tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/sports-media-34738/articlesSports media – The Conversation2023-11-08T13:38:11Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2138372023-11-08T13:38:11Z2023-11-08T13:38:11ZWe blurred the gender of soccer players and had people rate their performances − with surprising results<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557856/original/file-20231106-15-rwljfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Would people still call a women's soccer match boring if they didn't know the players' genders?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/soccer-player-royalty-free-image/154902638?phrase=leg+kicking+ball+female+soccer+player+illustration&adppopup=true">isitsharp/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the telecommunications company Orange <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVNZRHIZVL8">ran a powerful TV ad</a>. It depicts the graceful agility and dramatic goal-scoring shots from French national players such as Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé and Olivier Giroud. </p>
<p>Then comes the catch. After about a minute, the viewer sees that the highlights had been artifically modified: All of the players were actually from the French women’s national team. </p>
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<p>The ad seeks to push back on <a href="https://moneysmartathlete.com/women-athletes/female-athletes-stereotypes-and-public-opinion-and-how-it-affects-self-image/">a common criticism of women’s sports</a>: that female players aren’t as entertaining as their male counterparts, and the action is less exciting than it is in men’s sports.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14413523.2023.2233341">our recently published study</a>, we decided to put this notion to the test. We obscured the gender of soccer players and asked participants to rate the performances of the athletes they viewed.</p>
<h2>A pay and coverage gap</h2>
<p>Sports is one of the world’s largest markets – estimated to be <a href="https://www.ucfb.ac.uk/news/global-sports-industry-report-a-resilient-fightback-and-promising-future/">around US$83 billion</a> in the United States alone. But any fan, casual or serious, can readily observe striking gender differences in media coverage and player salaries. </p>
<p>Outside of the Olympics, <a href="https://webarchive.unesco.org/web/20230104165710/https:/en.unesco.org/themes/gender-equality-sports-media">only about 4% of all sports media coverage around the world</a> is devoted to women’s sports. Live events are much less likely to be broadcast, and only one woman, retired tennis star Serena Williams, is among the Forbes’ 50 <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2023/05/16/why-only-one-woman-made-the-ranks-of-the-worlds-50-highest-paid-athletes/?sh=4fd612986a19">highest-paid athletes</a> in the world.</p>
<p>In 2019, the U.S. women’s national soccer team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer. Even though the squad had won the past two women’s World Cups – and the men’s team <a href="https://ussoccerplayers.com/2013/01/the-us-national-team-at-the-1930-world-cup.html">hadn’t reached a semifinal since 1930</a> – the women weren’t paid as much as their male counterparts. In 2022, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/sports/soccer/us-womens-soccer-equal-pay.html">the two sides came to an agreement</a> guaranteeing equal pay. But the dispute offered a window into the thinking of many sports executives and fans.</p>
<p>U.S. Soccer’s <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/seyfarth-shaw-seeks-exit-as-u-s-soccer-nixes-biology-defense">legal counsel stated</a> that the women’s team plays “a different game” from the men’s “in the sense that men are bigger, stronger, faster.” </p>
<p>Research has proven that women’s and men’s soccer does indeed differ in several <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24139663/;%20https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29927885/">physical aspects</a> – for example, male soccer players cover more ground and run faster during games.</p>
<p>But the question is whether the physical differences of women necessarily make the games less entertaining. The existence of stereotypes points to an alternative possibility: Gender biases might influence perceptions of the quality of the games.</p>
<p>Physical differences are often used to sustain sexist assertions that most women’s sports are boring and slow. This narrative – especially prominent among detractors of women’s sports and internet trolls – likely influences mainstream attitudes toward sports such as women’s basketball and women’s soccer.</p>
<h2>When gender is obscured, differences disappear</h2>
<p>Prior research shows that biases likely play a role when people evaluate the performance of women on the field and in the workplace.</p>
<p>It includes the work of Claudia Goldin, who was recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/business/economy/claudia-goldin-nobel-prize-economics.html">awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics</a>. <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1257/aer.90.4.715">Her fascinating 2000 study</a> with economist Cecilia Rouse showed how blind auditions for symphony orchestras resulted in more women being hired.</p>
