1. ESPN: How they changed the Game

    Markus Garcia

              Boston—-ESPN says “it is the worldwide leader in sports.” And to be honest they are right. Whenever a huge play is made in sports ESPN is either mentioned or eluded to. No other network until recently tried to match ESPN’s 24 hour broadcast, its up to the minute information and its focus on anything and everything sports. This begs the question how did a small company that started in in 1979 grow into a multibillion dollar company and take control of the sports’ game for so long without anyone seriously trying to compete with them?

    The answer partly lies in The book Trust Agents talks about the term gatejumbers, as those who break the rules set by those who controlling a certain area(gatekeepers) and allowing them to take control over this brand new media. Well in this particular case I think ESPN is a gatekeeper and a gatejumper. I think it is safe to say ESPN controls sports journalism, with their programs like E:60, Outside the lines, their flagship program Sportscenter and many other tv and radio shows they keep finding ways to reinvent if you will what sport’s should be, how it should sound and what it should look like. Thus constantly staying ahead of their competition.  

    This past summer I was an intern with ESPN Radio, where I was able to see the radio game be reinvented first hand. For instance one of the first things I noticed was how ESPN wanted to transform the idea of radio from a one way communication media station into a two way communication and listening media station. Now I know every single radio show does this, by having guest call in, or by having guest email the show and some are now just starting to use Facebook and Twitter. ESPN Radio does all of these things, in fact their hosts interact with their fans at all times of the days. But this isn’t what makes them different or a gatejumper. Recently The Scott Van Pelt Show, began shooting what they call the video mail bag weekly after a show. This mailbag simply puts the hosts of the show Scott and Ryen on camera, where they answer emails sent by fans asking questions ranging from sports to “whats the dumbest thing you have ever done in college?” And they answer them, the guys will sit there for about 10-20 minutes and answer these fan emails. ESPN realizes by having Scott and Ryen sit down and answer these emails they are having a two way conversation with their fans, which makes their shows more personable, because their audience feels like they know who they are talking to. Here’s a video Scott and Ryen did when they were on location at an annual golf tournament. 

    ESPN has also changed the game, by being one of the first to tap into the home 3D market. They have made a strong effort to capture this niche, by showing football and basketball games. It even created its own 3D channel. The corporation has also gone mobile, launching mobile apps that allows people to watch ESPN, ESPN 2 and ESPN News on their phone. They have created all of this as a way to stay miles ahead of their competition. It is obvious ESPN is more focused on where sports journalism is heading and how they can stay ahead of the curve instead of focusing where it is currently at. This is why ESPN is “the worldwide leader in sports.”

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