o Elon running back. In 2011, Elon lost 48-28. Suman caught only one pass in the game. o After the game: complained about not getting the ball thrown/given to him... with a lot of foul language o Though no athletic dept personnel followed him, his account was public, and a ton of people started tweeting at him
Why did nobody else look into the girlfriend?
o Essentially, everyone overlooked it. Nobody even considered that she wouldn't be a real person o There was so much focus on Notre Dame and Te'o nobody thought to do a deep dive into the girlfriend
Speaking his Mind
o Fall 2014: Simmons suspended three weeks by ESPN after calling NFL Commish Roger Goodell a "liar" o Speaking about the Ray Rice elevator incident on his BS Report podcast o May 7, 2015: The Dan Patrick Show - Talking about if Tom Brady would be suspended for Deflategate (slam dunked on Goodell again) o The next day... he's fired
The Press Conference
o February 19, 2010 o So far, he's only released written statements so far. No questions; the "press" is mainly friends and family and agents, not any press. o 14 minutes of Tiger Woods talking - looks like a hostage video. Didn't go great.
Vanity Fair
o February 2010: VF article about Tiger's fall from grace o "Never before seen photos" o Is this a good idea by Tiger? ♣ While his life is falling apart, how does he have time to pose for these pictures? Why would he do this? ♣ The catch: these were actually taken in 2006. Tiger kind of looked silly and it wasn't even his fault
Getting better
o First golfer to win 3 consecutive US Amateur championship o Wins the NCAA individual golf championship o 20 years old
Media interest in Tiger
o GQ Magazine 1997 ♣ "All Access Pass" to Tiger Woods ♣ Not the Tiger people were expecting ♣ Off-color and offensive jokes from Tiger ♣ Racist/foul language - told "sexually distasteful jokes about African Americans" and then told writer not to print them ♣ Not great for the Tiger Woods Image ♣ Tiger's statement: this is the reporter's fault, basically ♣ End of Tiger's relationship with the media ♣ The most honest and open interview that Tiger has ever given
2008 Olympics
o Going for a record 8 gold medals o 4x100 freestyle relay - doesn't look good for USA ♣ France leads by half a body; USA in second ♣ Final leg: USA's Lezak vs France's Brenard USA wins at the last second
2014 Interview/Players' Tribune
o Golf Digest's Dan Jenkins does a parody interview with Tiger Woods - he talks to a fake Tiger Woods (it's basically a skit) • Players Tribune o Tiger posts an angry message on The Players' Tribune about the fake interview
Grantland Rice
o Grantland Rice was a early innovator for sports journalism o Best known for his work covering college football teams starting in 1925 o Rice is also the writer known for naming the Notre Dame backfield of 1924 after the "Four Horseman of the Apocalypse"
1972 Summer Olympics in Munich
o Group of Palestinian terrorists stormed Olympic Village apt of Israeli athletes, killing two and taking 9 others hostage (they were later killed) o ABC's Jim McKay was on the air for 14 hours straight
Manti Te'o's Girlfriend
o He's a linebacker for Notre Dame o His girlfriend Lennay Kekua died of leukemia the same day as his grandmother o He played a game a few days later and he plays out of his mind good o ESPN does a feature on him! He's on the cover of SI! o But, Deadspin breaks the story that his girlfriend was made up - but Te'o thought she was real o Someone emails Deadspin and tips them off to look into Te'o's girlfriend: "Supposedly people around Hawaii knew [she wasn't real]" o ESPN didn't want their reporters to even ACKNOWLEDGE Deadspin - they didn't see them as credible o A 22-year-old college student broke the story (Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey)
Origin of the sports blog
o High school sports blogs o Fan blogs ♣ Early sports blogs o Not everyone liked the blogs o From 2008, Will Leitch and Buzz Bissinger video: ♣ Costas Now on HBO: roundtable about sport blogs ♣ Leitch: Editor/Founder of Deadspin ♣ Bissinger: Writer of Friday Night Lights o So far, Bob Costas and Bissinger have criticized the tone of blogs (saying they are cruel) and Leitch has defended them. It got nasty. Now, it's the first segment that comes up when you search for Costas Now
August 1996: He goes profesional
o Immediately signs endorsements with Titleist and Nike o One of the most lucrative endorsement contracts in golf history o "I am Tiger Woods" Nike campaign - he hadn't even played a professional game yet
Lesley Visser
o In 1974, Visser won a grant which entitled her to work as a sportswriter at The Boston Globe o In 1976, she was assigned to cover the New England Patriots, becoming the first ever female NFL beat writer o Transitioned into a career in television (CBS Sports, ESPN)
Is the Jinx ending?
