It was over 33 years ago that ESPN was born in the wooded area of Bristol, CT. At the start, the big three networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) had sports divisions that appeared to be dominant, so ESPN was forced to cover sports from around the world and even the quirky kinds of sports (I remember the Putt-Putt championships were huge on ESPN). From its humble beginnings, ESPN expanded. They gobbled up ABC’s Sports Division, added new TV channels, started a radio network, started a Web Page, acquired the rights to major sports contracts from pro to college, and ultimately became the Worldwide Leader in Sports. If you haven’t read the book “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN”, I encourage you to do so. It tells of ESPN’s rise and the people involved in its rise.
Two decades ago, CNN and Fox tried to counter the rise of ESPN with their own Cable Sports Networks. CNN was unsuccessful, and Fox was only marginally successful, though more at the local levels instead of the National levels. Fox also tried to build a Sports Radio Network, and while somewhat successful, it never had the sports backing and following ESPN Radio has. ESPN not only had all the sports, but all the good sportscasters.
But now, has ESPN’s day of dominance in the spotlight begun to wane? They may still dominate the overall Sports landscape, but rivals from all sides have popped up, many using former ESPN personalities. Consider:
-Fox Sports still has major rights to MLB and the NFL, but they have started pestering ESPN on the regional level, developing College networks with the Big Ten and Pac-12. They also have focused on sports like Motor Racing with Speed Channel, and the World Sport of Soccer, with Fox Soccer Channel.
-NBC has used their connections with Comcast to form NBC Sports Network, focusing on the Olympics, Hockey, Sunday Night Football, and Notre Dame Football. NBC also owns the Golf Channel, which provides expansive coverage on the World Gold Tours, including the PGA, LPGA, and Champions Tours. In addition, NBC Sports also has an arrangement with Yahoo! Sports, which means the next logical step might be to leverage Yahoo! Sports Radio Network to their advantage, possibly forming a large NBC Sports Radio Network.
-CBS has jumped into the sports race, forming the CBS Sports Cable Channel and CBS Sports Radio. CBS Sports Radio may pose the greatest threat to ESPN Radio’s dominance, while the CBS Sports Network will focus on Men’s College Basketball and the NFL.
-CNN is also jumping back into Sports, thanks to agreements with the NBA, MLB, and CNN’s joint ventures with CBS on Men’s College Basketball.
All Professional Sports are also beginning to chip away at ESPN’s dominance as well. The four major Professional Sports in this country (MLB, NHL, NFL, and NBA) all have their own cable channels and have varying agreements with many of ESPN’s rivals. Colleges also have various conference alignments with all the major networks. Several, like the SEC, Big East, Big 12, and ACC, have agreements with ESPN, but other conferences have arrangements with some of ESPN’s rivals.
ESPN’s journalism once was the envy of the sports world, breaking sports news on a regular basis. But even that is waning. Yahoo! Sports, Deadspin, Pro Football Talk, and other Websites regularly beat ESPN to breaking sports news. And ESPN has even tried to protect sports celebrities for reasons of access to those personalities or teams. See the recent Manti Te’o story.
While Sports are disappearing slowly on Free TV, the Cable Sports Channels and radio networks are booming. But is it too much? Even I can’t keep up with all the sports choices nowadays. And I consider myself a sports savant, even more than an engineer. There will eventually have to be some consolidation. For example, my guess is that in a few years, Fox Sports Radio will disappear, and Yahoo! Sports Radio will become NBC Sports Radio. Three National Sports Radio Networks might even be too much, but it is likely that ESPN, CBS, and NBC will survive on the audio airwaves.
In this new world of sports hyper-coverage, ESPN may be the king for now. But with many of their personalities now leaving for rivals, ESPN may be forced to pay and compete much more than they once had to if they intend to dominate, much less survive. They may even have to take chances like they once used to. Otherwise, the sprawling sports campus, known as Bristol U, may one day become an empty shell if they don’t learn to compete again. Could you imagine that?
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