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<img alt="Woman with white hair and glasses smiling." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557817/original/file-20231106-27-ba26ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557817/original/file-20231106-27-ba26ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557817/original/file-20231106-27-ba26ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557817/original/file-20231106-27-ba26ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557817/original/file-20231106-27-ba26ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557817/original/file-20231106-27-ba26ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557817/original/file-20231106-27-ba26ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Economist Claudia Goldin was able to show that when female musicians participated in blind auditions, it improved their chances of being hired.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-economist-claudia-goldin-who-was-awarded-the-nobel-news-photo/1715805050?adppopup=true">Lauren Owens Lambert/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Goldin’s work inspired our study. What if we could prevent soccer fans from identifying players and test for whether gender bias influenced evaluations of the players’ athletic performance?</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14413523.2023.2233341">We set up an experiment</a> and showed more than 600 participants highlights from men’s and women’s professional soccer videos. We asked the group, which was made up of 55% men and 45% women, to watch 10 videos and then rate the performance of the players during the goal-scoring plays on a scale of 1 to 5.</p>
<p>In the control group, participants watched and evaluated regular videos. For the experimental group, we blurred the gender of the players, making it impossible for participants to distinguish the men from the women. To do this, we painstakingly went through each frame of every video and used a program to blur the bodies.</p>
<p>Participants who watched regular highlights evaluated the goals scored by men significantly higher. However, the difference evaporated under the experimental condition, where participants did not know if they were watching men or women playing. The results held even after controlling for demographics, whether they preferred men´s or women´s soccer and how often they watched soccer.</p>
<h2>A market that’s ripe for growth</h2>
<p>The findings reveal that gender biases influence fans’ perceptions of women’s soccer – and possibly other women’s sports.</p>
<p>Precisely quantifying the influence of these biases is difficult, and these types of experiments have several limitations, such as the focus on highlights and the practice of blurring, that prevent us from drawing definitive conclusions.</p>
<p>The findings, however, challenge conventional wisdom about the potential of the women’s sports market. Any evaluation of quality in women’s sports should stop and think about whether biases are playing a role.</p>
<p>People often apply a double standard in evaluating the quality of women’s sports, particularly soccer. You’ll hear the argument that “a women’s team can never beat a men’s team,” which is used to justify why people shouldn’t care as much about women’s sports. </p>
<p>But in our view, that argument is beside the point. You don’t hear the same argument when it comes to the performance of boxers from different weight classes, or whether college basketball is an inferior product to pro basketball.</p>
<p>Despite stereotypes, biases and a late start in the business, women’s soccer keeps growing; the most recent World Cup shattered <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/australia-new-zealand2023/media-releases/staggering-statistics-demonstrate-fifa-womens-world-cup-tm-growth">viewership records</a> in multiple countries. </p>
<p>Clearly, there’s a market. And clearly, it has plenty of room to grow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213837/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A common criticism of women’s sports is that female players aren’t as entertaining or skilled as their male counterparts. Two researchers decided to put this notion to the test.Carlos Gómez González, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of ZurichCornel Nesseler, Associate Professor of Economics, University of StavangerLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1949942023-02-02T13:23:01Z2023-02-02T13:23:01ZHow legalized sports betting has transformed the fan experience<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507660/original/file-20230201-9483-d3kdz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5434%2C3368&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">DraftKings is one of a handful of sportsbooks that have been advertising during live sporting events.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/detail-view-of-a-draftkings-sportsbook-advertisement-during-news-photo/1433395123?phrase=draftkings sportsbook&adppopup=true">Brett Carlsen/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A couple of days before Christmas, I went to see the NHL’s Nashville Predators play on their home ice against the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.</p>
<p>Amid all the silliness of a modern pro sports experience – the home team skating out of a giant saber-toothed tiger head, the mistletoe kiss cam, a small rock band playing seasonal hits between periods – there was a steady stream of advertising for <a href="https://www.draftkings.com">DraftKings</a>, a company known as a sportsbook that takes bets on athletic events and pays out winnings.</p>
<p>Its name flashed prominently on the Jumbotron above center ice as starting lineups were announced. Its logo appeared again when crews scurried out to clean the ice during timeouts. Not only was “DraftKings Sportsbook” on the yellow jackets worn by the people shoveling up the ice shavings, it was also on the carts they used to collect the ice. </p>
<p>This all came a few days after the Predators <a href="https://www.nhl.com/predators/news/betmgm-named-an-official-sports-betting-partner-of-nashville-predators/c-338972672">announced a multiyear partnership with another sportsbook, BetMGM</a>, that will include not only signage at their home venue, Bridgestone Arena, but also a BetMGM restaurant and bar.</p>