o In 2014, SI put the Astros on the cover with the caption "Baseball's Great Experiment" - "Your 2017 World Series Champs" o The Astros did, in fact, win the world series in 2017
Future of SI?
o In late 2017, Time, Inc. was bought by Meredith Corporation for nearly $3 billion. Meredith announced it'd sell SI because it didn't fit their brand. o Also laid off a lot of SI staff (and is still doing so) o SI is trying to figure out how to stay relevant while it goes through this transition o SI is now only releasing 27 issues in 2018 - every other week ♣ Less issues, but more content/thicker ♣ Saves money, but at what cost? ♣ March Madness preview issue was released days before the NCAA tournament field was announced, which meant that SI previewed a tournament without knowing either the full field or the opening-round matchups
Frank Deford
o In the late 80s and early 90s, his feature stories in SI became the one of the magazine's biggest draws o January 1990, Deford heads up The National, a daily sports newspaper o June 1991: The National folds, losing $150 million
Paparazzi
o January 20, 2010: NE says it has the first photo of Woods since the accident o Radar Online posts 8 photos from the Enquirer that show Woods in white shorts and a dark hooded sweatshirt outside "Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services" - sex addiction
Brett Farve
o Jets QB in 2010 o Sterger tells Daulerio in private that Farve sent her pics of his penis o She didn't want this in public o Daulerio decides to keep trying to publish it o He basically tells her "I'm not going to sit on this story forever" and publishes the story WITH HER PHOTO against her wishes o He doesn't stop there - he pays $12,000 for the penis pictures - Sturger is convinced someone she knows stole her phone and sent the photos to Deulario o Included a video as well
Simmons Firing
o John Skipper (ESPN PREZ) ♣ His comments had nothing to do with his firing; timing of his firing was a coincidence; the NFL didn't say we should fire him; we already wanted to let him go ♣ James Andrew Miller (ESPN Book Writer) says otherwise!
Deadspin
o Launched in 2005 o Part of the Gawker Media Network o Blog was silly o Early posts include: ♣ Drunk Kyle Orton ♣ Chris Berman picking up women in a bar using "You're with me, leather" ♣ Going to a Dennis Rodman book signing o Changed with a new editor ♣ AJ Daulerio ♣ Took over in 2008 ♣ Leitch leaves for NY Magazine ♣ Deadspin takes a turn • Fun, silly stories previously • Now more investigative • Posts more often
SI TV
o Launched in late 2017, works on their website o Already earned two sports Emmy nominations this year
Dating life
o March 2013: Tiger announces he is dating Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn o Instead of telling it, the two released dating announcement with photos on their Facebook pages ♣ Tiger, once again, controlling the message ♣ US Weekly: "In Love With a Sex Addict
Tiger is interviewed
o March 21, 2010: Two separate interviews with ESPN and Golf Channel o Each about 5 minutes o They're the exact same o This is the FIRST time he's been interviewed (By Tom Ronaldi) ♣ He was incredibly well-prepared
It's not just NBC's fault...
o Mercury news: "Michael Phelps shares historic night with African American" o Bryant College Station: Michael Phelps' victory in huge letters; Ledecky's WORLD RECORD in much smaller print o News outlets are screwing up too
ESPN 2 in 2000
o More opinion-based, less news-driven o Simmons became a featured writer o "Is [Roger] Clemens the Anti-Christ" was one of the most read and emailed articles from ALL of ESPN o In the first 16 months...
