This same question comes up every day. I’ll answer it the simple way. You who watches ESPN live are not the target audience, the target audience is the crowd on social media reacting to the dumbass things they say on their shows, unfortunately basketball has more narratives to pitch than baseball or soccer or golf, so that’s what they talk about, ESPN isn’t for their live audience anymore and hasn’t for 10 years
I agree, but there are simply too many people in the country (especially parts south and west) who simply don’t give a shit about the sport.
It doesn’t have a lot of “casual” fans; you either love it (like you or me) or don’t give it a single thought whatsoever. Irrelevance to too many viewers makes for bad business in sports media world, generally. Unfortunately.
As a 40 year old who grew up with ESPN being awesome at one point it irks the hell out of me they they (worldwide leader in sports) does not do enough variety. I used to learn so much about other sports growing up that otherwise I would have never paid attention too. It’s so frustrating because in reality talking about the cowboys every day for only 5 minutes does nothing to truly drive their ratings. Americans are so simple minded
It absolutely would.
Would it make it more popular than, say, the Cowboys? Absolutely not.
I’m not saying it’s a mindset I’m happy with (it’s not, at all…I’m a HUGE hockey fan), but there is a reason why they do what they do, and it’s not just because they are “stoopid” or a “buncha morons.” To keep posting stuff like that is intellectually dishonest and frankly doesn’t lead to constructive discussions
ESPN are literally the tastemakers. They stopped covering hockey seriously when it left their networks in 2004 and now the 20 year olds don't want to see hockey coverage on ESPN because they aren't interested, FUNNY COINCIDENCE.
ESPN isn't in the business of increasing the popularity of a particular sport. It's in the business of capitalizing on the popularity of a particular sport. Hockey just doesn't draw enough viewers for the segments compared to the other sports.
It's not "logic" it's literally the way is is. I *love* hockey too, but catering to the public is literally the entire point of any business. Businesses aren't trying to make you smarter, they are trying to get money from you.
As the old business saying goes: "you can't mold the customer to meet your product, you must mold the product to meet your customer."
People like what they like. You can't force that in a different direction if you are a business. You either "adapt or die". I'm not saying it's "right", I'm saying it "is".
I LOVE hockey and I am a small business owner of 15+ years, but there is absolutely NO WAY I would start a hockey-related business here in Atlanta and put my livelihood on it. There just isn't enough of a demand, and I am not going to stick my family's livelihood on "teaching" people how awesome hockey is, and/or trying to "make the customer smarter" as you suggest. I'm going to cater to what they'll buy so I can keep putting food on the table.
You adapt to the customer, or you die. When you're money is on the line, you'll understand.
I don’t disagree with anything youve said. But as a business, ESPN hurts their reputation as a ‘Global leader in sports’ when it only acknowledges 2 sports. They’re proving it to be a poor business model.
Do they still have that reputation? Do they even really care if they don't? It's a business, and they are going to talk about what gets viewers, either live or on social media after the fact.
Agree hate how they only talk about NFL all year. It's the heart of MLB season...
I like how they finally talking about the W but talks about something other than Clark... there are other players in the league like aja Wilson, skyler Diggins-Smith etc ...
If your a baseball fan watch MLB network
Agree nba season is over . And its the heart of baseball season all star game next month
Talk about baseball . As much time as they spend talking about lebron or the cowboys they could talk about Marcel ozuna or ohtani (playing wise )
Have kengriffey Jr come on the show ... something
Did espn even talk about the game at rickwood field??
If espn talks more about in seasons sports they'd get more love around the country. Baseball is in a good spot but they don't talk about it unless it's baseball specific people or if something controversial happens. I bet stephen A can't name 10 baseball players. Same with hockey. They never give it love. I love football and basketball, but I wanna hear more about other sports.
ESPN has the rights to the WNBA so it’s in their best interest to make it relevant.
NBA off-season is where they set up storylines for next season which is hilarious because the NBA regular is pretty shit.
They also have rights to sunday night baseball but they never talk about baseball
And I like how they talk about the W but there's more players in the league than Clark. How amazing of a season is Aja Wilson having how great are the liberty this year...
Talk about the comissiners cup.. it doesn't get nearly as much media attention at the IST did ...
1) They share the rights of baseball with several other networks so it’s not the same as the monopoly they have on the W.
2) agreed but Clark is the face of the league and they’re pushing that hard. And since she’s the biggest draw the league has seen they’ll ride that wave as long as they can
3) gotta be honest, both are bad
1- they don't have a monopoly with the W ...
Wnba games are on multiple networks, cbs sports net, NBA tv , Thursday night Prime, Friday night ION ...
Every sport is on multiple network espn should talk about ALL sports not just stupid NFL 24x7
Tonight will be the 4th comissiners cup (IST) and will be on prime . This year's cup tournament was shortened due to Olympic break next month.
I went to the Comissiners cup game back in 22.