<p>If I had cared to that evening, I could have gone onto the sports betting app on my smartphone and placed a wager on the game. Tennessee is one of <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/">33 states plus the District of Columbia</a> where sports betting is legal. On Jan. 31, 2023, <a href="https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampden-county/legal-sports-betting-in-massachusetts-begins-tuesday/">Massachusetts became the latest state to legalize the practice</a>.</p>
<p>The point of depicting the whole scene is simply this: In the nearly five years since the Supreme Court allowed states <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/supreme-court-sports-betting-new-jersey.html">to legalize sports betting</a>, a whole industry has sprouted up that, for tens of millions of fans around the country, is now just part of the show.</p>
<p>Betting’s seamless integration into American sports – impossible to ignore even among fans who aren’t wagering – represents a remarkable shift for an activity that was banned in much of the country only a few years ago.</p>
<h2>A new sports world</h2>
<p>Let’s look at the numbers for a start.</p>
<p>Since May 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a law that limited sports betting to four states including Nevada, US$180.2 billion has been legally wagered on sports, according to the American Gaming Association’s research arm. That has generated $13.7 billion in revenue for the sportsbooks, according to figures provided to me by the AGA, the industry’s research and lobby group.</p>
<p>Before the NFL kicked off last September, the <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/new/record-46-6-million-americans-plan-to-wager-on-2022-nfl-season/">AGA reported</a> that 18% of American adults – more than 46 million people – planned to make a bet this season. Most of that was likely to be bet through legal channels, as opposed to so-called corner bookies, or illegal operatives.</p>
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<p>So, who’s betting on sports? In an interview, David Forman, the AGA’s vice president for research, told me that compared with traditional gamblers – those who might play slots, for instance – “sports bettors are a different demographic. They’re younger, they’re more male, they’re also higher income.”</p>
<p>They’re people like Christian Santosuosso, a 26-year-old creative marketing professional living in Brooklyn, New York. Santosuosso didn’t bet on games until it became legal. Now he and his buddies will pool their money on an NFL Sunday to spice up both the interest in a game and the conversation in the room.</p>
<p>“It’s entertainment,” he told me in a phone interview. He explained that even a tough gambling loss can be amusing or funny, a way to look back on the mistakes your team made that ended up affecting whether you won the bet. But he added that he has a limit on how much he’ll bet.</p>
<h2>Coverage and conversation</h2>
<p>Shortly after Supreme Court ruling in 2018, I wrote a piece for <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-states-legalize-sports-betting-will-sports-media-go-all-in-98686">The Conversation</a> asking if the media would start to produce content aimed at bettors. </p>
<p>The answer has been an unequivocal “yes” – and it seems to have helped change the way sports betting is talked about. </p>
<p>As I write this, if I look at the front page of ESPN.com, I see that the University of Georgia is a 13.5-point favorite over Texas Christian University in the college football national championship. It’s front and center, right next to the kickoff time and the TV network where it’s airing.</p>
<p>But that’s the least of it. </p>
<p>ESPN has broadcast a gaming show since 2019, “Daily Wager.” In September 2022, the sports conglomerate announced <a href="https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2022/09/espn-expands-sports-betting-content-portfolio/">an array of new content</a> centered on betting advice and picks. And SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt is famous for his <a href="https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/espn-has-given-scott-van-pelts-bad-beats-segment-a-monthly-show.html">“Bad Beats” segment</a>, in which Van Pelt typically highlights how a team on the winning side of the point spread falls apart at the last second in a crazy way.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a cottage industry of betting tip channels has emerged on YouTube – if you type “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/sportsbetting">#sportsbetting</a>” into YouTube’s search bar, you’ll find thousands of them.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Gambling-centered programming is now a regular feature of sports media.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Another example of how things have changed: On Jan. 2, 2023, the University of Utah’s football team had the ball first and goal with 43 seconds left, down 21 points to Penn State in the Rose Bowl. The game was essentially over. However, the commentators noted that a touchdown would mean a lot to some people.</p>
<p>Who? Why? The announcers didn’t elaborate, but the implication was obvious: Those who had bet the over – wagering that together the two teams would score more than 54 points – had a lot riding on that touchdown. So, in a sense, did ESPN. In a blowout, fans of both teams are likely to tune out. But when there’s money riding on something like the over, eyes stay glued to the screen. </p>
<p>Utah ended up scoring on third down with 25 seconds remaining. <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401442014">Final score</a>: Penn State 35, Utah 21. </p>