Who's reporting on this?
o National Enquirer o TMZ o US Weekly o New York Post - on the cover 20 days in a row ♣ The 9/11 attacks were on the cover for 19 days in a row
Then... it begins
o National Enquirer in 2009 publishes a story about Tiger Woods and Rachel Uchitel o The story does not make mainstream media ♣ Because it's the National Enquirer... a tabloid o Two days later on Thanksgiving night: the car accident ♣ Crashes Escalade into fire hydrant and tree outside his house in Florida at 2:30 am. Statement on his website said he was treated and released
But all of this could have happened earlier
o National Enquirer reported the story in 2009 o But, they knew about it in 2007. Why didn't they report it? o Tiger's people found out about the article. They made a deal. Tiger would do something for them. What was it? o National Enq. is owned by "American Media" o What else does American Media own? Men's Fitness.
The Media and Simmons
o New media outlets have opened doors that weren't there before o 30 years ago, "bill simmons" didn't even exist o ESPN the brand is more powerful than any individual at the network o Is ESPN necessary, though? ♣ Simmons has created a profitable media empire away from ESPN
SI's Core Problem
o People know the story by the time the magazine arrives in the mailbox o So, they have to find ways to be different: ♣ Investigative pieces ♣ Long profiles ♣ Excellent photography o Brand extension ♣ Going beyond what you are traditionally known for and finding new ways... ♣ Website
Barstool Van Talk
o Podcast: "pardon my take" o Stars Big Cat and PFT Commentator o Is often the top in Sports and Recreation category on iTunes o ESPN hired the pair to host "Barstool van talk" in October 2017 o The show would air weekly on ESPN 2 o Sam Ponder slammed the podcast because they'd said come crude things about her and other women o First episode was the last episode
Barstool
o Popular among college-aged men o Launched on the internet in 2007 o "Sports and Pop Culture" blog o Founded by Dave Portnoy o 2016: Chernin Group purchased 551% of the company. Then valued 10-15 million, now worth over $100 million
The Players' Tribune
o Provides content written by pro athletes - "first-person stories" o Founded by Derek Jeter o Becoming known for breaking news: ♣ Retirements: Kobe, David Ortiz, Steve Nash ♣ Kevin Durant signing with the Warriors o Do athletes REALLY like those articles? ♣ Athletes are "editors at large" or "senior editors" ♣ "... not written directly by its bylined athlete, but instead crafted from a recorded interview with a Tribune staff reporter"
Statement commonality
o Released them all on Tiger Woods website o Does this so no one can twist his words o His relationship with the media hasn't improved
Dick Young
o Revolutionized sports coverage when, in the early 1940s, he began to go into the clubhouse after games to find out what the players had seen and thought during the game o Very combative with the athletes o Wasn't the poetic sports writer that people were used to
You've gotta be careful (SB Nation)
o SB Nation has had problems with writers that are unsupervised o "Unpaid SB Nation Writer Did Plagiarism, Got Fired" o "SB Nation Blogger Removed from Masthead Following Deletion of Bad Post" o These team fan blogs do not pay writers much money (if any at all) o "How SB Nation profits off an army of exploited workers" o Site managers get $600 a month = and are expected to write a lot (or get replaced) o Sept. 2017: Lawsuit filed by former site manager ♣ She worked 30-40 hours a week for $125 dollars a month ♣ Argued she should at least get paid minimum wage
SI Photographs
o SI decided their photographs would set them apart o They printed photos in color, not many were doing that in the 50s/60s o Since they couldn't be timely, they had to find a different way to compete
Who is reading Sports Illustrated?