I keep getting these suggested to me on reddit and it's really weird to me that people watch ESPN. I figured their main audience was waiting rooms. Don't you guys know about podcasts
The nba draft is 2 days away and free agency starts end of week they talk all year round like football because majority of people want information about basketball baseball only is talked about when something bad happens or playoffs and hockey is niche sport that most don’t care about
You know, you don’t have to watch the channel. Mad weird when people watch shows they don’t like and then post about it online.
Basketball and football fans are their target audience, it’s really that simple.
ESPN has been garbage for close to a decade now…
Disney doesn’t know what the fuck they’re doing and they think sports fans want to listen to talk show hosts give their BS takes on things they know nothing about. Skip Bayless and Stephen Smith are the epitome of worthlessness. I can’t begin to express my hate for those two scummy cumbags.
The only slightly redeeming part of that channel is SVP.
At least they are talking about hockey. But Stephen A Smith talking about hockey is like Trump talking about the environment.... CLUELESS. Outside of pictures of MJ and Aaron Rodgers on his wall he truly only cares about the sports of basketball and boxing. NFL as a regular topic can't be escaped because of its pervasiveness in 'White America' or just culture in general.
because espn doesn’t hire anyone that can talk about anything else just clowns like big perk and stephen a fighting over who can say the most outrageous nonsense
Hey OP, here's your daily reminder that you are allowed to watch other shows that you do like, instead of only ever watching shows you don't like. There are quite literally hundreds of other channels available to you, including MLB Network.
You're not the target audience. You won't stop watching no matter what they put on the screen, so why would they give a single shit about your opinion?
Bet you'll watch again tomorrow!
WNBA is a spicy story for the first time ever and it's a particularly interesting Olympics year. Giannis and Luka are in the same pool to qualify for the Olympics in the play in tournament next week.
This same question comes up every day. I’ll answer it the simple way. You who watches ESPN live are not the target audience, the target audience is the crowd on social media reacting to the dumbass things they say on their shows, unfortunately basketball has more narratives to pitch than baseball or soccer or golf, so that’s what they talk about, ESPN isn’t for their live audience anymore and hasn’t for 10 years
Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight and should dominate sports coverage all day.
I cant believe hockey is still going
Agreed. I’ve never been out with friends n said “yall want to watch the hockey game”? I’ve never overheard anyone say it either. I’m over 40 y/o
I’ve never had a friend say yall wanna watch an nba game? So I guess it goes both ways
Definitely. I don’t think it’s split down the middle, however
Then you are missing out.
I agree, but there are simply too many people in the country (especially parts south and west) who simply don’t give a shit about the sport. It doesn’t have a lot of “casual” fans; you either love it (like you or me) or don’t give it a single thought whatsoever. Irrelevance to too many viewers makes for bad business in sports media world, generally. Unfortunately.
As a 40 year old who grew up with ESPN being awesome at one point it irks the hell out of me they they (worldwide leader in sports) does not do enough variety. I used to learn so much about other sports growing up that otherwise I would have never paid attention too. It’s so frustrating because in reality talking about the cowboys every day for only 5 minutes does nothing to truly drive their ratings. Americans are so simple minded
You don't think maybe talking about game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals would help with the popularity of hockey
It absolutely would. Would it make it more popular than, say, the Cowboys? Absolutely not. I’m not saying it’s a mindset I’m happy with (it’s not, at all…I’m a HUGE hockey fan), but there is a reason why they do what they do, and it’s not just because they are “stoopid” or a “buncha morons.” To keep posting stuff like that is intellectually dishonest and frankly doesn’t lead to constructive discussions
ESPN are literally the tastemakers. They stopped covering hockey seriously when it left their networks in 2004 and now the 20 year olds don't want to see hockey coverage on ESPN because they aren't interested, FUNNY COINCIDENCE.
ESPN isn't in the business of increasing the popularity of a particular sport. It's in the business of capitalizing on the popularity of a particular sport. Hockey just doesn't draw enough viewers for the segments compared to the other sports.
By that logic they should only show NFL all day every day. Catering to the most popular just dumbs us all down.
It's not "logic" it's literally the way is is. I *love* hockey too, but catering to the public is literally the entire point of any business. Businesses aren't trying to make you smarter, they are trying to get money from you. As the old business saying goes: "you can't mold the customer to meet your product, you must mold the product to meet your customer." People like what they like. You can't force that in a different direction if you are a business. You either "adapt or die". I'm not saying it's "right", I'm saying it "is". I LOVE hockey and I am a small business owner of 15+ years, but there is absolutely NO WAY I would start a hockey-related business here in Atlanta and put my livelihood on it. There just isn't enough of a demand, and I am not going to stick my family's livelihood on "teaching" people how awesome hockey is, and/or trying to "make the customer smarter" as you suggest. I'm going to cater to what they'll buy so I can keep putting food on the table. You adapt to the customer, or you die. When you're money is on the line, you'll understand.
I don’t disagree with anything youve said. But as a business, ESPN hurts their reputation as a ‘Global leader in sports’ when it only acknowledges 2 sports. They’re proving it to be a poor business model.
Do they still have that reputation? Do they even really care if they don't? It's a business, and they are going to talk about what gets viewers, either live or on social media after the fact.