<h2>The danger and the ceiling</h2>
<p>I’ve been editing sports articles since the early 1990s and have run <a href="https://www.bellisario.psu.edu/people/individual/john-affleck">the sports journalism program at Penn State</a> since 2013. I have noticed how my students now routinely talk about the point spread – the expected margin of victory – and even the over-under, a wager on the total number of points scored.</p>
<p>That just did not happen so often when I first got to State College, nor in the newsroom before that.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Magazine cover with basketball hoop filled with dollar bills." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">For decades, fears of game fixing – and the ways in which it would taint the image of sports leagues – made gambling a taboo among league executives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://sicovers.com/featured/boston-college-point-shaving-scheme-february-16-1981-sports-illustrated-cover.html">Sports Illustrated</a></span>
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<p>Sports leagues were once <a href="https://www.si.com/betting/2021/08/09/gambling-issue-daily-cover">vehemently opposed to gambling</a>. And while they’re still concerned <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/07/1085045547/nfl-receiver-calvin-ridley-suspended-for-2022-season-after-gambling-on-games">about keeping players from betting</a>, many leagues – particularly the NFL – have made a complete U-turn since legalization.</p>
<p>There are multiple reasons for this change of heart. While the concern used to be about <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gambling-built-baseball-and-then-almost-destroyed-it-123254">losing the integrity of the game to a betting scandal</a>, now sports leagues can argue that legal betting allows for better monitoring of potential cheating. If heavy betting happens on one team, or if there’s sudden shift in betting patterns, it’s all visible to the sportsbooks and might indicate nefarious activity. </p>
<p>There’s also <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/09/14/as-more-states-legalize-the-practice-19-of-u-s-adults-say-they-have-bet-money-on-sports-in-the-past-year/">significant fan interest in legal wagering</a> – 56% of Americans adults, and nearly 7 in 10 men, recently told Pew that they’ve read at least a little about how widespread legal sports betting has become.</p>
<p>And, of course, there is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/26/tech-gambling-alcohol-helped-nfl-earn-almost-2-billion-in-sponsorships.html">big money from a new sponsorship group</a> – the sportsbooks – that helped drive overall NFL sponsorship revenue to a record $1.8 billion in the 2021 season. </p>
<p>The danger, of course, is <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gambling-disorder/what-is-gambling-disorder">gambling addiction</a>.</p>
<p>And while the AGA is quick to note that its member companies pledge to <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/resources/responsible-gaming-regulations-and-statutes-guide/">give information about problem gambling to their customers</a>, legalization has undoubtedly provided <a href="https://theconversation.com/access-to-sports-betting-in-the-us-has-exploded-since-2018-and-were-just-starting-to-learn-about-the-effects-192055">easier and more secure access to sports betting</a>. </p>
<p>Keith Whyte, executive director of the <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/">National Council on Problem Gambling</a>, said in a telephone interview that research by his group had found that roughly 25% of American adults bet on sports, somewhat more than the AGA’s estimate. That percentage has jumped from roughly 15% before the Supreme Court ruling, per the NCPG.</p>
<p>While that’s a big increase, it also suggests that perhaps there is a ceiling coming up – in other words, when all the states that will do so legalize sports betting, wagering still won’t be done by many more people than now, Whyte speculated.</p>
<p>“I think it’s changing the market in a lot of ways,” Whyte said, “but my guess is it’s mainly to increase the intensity – and associated risk of problem gambling – among fans that were already engaged fans.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194994/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Affleck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The opportunity to place bets has changed the way games look, the way they’re talked about – and, of course, how many people have money riding on the outcome.John Affleck, Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1930522022-11-07T13:34:54Z2022-11-07T13:34:54ZPickleball’s uphill climb to mainstream success<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492796/original/file-20221101-25191-t2wwl3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C11%2C3892%2C2595&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For every headline about pickleball’s miraculous growth, you can also find stories about conflicts and infighting.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jorja-johnson-of-the-hard-eights-holds-her-franklin-paddle-news-photo/1434128821?phrase=pickleball&adppopup=true">Emilee Chinn/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most newer sports are hybrids of older ones, and pickleball is no exception. The progeny of tennis, badminton and pingpong, pickleball is played by singles or doubles teams who hit a ball back and forth over a 3-foot-high net until one opponent commits a fault.</p>
<p>In 1965, the <a href="https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/history-of-the-game/">inventors of pickleball</a> played with what they had – a repurposed badminton setup, pingpong paddles and a perforated plastic ball. </p>