o SI has circulation of about 2.75 million o The most read sports magazine of all time o SI is still working on ways to increase readership • Regional covers help sales - multiple covers based on where you live • Other magazines: Kids, On Campus, For Women, Latino
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Enterprises
o SI is turning the Swimsuit issue into its own business (aug 2017) o Developing licensing programs o Business partnerships with the models o Charging to watch videos
Contract Time for Simmons
o Simmons has proven successful online, in magazines, and on TV. ESPN rewards him: he signs a contract with him in 2010 for $5 million a year o He's the highest-paid piece of talent in the network's history at that moment
Why show the Olympics? (plus viewing statistics)
o Something to put on TV during slow summer/winter months o Interest to a wide group of people o It's an "event" ♣ Average audience for 2014 winter Olympics was greater than ABC, CBS and FOX combined ♣ Average audience is 26 mil viewers, more than 5 mil more viewers than the top rated comedies/dramas
1960s Sports Illustrated
o Sports becoming more and more popular o TV helps bring more sports into homes o SI focused on the big sporting events, not just sports aimed at the elite o Hired great writers
Swimsuit issue
o Started in 1964, five-page layout o Goal was to fill the slow winter months o Part of the weekly magazine o In 1997, issue became a standalone o It is Time, Inc's best-selling issue each year
Fox/SI
o Started in August 2016, ended in June 2017
NBC and the Olympics
o Summer Olympics since 1988 o Winter Olympics since 2002 o Olympics will continue on NBC until 2032 o Spent billions of dollars on exclusivity on the coverage o MSNBC, NBC golf, USA network, NBC sports, CNBC, Bravo, NBC sports app
How *should* NBC be covering the Olympics?
o The "best" coverage for viewers (in NBC's opinion)? o The "most watched" coverage for their financial investment? o Is there a problem with NBC having the Olympics until 2032? o Would/should other stations do it differently? o NBC has no real incentive to try a different formula - no competition
Gatekeeping
o The process through which info is filtered for dissemination, whether for publication, broadcasting, the internet, or some other mode of communication o Networks show you which news they want you to know about, and if they choose not to tell you about something, you simply don't hear about it
Press conference -> media
o This is the moment the press has been waiting for o Tiger and his team need the press to be nice to him o Tiger's agent: "give the kid a break." Media: "nah." o Dan Jenkins, golf reporter: "Now it's too late. I'm busy."
August 2007 Magazine
o Tiger on cover of Men's Fitness o Gives a detailed look at training regimen o Article included Tiger's tips on weightlifting, exercise and eating o Very strange... he doesn't do these behind the scenes articles o Maybe he's loosening up because of marriage/fatherhood?
Turning pro
o Turned pro in August o In October, he wins his first PGA Tournament o Two weeks later he wins again o In just three months as pro... ♣ PGA rookie of the year ♣ 1996 Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year"
Increased Readership/Gawker Scandal
o Used to be on the fringe and not considered real journalism o That changed in 2012: Gawker published the Hulk Hogan sex tape o 2-minute extract from the 30-minute video, including 10 seconds of explicit sexual activity o Gawker's Editor in Chief was AJ Daulerio (promoted from Deadspin) o Hogan sued Gawker for invasion of privacy, infringement of personality rights, and intentional infliction of emotional distress o Gawker claimed First Amendment rights and that Hogan was a celebrity; refused to take video down o Hogan won. He was awarded $115 million dollars in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages. Daulerio ordered to pay $100k o Three months later, Gawker filed for bankruptcy and put itself up for sale. Now, it doesn't exist anymore. o In November 2016, Gawker reached a $31 million settlement with Hogan for punitive damages (couldn't pay the original amount) o Daulerio was not included in the settlement, so he now owes Hogan $115.1 mil
So, what does this all say about Simmons?
o We're not saying he is/isn't the best sports writer of all time, but his rise and fall is truly remarkable o From a blogger on a regional website to the most powerful employee at ESPN
What is it about blogs?
o What do blogs provide for readers that traditional media can't? ♣ Quick posts, more casual, o Will Gawker's bankruptcy impact how blogs operate?
What was deadspin becoming?
o What used to be a fun, silly blog was suddenly something much different o "[all this] at what cost to [Delaurio's] soul? And hell, to sports journalism?"
