ESPN bias

besserheimerphat

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
11,454
15,279
113
Mount Vernon, WA
All of you who belittle people who are looking to ESPN for coverage, whether the Big12 is tied to them or not, are missing the point.

While ESPN may be a shadow of what it once was, in terms of how they cover sports, they are still, without question, the most recognizable brand associated with the sports world. It’s ingrained. I guarantee most sports fans who don’t have a specific agenda flip to ESPN as one of their first stops when they are looking for something to watch, unless they are looking for UEFA League coverage.

CBS and TNT are great, but most don’t consider them seriously in terms of college basketball until March.
I don't want to make this political, but ESPN is a lot like Fox News in that it's ALWAYS on in public places - sports bars, gyms, etc. If they choose to push a particular storyline to an inattentive public, it gets accepted. "The SEC is just better than everyone else." People who don't follow college sports assume ESPN knows what it's talking about and assumes they're giving them the full story. And they don't care enough to dig in further. "Alabama should have been in the playoff because the SEC is just so good."

This is a problem with all large corporate media. You have to trust them to cover things honestly. But if the truth potentially conflicts with their shareholders' returns, they just cover the stories that make them more valuable.
 
  • Agree
  • Like
Reactions: VeloClone and mkadl

AllInForISU

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2012
4,620
4,922
113
Great player, and probable NPOY no doubt at all. If it was a Big 10 guy or Big 12 guy I guarantee it wouldnt have gotten that response. They wanted to make sure their baby (the SEC’s great season) was okay

Guarantee? Ok.
 

JUKEBOX

Well-Known Member
Oct 27, 2008
7,961
1,479
113
ESPN has been a declining business due to the internet. People are dropping cable, and you can now see scores and highlights online. There is significantly less demand for a show like SportCenter.

In order to slow down the bleeding, ESPN has leaned heavily into live sports since people actually still watch that so advertisers pay. They've put a lot of their eggs into the B1G and SEC since those conferences have massive population footprints. They are also trying to cut costs everywhere (lots of layoffs, conference consolidation, etc.).

In my opinion, they are not a fair network and haven't been for some time (and it's worse now since they are tied up in huge contracts with the B1G and SEC). Also the quality of the programming is awful nowadays. I basically only tune in for Iowa State / Big 12 live games at this point (and I often have to mute the commentary).
 
  • Agree
Reactions: mkadl

ClubCy

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Apr 8, 2023
4,236
6,687
113
ESPN has been a declining business due to the internet. People are dropping cable, and you can now see scores and highlights online. There is significantly less demand for a show like SportCenter.

In order to slow down the bleeding, ESPN has leaned heavily into live sports since people actually still watch that so advertisers pay. They've put a lot of their eggs into the B1G and SEC since those conferences have massive population footprints. They are also trying to cut costs everywhere (lots of layoffs, conference consolidation, etc.).

In my opinion, they are not a fair network and haven't been for some time. Also the quality of the programming is awful nowadays. I basically only tune in for Iowa State / Big 12 live games at this point.
ESPN and the Big 10 have zero contractual ties to each other.
 

JUKEBOX

Well-Known Member
Oct 27, 2008
7,961
1,479
113
ESPN and the Big 10 have zero contractual ties to each other.
Oh yeah I forgot about that. I had thought ESPN was part of their bajillion dollar media rights deal they did a few years ago, but maybe it isn't.

Well maybe if the Big 12 gets out in the next round, they can truly rename to E-SEC-PN lol.
 

ClubCy

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Apr 8, 2023
4,236
6,687
113
Oh yeah I forgot about that. I had thought ESPN was part of their bajillion dollar media rights deal they did a few years ago, but maybe it isn't.

Well maybe if the Big 12 gets out in the next round, they can truly rename to E-SEC-PN lol.
That’s probably the path where we are heading.
 

JUKEBOX

Well-Known Member
Oct 27, 2008
7,961
1,479
113
Hey stop ruining peoples tin foil hat conspiracies with facts, this is the internet god damn it!
What's the tin foil hat conspiracy? People are dropping cable. ESPN has been declining in revenue. They are trying to make it up with streaming.
 

1TwistedCyclone

Well-Known Member
Jan 16, 2024
481
768
93
I thoroughly enjoy the breadth of content available with espn+. I suppose I guess I just wax nostalgic for the old sportscenter setup. If they had any creativity in Bristol, they'd have conference specific shows available on streaming, but that's a pipe dream.
 

StPaulCyclone

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Oct 9, 2008
2,534
2,453
113
Duh!
I don't want to make this political, but ESPN is a lot like Fox News in that it's ALWAYS on in public places - sports bars, gyms, etc. If they choose to push a particular storyline to an inattentive public, it gets accepted. "The SEC is just better than everyone else." People who don't follow college sports assume ESPN knows what it's talking about and assumes they're giving them the full story. And they don't care enough to dig in further. "Alabama should have been in the playoff because the SEC is just so good."

This is a problem with all large corporate media. You have to trust them to cover things honestly. But if the truth potentially conflicts with their shareholders' returns, they just cover the stories that make them more valuable.
As I’ve said before journalism is dead, media is alive and well and has an agenda.
 

rosshm16

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Oct 8, 2023
5,190
8,471
113
ESPN.com NCAA men's basketball headlines right now:

(1) Johni Broome injury
(2) Two-day-old story on Cooper Flagg
(3) Three-day-old story on Mick Cronin
(4) Something about an athlete union
(5) Six-day-old story on Tennessee losing
(6) Another story on Cooper Flagg, this one six days old

So if you are not the Big 10, SEC, or Cooper Flagg, good luck getting a headline.
 

Rural

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2010
42,963
36,187
113
ESPN.com NCAA men's basketball headlines right now:

(1) Johni Broome injury
(2) Two-day-old story on Cooper Flagg
(3) Three-day-old story on Mick Cronin
(4) Something about an athlete union
(5) Six-day-old story on Tennessee losing
(6) Another story on Cooper Flagg, this one six days old

So if you are not the Big 10, SEC, or Cooper Flagg, good luck getting a headline.
Who is Cooper Flagg?