<p>Today’s <a href="https://usapickleball.org/about-us/organizational-docs/pickleball-fact-sheet/">4.8 million</a> American pickleballers have much more to play with: In the U.S. there are <a href="https://usapickleball.org/about-us/organizational-docs/pickleball-fact-sheet/">38,140</a> courts, <a href="https://www.si.com/sports-illustrated/2022/05/24/pickleball-fastest-growing-sport-daily-cover">300</a> manufacturers of pickleball equipment and
<a href="https://usapickleball.org/get-involved/pickleball-clubs/">hundreds</a> of grassroots clubs.</p>
<p>There’s been a good amount of speculation about the explosion of pickleball’s popularity. But now the sport seems poised to burst into the mainstream, with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/sports/major-league-pickleball.html">Lebron James</a> and other luminaries of the NBA and NFL recently announcing large investments in the professional circuit.</p>
<p>Still, the young sport is not immune to growing pains. As I argue in my book “<a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-76457-9">Emerging Sports as Social Movements</a>,” the popularity of some fledgling sports may seem self-evident in splashy headlines. But their less visible social undercurrents ultimately shape whether they’ll continue to attract new players and fans. </p>
<h2>Pickleball’s feudal period</h2>
<p>For an organized sport to grow, it needs structure – a common set of rules, rankings, equipment standards, scheduled events and a sense of identity that can unite players and fans.</p>
<p>At present, pickleball’s social fabric is spread thin and woven together by a network of competing interests. For every headline about pickleball’s miraculous growth you can also find stories about conflicts and infighting among various leagues and governing bodies, as well as between pickleballers and tennis players.</p>
<p>The sport has three professional leagues battling for control of the pickleball kingdom. It has two international governing bodies: the International Federation of Pickleball and the World Pickleball Federation. The lesser lords of pickleball also <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/25/can-pickleball-save-america">feud with tennis players</a> over dual-use courts and plans for expansion in public parks, with reports of “<a href="https://jezebel.com/pickleball-turf-wars-are-the-niche-drama-ravaging-the-c-1849678697">turf wars</a>” and “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/20/pickleball-growth-tennis/">a tug-of-war</a>” between the two racket sports.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.si.com/sports-illustrated/2022/05/24/pickleball-fastest-growing-sport-daily-cover">Picklebalkanization</a>,” anyone?</p>
<p>Internal squabbles are common in emerging sports movements. Cornhole, disc golf and esports, for instance, have faced <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-76457-9">similar challenges</a>. In some cases, conflict can be a good thing. It may spur innovation. But it can also leave some would-be fans, sponsors and players wondering whom they should watch, invest in or play for.</p>
<p>Compared with traditional racket sports, pickleball is less expensive, requires less space and may be more compatible with the aches and pains that come with age. And unlike other emerging sports, pickleball’s future seems bright. But for now it has more in common with <a href="https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-03781-3.html">French feudalism</a> of the ninth century – when territorial disputes were commonplace – than a modern unified sport movement headed for the Olympics.</p>
<h2>Birds of a feather dink together</h2>
<p>If two strangers meet in a bar and happen to share an interest in pickleball, they won’t be strangers for long. Shared passion is the glue and fuel of emerging sports communities. But the human tendency to bond with those who are like us also poses a problem for sports seeking to achieve widespread popularity.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.415">Sociological studies</a> show that our love of sameness partly explains why our groups and social networks tend to be homogeneous, such as male-dominated occupations, predominantly white community groups, and friendship circles united by a single religion. For grassroots sports, which spread through social networks, the sameness problem can limit growth by narrowing the flock to those with similar feathers.</p>
<p>Pickleball insiders like to talk about the sport’s relatively balanced <a href="https://usapickleball.org/about-us/organizational-docs/pickleball-fact-sheet/">gender ratio</a>, which stands at roughly 60% to 70% men and 30% to 40% women. The newest professional league, Major League Pickleball, is promoting the sport through <a href="https://www.majorleaguepickleball.net/mlp-descriptions">mixed-gender competitions</a>, with teams comprising two men and two women – a unique format in the male-dominated world of pro sports.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492797/original/file-20221101-23-ykkbxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Female pickleball player lunges toward a ball to return a shot." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492797/original/file-20221101-23-ykkbxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492797/original/file-20221101-23-ykkbxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492797/original/file-20221101-23-ykkbxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492797/original/file-20221101-23-ykkbxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492797/original/file-20221101-23-ykkbxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492797/original/file-20221101-23-ykkbxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492797/original/file-20221101-23-ykkbxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pickleball seems to have more gender parity than other sports.