Staying loyal
o While all this was happening, Nike stuck with Tiger because they believed he would come back o "Winning takes care of everything" ad from Nike o Ad with his dead dad's voice - didn't go over well
Just the beginning
o While his media relationships are frosty, he's red hot on the course o Less than a year after his debut: ♣ Won the masters by 112 shots ♣ Is #1 in the World by June 1997 ♣ Until November 2009
ESPN apologizes
• "...we apologize that the commentary in this instance went too far and Brent understands that." - ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys • Musburger declines to comment or apologize for his own actions
Follow-up from Webb
• "It was kind of nice... I didn't look at it as creepy at all. For a woman to be called beautiful [is not a problem]." She doubled down on those comments. • She said she didn't want to be a celebrity or feed off of the media attention • But... she very shortly after became a sports reporter and Sports Illustrated model • "Splash" - high dive show for celebrities. Her background story - "thanks Brent Musburger, this dive is for you"
These people aren't alone...
• 18% of college atheltes respond that they had tweeted something inappropriate, regarding issues such as drugs, alcohol, race, sex, or with the use of profanity • Barack Obama gave a speech during NBC's coverage of a NFL game. NBC showed the speech and stopped the game. A college athlete tweeted "take that [n word] off the tv, we wanna watch football." The player was kicked out of school.
Fans and Twitter
• 2015 Super Bowl, fans sent out 25.1 million tweets about the game and halftime show • 395,000 tweets per minute for Malcolm Butler interception with 20 seconds left • Sports fans are now more likely to go to social media for the latest sports news before logging into a traditional news website • 83% of fans check social media while simultaneously watching a sporting event on TV
Michigan vs M. State
• 2015: 10 seconds left, Michigan is about to punt. If they punt and tackle, they win. • The snap is fumbled and State scores to win. • Punter is Blake O'Neill - they raked him over the coals
Rashard Mendenhall
• After people were celebrating the death of a well-known person... • Mendenhall tweets "what kind of person celebrates death? It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak..." • He was talking about Osama bin Laden
Lots of people to follow on twitter
• Can follow official sports accounts, beat writers, blogs, and other fans on twitter • Athletes have some of the largest followings on twitter - and they love it • It's growing among college athletes, with 78% of college athletes saying they had an account in a 2016 survey, up 6% from the previous year • Fans can talk to athletes - used to be one-sided, but twitter creates parasocial relations. "Seeming face to face relationship between spectator and performer" o Basically, the fan believes he/she is in a personal relationship with the athlete but he athlete doesn't feel the same way • Allows athletes to avoid the media - they can deliver message from social media
Sports Sections: 2009
• Editors from 50 north American daily newspapers that covered a professional team were surveyed o Cut about 300 full-time jobs in an 18-month span (20% of total staff) o Size of the sports section was down about 20 percent from the year before (about 6 pages per week) o All but two papers reported reductions in travel budget
Olympics history
• First modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, Greece o Los Angeles Herald (media that covered it) • The 1936 games were the first to be broadcast on TV. 25 tv viewing rooms were set up in the Greater Berlin area, allowing locals to follow the Games free of charge (Hitler wanted them broadcasted to show all the white blondes winning). Jesse Owens ruined Hitler's big plans by showing out and winning.
Katherine Webb (pre-fame)
• Former Miss Alabama, top 10 in Miss USA competition • Went to Auburn University • Girlfriend of AJ McCarron (QB for Alabama) • 2013, she went to Nat'l Champ game to watch McCarron play • The game wasn't close, looked like ND had no shot at winning • ESPN started talking about other things, and the cameras found her, and the announcers start talking about her
Brent Musburger
• He's the one who made most of the comments about Webb • He was the original host of NFL Today at CBS • Covered NBA, The Masters, The US Open, NCAA Basketball Final Four • Coined the phrase "March Madness" • Then: lead college football announcer at ESPN/ABC • Recently retired but still doing some sports commentating
Brent Musburger, 2005
• In 2005, he made similar comments about Jenn Sterger, a Florida State fan in the crowd at a game. She became a celeb - appeared in Maxim, Playboy, Sprint, and Dr. Pepper ads. Wrote for Sports Illustrated, worked for and the New York Jets, and had her own show on Versus
Twitter and Sports: Olympics
• In 2013, just over 1% of tv programming was some type of sporting event • Nearly half of all tweets about tv were related to sports Fans are talking about sports • The 2016 Rio Summer Olympics o 187 million tweets sent o 75 billion impressions (people seeing them) • Top moments (tweets per minute) o #1 Brazil wins soccer goal in OT shootout o #2 Usain Bolt wins 100m dash • Most mentioned athletes: Bolt, Phelps, Neymar
What's next for twitter?
