Why ESPN sucks

[Yavin4]

They claim to be the worldwide leader in sports broadcasting, but what's on the front page of their website? LeBron James. Why? Because ESPN paid a lot of money in rights fees to the NBA, so they want NBA stories to be the most important. The World Cup? Well, they don't own the rights, so screw them.

When you're coverage of sports depends upon the rights fees that you have, you're no longer in the sports broadcasting business.

[exboyfil]

1. Also you have pages and pages about the kneeling controversy

and then four players author a well reasoned professional letter in which they explain ways the justice system could be improved. It included complementary language for the President.

Crickets

[Bradshaw3]

2. Or it could be that their audience care more about the NBA

than they do the World Cup.

[Mosby]

3. exactly.

Many Americans don't give two shits about soccer.

I'm not a huge fan of ESPN, my go to site is SB Nation.

[madinmaryland]

4. You got that right. And they spend the whole baseball season pimping the Roid Sox

and the Skankees. FUCK THEM.

BTW, The World Cup is in Russia. FUCK THAT TOO.

[Ohiogal]

5. Agree with you there.

[True Dough]

6. I'm not a Yankees fan nor am I a Red Sox fan

but I was eager to see highlights (and a few innings here and there) of their series this weekend. There's no question they are two of the powerhouses in MLB, largely due to their payrolls.

[3catwoman3]

7. Did you know that more than one set of idiot parents...

...have named their babies ESPN?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/05/18/a-couple-named-their-baby-espn-they-arent-the-only-ones/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.00501569bc37

[ProfessorGAC]

8. WC Coverage Is A Bit Of A Problem For Them

They have no rights to show highlights at will. Fox Sports has exclusive US rights, so ESPN can only cover the WC to a limited degree.

And as someone above said, US fans are way more interested in the NBA.

To whit: Chicago Fire plays in the 25,000 seat field. The average attendance is 81%. The Bulls, who haven't been good in 5 years or more, play in a 21,000 seat arena and average 19k.

I know it's just one city, but a team that plays 42 home games a year puts 1250 fewer people in the seats for all those games than the professional soccer team that only plays about 15 home games a year.

This is a case where the numbers don't lie.

Then, see the thread on this group about Hope Solo. "Rich kids" game is an apt description. Certainly, there are fans of soccer, and it's huge among our immigrant population, but as to the latter, so is the NBA.

Remember, basketball is now a global game as well. In fact, it's pretty much the #2 global game, behind only soccer. (Played professionally in 40 other countries, aside from US and Canada.)

[JonLP24]

10. You're right

Plus I don't watch Fox Sports much except for basketball or hockey season so it was more difficult to keep up with the schedule compared to previous world cups.

Plus LeBron James free agency was a big story so I could understand using it as their lead.

[rocktivity]

9. Proof yet again that there is no such thing as a dumb queston

I've been wondering why they've been showing only PHOTOS from the World Cup on Pardon the Interruption!


rocktivity

[Awsi Dooger]

11. I love ESPN because right wingers despise it

Daily rants against ESPN, and its supposed political slant, on sports message boards. Right wingers are scared of CNN, ESPN and the most respected newspapers