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/melanie-beckstrand-returns-a-shot-against-kelly-mceniry-news-photo/1421105751?phrase=pickleball&adppopup=true">Ronald Martinez/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But grassroots sports sprout from the ground up, and long-term growth depends partly on the demographic diversity of core players. Pickleball may be trending younger, but one-third of its avid players are of <a href="https://usapickleball.org/about-us/organizational-docs/pickleball-fact-sheet/">retirement age</a>. Roughly half the population of pickleball players probably saw the Apollo 11 moon landing. Calculating accurate statistics on niche communities is difficult, but based on my review of multiple academic and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/02/19/1081257674/americas-fastest-growing-sport-pickleball">journalistic sources</a>, pickleballers are predominantly older, white, affluent and suburban. For instance, two survey-based studies with large samples estimated the proportion of white players at <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31629346/">93.5%</a> and <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/japa/27/1/article-p28.xml">94.1%</a>.</p>
<p>Demographic homogeneity is a tough trend to buck. Of course, some sports, like golf and NASCAR, have expanded their reach <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/which-sports-have-the-whitest-richest-oldest-fans/283626/">without solving the sameness problem</a>. But given the nation’s reckoning around race and gender, a successful push for greater diversity could be the one thing that separates pickleball from the crowd of dreamer upstarts.</p>
<h2>Will the revolution even need to be televised?</h2>
<p>That sports grow when mainstream media pay attention to them seems obvious. Increased media coverage from ESPN or CBS attracts more participants and consumers, enticing sponsors and fostering stronger sport institutions.</p>
<p>Yet, as a growth strategy, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/07/24/744775904/cornhole-and-other-less-traditional-sports-gather-more-attention">buying airtime</a> on ESPN – which sports like cornhole and ax throwing are doing – may provide little more than airy hope. As pickleball strives to expand its audience, it faces stiff competition from traditional sports brands like the NFL and NBA, as well as emerging brands like esports, mixed martial arts, disc golf, cornhole, drone racing, round net, darts and ax throwing.</p>
<p>With so many options, some sports just won’t make it big. The history of emerging sports is filled with booms and busts. Interest in gambling sports like jai alai and horse racing has <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/longform/2013/2/28/4036934/jai-alai-sport-in-america-miami">declined tremendously</a> since the late 20th century. ESPN’s X Games popularized alternative sports like <a href="https://www.goskate.com/top/47-facts-about-x-games-skateboarding/">skateboarding</a> in the late 1990s, but some disciplines, like <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/x-games">street luge</a>, were left behind. Drop “poker” in a <a href="https://trends.google.com/trends">Google Trends</a> search box and you’ll see that the Texas hold ‘em boom lasted for about three years, from 2004 to 2006.</p>
<p>The next big thing in sports may not boom at all. Given that younger consumers are <a href="https://www.theringer.com/sports/2021/4/15/22385705/live-sports-streaming-wars-future-industry">migrating to streaming services</a>, the revolution may not be televised to a mass audience but instead will be streamed to die-hard fans. </p>
<p>Niche sports like pickleball may have an advantage as sports spectatorship fragments. For small sports, a modest audience with slow but steady growth could be a recipe for sustainable success. There are numerous options for watching pickleball matches, such as YouTube channels, livestreams via Facebook, fuboTV, and some coverage on broadcast and cable channels, but demand for live coverage <a href="https://www.thedinkpickleball.com/zane-explains-3/">remains modest</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, with so many shiny new sports to choose from, the winners will be determined not by flashy media exposure or top-down commercial forces but rather by bottom-up community development. No matter how hot the publicity gets around pickleball, the consumer base for watching the sport will draw heavily on people who already love playing it. The love of any sport has roots in culture – not commerce.</p>
<p>If pickleball lives up to the hype, it will do so on the backs of volunteers and grassroots organizers who can transform a loose network of casual players into an international community of pickleball fanatics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193052/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Josh Woods does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Headlines about pickleball’s exploding popularity abound. But the less visible social undercurrents of an emerging sport ultimately shape its long-term future.Josh Woods, Professor of Sociology, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1890242022-08-31T12:30:23Z2022-08-31T12:30:23ZSerena Williams forced sports journalists to get out of the ‘toy box’ – and cover tennis as more than a game<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481841/original/file-20220830-33371-wi1js8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=562%2C217%2C4440%2C3113&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Serena Williams serves in her quarterfinal match during the 2019 Australian Open.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/serena-williams-of-the-united-states-serves-in-her-quarter-news-photo/1086511466?adppopup=true">Cameron Spencer/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Of the many outstanding components of her game, Serena Williams may best be known for her commanding serve. </p>
