Sports media spotlight: Who are the sports media winners in covering a world without sports?
Cancellations, delays and postponements of major (and minor) sporting events have decimated live sports on TV the past three-plus weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic, but there have been some clear sports media winners in that time.
Plus, there has been plenty of behind-the-scenes activity that will impact how sports look on TV moving forward.
Below are five winners, a couple of non-winners (without actual games there are no losers) and some notes of potential interest.
Enjoy.
Winner 1: The NFL (and its fans)
With the league in its offseason, nothing has had to be canceled. Yet.
Sure, evaluation of potential draft picks and free agents was altered amid disagreement about physicals. Access to team facilities was prohibited league-wide as well.
Free agency began as scheduled, though, and once the quarterback carousel started, the biggest name eventually followed. Tom Brady moved from New England to Tampa Bay. It was almost the only sports news of the day and it got abundant coverage — from speculation to live break-ins and analysis, as well as talking heads offering context. All the usual stuff.
With a collective bargaining agreement, the announcement of an expanded playoff system (more games on TV at the end of next season, if it happens) and a decision to move forward with the NFL Draft, it’s been business as usual as much as possible for the league.
The draft will not be a spectacle in Las Vegas, but it will be televised later this month — and it will draw ratings. It’s still drama, with known characters, winners and losers.
Some might dislike the NFL’s moves, but the normalcy works for me — despite the bad look of billionaires and millionaires making more money amid the backdrop of a worldwide economic crisis.
The NFL will not be able to forge ahead with things like post-draft workouts and optional team activities, but it’s a safe bet it will continue with other business, like the release of its schedule a few weeks after the draft. Those things play well on TV.
Winner 2: Joe Buck
One of the best play-by-play men in the business has proven why he’s so good almost daily the past couple of weeks.
No sports, no problem for Joe Buck.
He has used his Twitter account (@Buck) to solicit videos from people doing normal things, and offered to provide commentary in exchange for the making a donation to charity.
Among the many things he has described are: a mother trying to calm her child; chickens racing around a yard; dogs playing fetch; dogs playing with each other; a pair of brothers playing with a beach ball; a man throwing darts at an odd angle; and some unexplainable action with a would-be male gymnast, a short flight of steps, an exercise ball and a mattress.
That’s all just part of it. He brings a wonderful mix of bemusement and humor to the effort. Plus, again, it’s for charity.
Other broadcasters have done the same, but Buck’s bigger platform and profile make his efforts important.
Winner 3: Scott Van Pelt
You know, “SportsCenter” anchor Scott Van Pelt is just the best. He started a shout-out segment for seniors, in college and high school, who had their seasons cut short and his on-air #SeniorNight segment grew into something bigger.
It has since been adopted across ESPN platforms.
With no live sports, it made sense as a time filler. It was always more than that, though. SVP was doing the right thing, and doing it well.
Kudos to him and all involved in the effort. Here’s hoping it continues as long as people keep submitting their stories.
Winner 4: iRacing
More than 900,000 viewers tuned into the first two iRacing events televised by Fox Sports in recent weeks.
Yes, it’s video game racing featuring professional video game drivers (it’s a thing) and some NASCAR drivers. Broadcasters from Fox Sports covered the races, and the action looks somewhat like an actual race.
Of all the potential time fillers out there, this made sense as something that could and should happen pretty quickly. While some think viewership might wane, at a minimum it’s comfortable, safe background noise and entertainment. On a more positive light, familiarity and an authentic, enjoyable crossover on social media might lead to some context and consistent numbers for the broadcasts.
Winner 5: At-home viewers
Every network has been sharing old content and games, whatever it has access to in order to fill programming time.
In addition, every outlet that has something to share wants to make sure it’s letting viewers know it cares about them by sharing it for free. From ESPN, it’s things previously locked down on ESPN+ and Disney’s sports-themed movies. Meanwhile, the NFL has offered access to NFL GamePass and WWE Network has opened up its vaults for free as well.
There are many others. It’s a good time to be a sports viewer playing catch up, at least if you appreciate history or sports-themed documentaries.
Not winners
Put NCAA institutions at the top of the list. With the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament, the organization lost a huge portion of its annual revenue. So, instead of distributing $600 million to members, the NCAA’s board of governors voted to dole out $225 million. That’ll be a significant hit in revenue streams for conferences and schools. Normal businesses might cut salaries, positions or take some austerity measures. How intercollegiate athletics programs respond will be interesting.
Local TV sports entities have not done enough during the sports hiatus. Things such as WTAJ-TV’s feature on a local race car driver last weekend remain rare, and that’s a shame. It’s not enough to rely on a Penn State news conference or release. There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of stories out there that could be told. Any of those would be preferable to videos about how bored the TV sports staff is with something to do. Maybe they should find something to do.
Tuner tidbits
Man, Phil Mickleson never misses a chance to market himself, huh? As things thaw, or somebody looks to be the first to make some live sports happen again, he’s not about to miss the opportunity to be an early adopter. He has again pitched a one-on-one, pay-per-view match between himself and Tiger Woods. We’ve seen this before — those people that paid for it on Thanksgiving Day 2018 anyway — and we pretty much know what happens. Tiger wins and they both get paid. Back then the purse was $9 million, as if either needed it. This time, there’s possibly a twist. They might have partners, reportedly Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Only Tony Romo could be mad about that. Still, it would be more worthwhile if they played for charity. Again, neither Phil nor Tiger needs the money, nor would either of their proposed partners. Want to make it worth watching? Turn over all the money to folks who need it. Not sure Phil or the others would take that chance, though.
“Last Dance,” the 10-part documentary about Michael Jordan will debut April 19. It was initially set to debut in June, after the NBA season. But, with the dearth of viewing options, the all-sports network decided to move up the series. It follows Jordan and the Chicago Bulls through the lens of the team’s 1997-98 championship season. Cameras followed the team throughout that season, and subsequently interviewed more than 100 people to get to every aspect of the Jordan phenomenon. Everyone, inside and outside of ESPN, who has seen any portion of the series raves about it. Still, 10 episodes sounds like a lot.
Among other NFL-related wins, ESPN started five weeks of “Monday Night Football” re-broadcasts. Last week it was the highest-scoring game in the show’s history (the 2018 Chiefs-Rams game). Upcoming: April 6, Falcons-Saints (2006); April 13, Packers-Vikings (2009); April 20, Colts-Patriots (2005); and April 27, Cowboys-Bills (2007).
If Major League Baseball returns this season, ESPN’s coverage will include longtime Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones as a member of the broadcast team. He replaces David Ross, who left the broadcast booth to become manager of the Chicago Cubs.
Starting Monday, ESPN will debut “The Replay,” a breaking news/morning highlights show for the short-form video platform Quibi, which also launches that day. Turns out that might be fortuitous timing in terms of launch for Quibi — with more people having more time to check out online video options.
Oh, one more “winner” … TNT’s Ernie Johnson who has been conducting a daily question-and-answer session about sports journalism featuring his colleagues and A-listers from other networks on Twitter (@TurnerSportsEJ). It’s good stuff.
This story was originally published April 5, 2020 at 7:30 AM.