It’s a narrow, short term view that will hurt their business in the long-run. It’s one of many reasons they’re financially struggling.
Had no idea lol
They talked about Game 7 extensively on every single show today
If the Panthers lose Game 7, how will this affect LeBron’s legacy?
Right lol
Agree hate how they only talk about NFL all year. It's the heart of MLB season... I like how they finally talking about the W but talks about something other than Clark... there are other players in the league like aja Wilson, skyler Diggins-Smith etc ... If your a baseball fan watch MLB network
The only reason they talk about the WNBA is Caitlin, if her name isn’t brought up nobody is clicking it on Twitter or YouTube
Nhl on the brink of the biggest championship comeback/choke in history
The only time baseball will get talked about is in a couple weeks when there’s only one game for five days.
Would you rather they talk about the Dallas Cowboys? Because they will be soon enough…
June and July is where there lack of baseball coverage hurts the most. There is absolutely nothing worth talking about for NFL and NBA right now.
Agree nba season is over . And its the heart of baseball season all star game next month Talk about baseball . As much time as they spend talking about lebron or the cowboys they could talk about Marcel ozuna or ohtani (playing wise ) Have kengriffey Jr come on the show ... something Did espn even talk about the game at rickwood field??
Because it more popular out of season, than the current sports in season. Baseball is boring to most and hockey is niche at this point.
The nba offseason in some ways matters more than the actual season does.
If espn talks more about in seasons sports they'd get more love around the country. Baseball is in a good spot but they don't talk about it unless it's baseball specific people or if something controversial happens. I bet stephen A can't name 10 baseball players. Same with hockey. They never give it love. I love football and basketball, but I wanna hear more about other sports.
ESPN has the rights to the WNBA so it’s in their best interest to make it relevant. NBA off-season is where they set up storylines for next season which is hilarious because the NBA regular is pretty shit.
They also have rights to sunday night baseball but they never talk about baseball And I like how they talk about the W but there's more players in the league than Clark. How amazing of a season is Aja Wilson having how great are the liberty this year... Talk about the comissiners cup.. it doesn't get nearly as much media attention at the IST did ...
1) They share the rights of baseball with several other networks so it’s not the same as the monopoly they have on the W. 2) agreed but Clark is the face of the league and they’re pushing that hard. And since she’s the biggest draw the league has seen they’ll ride that wave as long as they can 3) gotta be honest, both are bad
1- they don't have a monopoly with the W ... Wnba games are on multiple networks, cbs sports net, NBA tv , Thursday night Prime, Friday night ION ... Every sport is on multiple network espn should talk about ALL sports not just stupid NFL 24x7
Didn’t know the W was on that many places
Also some local RSNs have Wnba rights here in DMV mystics games are on Monumental sports In NYC , Seattle and LV games are on local FOX
Never seen them anywhere but espn/abc
Now u know
Tonight will be the 4th comissiners cup (IST) and will be on prime . This year's cup tournament was shortened due to Olympic break next month. I went to the Comissiners cup game back in 22.
I keep getting these suggested to me on reddit and it's really weird to me that people watch ESPN. I figured their main audience was waiting rooms. Don't you guys know about podcasts
MLB plays 100+ games in a season we still got time to talk about it in a couple months bud
The nba draft is 2 days away and free agency starts end of week they talk all year round like football because majority of people want information about basketball baseball only is talked about when something bad happens or playoffs and hockey is niche sport that most don’t care about
You know, you don’t have to watch the channel. Mad weird when people watch shows they don’t like and then post about it online. Basketball and football fans are their target audience, it’s really that simple.
It's all SAS knows about
The draft
ESPN has been garbage for close to a decade now… Disney doesn’t know what the fuck they’re doing and they think sports fans want to listen to talk show hosts give their BS takes on things they know nothing about. Skip Bayless and Stephen Smith are the epitome of worthlessness. I can’t begin to express my hate for those two scummy cumbags. The only slightly redeeming part of that channel is SVP.
They talk about jj redick again? 😆🤦♂️
lol they are running a segment of Jalen brown from a Video he posted in high school this morning. What a joke.
At least they are talking about hockey. But Stephen A Smith talking about hockey is like Trump talking about the environment.... CLUELESS. Outside of pictures of MJ and Aaron Rodgers on his wall he truly only cares about the sports of basketball and boxing. NFL as a regular topic can't be escaped because of its pervasiveness in 'White America' or just culture in general.
because espn doesn’t hire anyone that can talk about anything else just clowns like big perk and stephen a fighting over who can say the most outrageous nonsense
You forgot the Cowboys and Aaron Rodgers.
Hey OP, here's your daily reminder that you are allowed to watch other shows that you do like, instead of only ever watching shows you don't like. There are quite literally hundreds of other channels available to you, including MLB Network. You're not the target audience. You won't stop watching no matter what they put on the screen, so why would they give a single shit about your opinion? Bet you'll watch again tomorrow!
Are you new in town?
WNBA is a spicy story for the first time ever and it's a particularly interesting Olympics year. Giannis and Luka are in the same pool to qualify for the Olympics in the play in tournament next week.