<p>Those serves, unleashed over the course of a 27-year professional career, arguably <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/28/serena-williams-legacy-final-us-open/">heightened the power and intensity of the women’s game</a>, forcing her opponents to game plan for each wicked volley.</p>
<p>To those chronicling her exploits as one of the world’s best tennis players, Williams served up a different challenge. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=khknZE8AAAAJ&hl=en">As a scholar of sports journalism</a>, I have observed how its practitioners have <a href="https://www.peterlang.com/document/1140692">struggled to find</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2015-0072">their</a> <a href="https://pennstate.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/the-rene-portland-case-new-homophobia-and-heterosexism-in-womens-/fingerprints/">footing</a> when it comes to establishing consensus about what exactly constitutes good sports journalism.</p>
<p>Williams’ presence as a Black woman in a historically white, patriarchal sport, her commitment to activism and her willingness to bare her personal challenges to the public forced sports journalists to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2020.1785323">reevaluate professional norms</a> that urged them to focus only on what happened between the lines.</p>
<h2>Apolitical origins</h2>
<p>Sports journalism emerged in the late 19th century and fully established itself as a distinct journalism genre when newspaper publishers, in an effort to attract wider audiences, moved away from being <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600600629737">partisan party organs</a>. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=AJSHYloAAAAJ&citation_for_view=AJSHYloAAAAJ:Y0pCki6q_DkC">Sports quickly became</a> a lucrative way to sell newspapers.</p>
<p>Those apolitical origins shaped its future trajectory. Success often depended on access to players and front office personnel, as well as cozy relationships with league officials. Chief among the outcomes of that arrangement was the <a href="https://sk.sagepub.com/books/sports-journalism-context-and-issues">general reluctance</a> among sports journalists to cast a critical eye toward the role sports plays in our communities and greater society.</p>
<p>In general, Americans often imagine sports as aligned with the values they hold dear. Journalists and public officials regularly talk about sports as the embodiment of a meritocracy and a reflection of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479516676577">power of the individual</a> to overcome any biases or challenges.</p>
<p>Such media narratives fail to address how sports, despite all their feel-good moments, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690214538864">play a role</a> in contributing to forms of discrimination and alienation.</p>
<h2>Reporters play in the toy box</h2>
<p>By the late 20th century – just when Williams was emerging as a tennis star – the industry had turned into an <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429497216-8/money-myth-big-match-david-rowe">enormous multimedia profit-making enterprise</a> at a time when newspapers’ ad revenue <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/4/28/5661250/newspaper-print-ad-revenue-has-declined-73-in-15-years">was starting to crumble</a>.</p>
<p>Sports journalists had come to be seen by their news peers as playing in a proverbial “<a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/469384/pdf?casa_token=_iX93p-6caMAAAAA:7hHQUArmrKmDKvVv_Qs-0IXadIRNp2imm4xwTw7GP0gJoZYJV0LcNgxjicu4LyrgFl3jB7Ja09k">toy box</a>” within the wider newsroom. That is to say, their colleagues saw them as frivolous, lacking in a serious approach. They weren’t there to serve as watchdogs or contribute solutions, through their reporting, to issues affecting the nation or local communities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman returns a tennis shot." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481825/original/file-20220830-29386-4sambv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481825/original/file-20220830-29386-4sambv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481825/original/file-20220830-29386-4sambv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481825/original/file-20220830-29386-4sambv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481825/original/file-20220830-29386-4sambv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481825/original/file-20220830-29386-4sambv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481825/original/file-20220830-29386-4sambv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Serena Williams stretches for a backhand during the 1998 French Open when she was 16 years old.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/serena-williams-of-the-usa-stretches-for-a-backhand-during-news-photo/1292873?adppopup=true">Clive Brunskill /Allsport via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Instead, sports journalists simply became known as sports gurus adept at parsing the finer points of a football receiver’s routes or debating the merits of a basketball team’s zone defense.</p>
<p>And so when Williams turned professional in 1995 at the age of 14, early coverage sidestepped conversations about the the unique kinds of gendered racism that a Black girl from a working-class California neighborhood might face on the professional tour. </p>