• In the 2016 season, the NFL showed live Thursday night games on twitter • 10 games "tricast" o Broadcast (NBC/CBS) o Cable (NFL network) o Digital (twitter) • Free live streaming to 800 million twitter users (on Amazon in 2017)
Twitter is growing
• Just 15% of fans said they consume sports on social network platforms • By 2014, that percentage had more than doubled to 35%
Sports Pass
• Kansas City Star launched a Sports Pass o Sports-only digital subscription o About $2.50 dollars per month
Move to TV and Grantland
• Move to TV o Still, ESPN keeps giving him opportunities o 2012-2014: He joins NBA Countdown o He quit after the second year • Grantland o 2011: Simmons creates Grantland o Sports and pop culture blog/website that would be associated with ESPN o Known for longform journalism and a use of statistics o Highly rewarded, but not highly visited. Many wondered how ESPN could sustain keeping it alive
Zimmerman Verdict
• No such restrictions on professionals • July 2013 - George Zimmerman found not guilty in shooting of Trayvon Martin • Almost 5 million tweets sent within a day of the verdict • Athletes were some of the biggest tweeters about this
What is a journalist?
• Not always the guys with the press passes • Teams/leagues reporting their own news • Athletes can talk about themselves on social media • Sports: 1.4% of TV programs, 49.7% of Twitter TV activity o Connect with athletes o Nearly 50% of all tweets sent out by athletes are direct engagement with fans
Sports Blogs
• Not usually offered by "traditional" sports media • Helped to report some of sports' biggest stories • Deadspin, SB Nation, Bleacher Report
The birth of instant replay
• Olympics weren't shown on TV in the US until 1960. CBS paid $50k for the winter Olympics that year • Officials were unsure as to whether a skier had missed a gate in the men's slalom they asked CBS if they could review a videotape of the race o This gave CBS an idea... the birth of instant replay
Bill Simmons history
• One of the earliest sports bloggers • A Massachusetts native; fan of all Boston Sports • Wanted to be a newspaper writer growing up; work for Boston Herald • "only way to get a column was to go through minor league and hope people above you died" [so you could take their jobs] • So, he started working on his own - AOL Digital City Boston o They had a "Boston Movie Guy" so he thought, "Why not have a 'Boston Sports Guy'?" o Bostonsportsguy.com - $50 per week o One day he got just 6 page views
Problem with sports on TV
• People are tuning out/cord cutting o ESPN losing subscribers big time o Had 100 million at the end of 2011; now at about 86 million o FS1, Golf Channel, NBC Sports Network, and NFL Network all lost hundreds of thousands of subscribers just this past May
Overview of the Sports Media
• Print o Local newspapers, national/regional newspapers, magazines • Broadcast o Local tv, national tv, cable tv • Online o Websites/social media • Declines in audiences in newspapers, cable tv, network tv, local tv, and digital-native news (.coms and .nets)
Electronic monitoring
• Some athletes who have signed up for twitter must agree to have their accounts monitored - that program will send an automated email to an athletic dept official or coach each time an athlete uses a word that has been flagged by the university o Varsity Monitor and U Dilligence o Flagged words: swear words, brands of alcohol, and opponents' names o Isn't perfect, given the context of some tweets
The Issue with "Splash"
• Splash was on ABC; ABC is owned by Walt Disney Company; WDC owns ESPN • Was it right for the network to use that controversy?
So - the next big thing?
• Stadium: a 24/7 sports program that steams on twitter o @watchstadium o includes live college games o highlights o studio shows o partnership with players tribune o includes fan feedback in show • The goal: to make twitter a video destination for users and bring more people to the service
Paid Sports websites
• Subscription-based sports journalism o No ads, no auto play videos, no clickbait o Just "high-quality written content" • The Athletic o $8 a month or $48 per year o Hiring local writers and national writers o Right now, the The Athletic has 300 employees focusing on 38 markets o 10 months ago, they had 65 employees in 10 markets o Want to capture fans of local teams that don't necessarily live in that market
Moral of the Katherine Webb story
• The SPEED of the media is incredible and has changed rapidly. • 25 years ago, she would've had a one-time appearance. Now? A star is born. • Controversy spreads faster as well.
So, why do we need traditional media?
• Traditional media is nervous • Nobody knows what the future holds for sports media
Not done there...
• Twitter has deals with MLB and NHL (show one game a week) • NFL show (not games) • Pac-12 network • WNBA games • NBA to show live-broadcast original programming (not games)
Two day after the crash
• Two days after the crash o Another website statement: says the accident was his fault, "it's obviously embarrassing..." • US Weekly article o She's been having an affair with tiger for three years o Has 300 text messages to prove it o Does this count as mainstream media? o Meanwhile, he's cited for careless driving and pays $164 fine
Digital activism and sports
• US Olympians protested rules regarding sponsors (there was a rule that athletes couldn't mention non-Olympic sponsors during games) • Royce White for mental illness (anxiety) • Can speak out about issues that are even kind of silly
1980 Olympics
• USA vs USSR in hockey o In the semifinals o Russia had won 6 of the last 7 gold medals o Russia was heavy favorite o USSR won 10-3 less than a month earlier against USA o USA wins - "do you believe in miracles?"
Simmons' writing style
• Very edgy because he didn't have an editor or censor - weren't PC o "Grading the Wimbledon Babes" o Today - those are nearly impossible to find • Simmons' writing style is what made him different o Fan-centric o Articles were incredibly long o Lots of pop-culture references • ESPN finds Simmons o Wrote a column called "The 1999 ESPY Awards: Greatest Night in Sports... or TV Holocaust?" o "Hell will freeze over before I sit through another ESPYs telecast" o ESPN management loved it???????? So, they hired them.
#1 Viewership Option
• sports are "DVR Proof" because people like to watch sports live. Over 98% of sports events on TV are watched live • Who really likes that? Advertisers. o Live audience that advertisers can count on o No skipping through commercials Increased options for Sports on TV (ESPN, FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, League channels, etc.)
#1 Viewership option for sports..
• sports are "DVR Proof" because people like to watch sports live. Over 98% of sports events on TV are watched live • Who really likes that? Advertisers. o Live audience that advertisers can count on o No skipping through commercials Increased options for Sports on TV (ESPN, FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, League channels, etc.)
Only show specific sports/people
♣ NBC says this is because more women watch the Olympics than men, and women like reality shows more than sports, so NBC shows the "journey" of the athletes and focuses on only the most important Americans
Tape delay shows
♣ Show things delayed instead of live ♣ 2012 Missy Franklin is about to race for her first gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke - they accidentally reveal she won the gold before the race was shown ♣ 2012- women's team gymnastics - Russian gymnast falls during floor exercise, but NBC didn't show it on the tape delayed broadcast. Why? NBC almost always is pro-US, so wouldn't this be good for the USA? Well, if they showed it, it'd be clear that the US would win and there wouldn't be any drama. "Creative editing" ♣ Almost everything on the west coast is tape delayed ♣ Mark Lazarus, Chairman of NBC sports group - we try to make things available during each time zone's primetime when most people are watching tv (so, not live when the event actually happens). But, in the Mountain and West time zones it's proven mostly effective ♣ US/USSR hockey game - shown on tape delay; entire chunks of the game were edited out
Pro-American bias
♣ Sports that Americans are not good at are often ignored or overlooked ♣ Men's gymnastics: NBC showed about 20 min. Started at 11:30 pm. Didn't air any of the gold-winning Japanese performances during the primetime segment. ♣ Foreigners are shown as the "enemy" - Usain Bolt is an exception ♣ Rivalries often feel manufactured - Yuliya Efimova vs. Lilly King (USA), Chad le Clos vs Michael Phelps