<p>As sociologist <a href="https://grsj.arts.ubc.ca/profile/delia-douglas/">Delia Douglas</a> has explained, tennis has a history as being accessible only to people who can afford to play at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934711410880">resorts, country clubs and tennis academies</a>. It is also a sport with <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/29242699">different rules</a> for men and women, a practice that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/29242699">contributes to stereotypes</a> about women athletes as weak, or less interesting, than their male peers.</p>
<p>But the context of Williams’ entry into professional tennis often went unacknowledged. Coverage instead focused on the <a href="https://vault.si.com/vault/1999/09/20/father-knew-best-with-her-galvanizing-win-at-the-us-open-serena-williams-proved-dad-righthe-predicted-that-she-not-older-sister-venus-would-be-the-better-playerbut-may-have-created-family-tension">efforts of her father to train his daughters</a>, <a href="https://vault.si.com/vault/1998/02/02/slice-girls-serena-and-venus-williams-cut-up-some-top-foesand-did-some-cutting-up-themselvesin-australia">the passing of the baton from Venus to Serena</a>, and the sisters’ <a href="https://vault.si.com/vault/1999/03/22/serenas-at-peace-with-herself-after-back-to-back-titles-serena-williams-has-no-doubt-she-can-win-big">style of play</a>. Moreover, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=NJjI-vMAAAAJ&citation_for_view=NJjI-vMAAAAJ:e5wmG9Sq2KIC">woven through that coverage</a> was an underlying suggestion that Serena Williams did not fit within the definition of respectable tennis, as reporters commented on her fashion choices or wondered if her style of play was damaging the women’s game. </p>
<h2>Sports don’t happen in a vacuum</h2>
<p>Practicing sports journalism by “sticking to sports” leaves reporters ill-equipped to cover news events that demand a wider lens. </p>
<p>Such was the case in 2001 when fans at the Indian Wells tennis tournament subjected the Williams sisters to <a href="https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/32655164/serena-williams-haunted-booing-jeers-indian-wells-tennis-tournament-2001">traumatizing racist insults</a>, an experience that led the duo to boycott the event for 14 years. </p>
<p>Researchers who studied the event found that most of the ensuing media coverage focused solely on the incident itself and provided <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723504264411">little insight</a> to address the forms of whiteness and patriarchy ingrained in pro tennis.</p>
<p>This type of journalism is often described as episodic, in that it casts a light solely on the singular event, divorcing it from the forces that contributed to the specific situation. This framing technique is not uncommon in sports journalism. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2019.1703233">Coverage of the U.S. women’s gymnastics coach Larry Nassar</a>, who was convicted of abusing dozens of athletes under his care, tended to focus on individual victim stories, while framing Nassar as “one bad apple.” And <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479518817759">stories chronicling intimate partner violence</a> committed by NFL players have a history of being framed similarly – a crime carried out by a singular individual, separate from a system that may foster violence toward women. </p>
<p>But Williams demanded sports journalists do more than analyze her serve. She has spoken publicly from her own experiences about the tragedy of <a href="https://www.ebony.com/serena-williams-shares-her-near-fatal-birthing-story1/">subpar maternal care for Black women</a>. She <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4437584/serena-williams-sexism/">asked journalists</a> assembled at her post-championship match news conference at the U.S. Open in 2018 – where she had argued with the judge and been deducted a point – whether a man would be so acutely penalized for doing the same thing. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uzv8raxgPBQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Serena Williams questions whether she would have been penalized in the same way if she were a man at the 2018 U.S. Open.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>She has pushed the boundaries of women’s tennis, and in doing so, has insisted that women be treated better by journalists and event organizers, calling for an end to the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/serena-williams-sports-gender-inequality/">pay disparities between men and women</a> on the professional tours. </p>
<p>Scholarship on sports journalism suggests the boundaries of the genre are rapidly changing. And the field is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2020.1785323">shedding its stick-to-sports ethos</a>, in part, due to activist-minded athletes like Serena Williams.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189024/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erin Whiteside does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There is no understating the impact Williams has had on the game itself. But her role in helping sports journalists reimagine the scope of their work is a key part of her enduring legacy.Erin Whiteside, Associate Professor of Journalism and Electronic Media, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1668792021-09-01T21:54:13Z2021-09-01T21:54:13ZParalympians still don’t get the kind of media attention they deserve as elite athletes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418775/original/file-20210831-27-10rp3nz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4436%2C2955&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Manuela Schaer of Switzerland, right, and Tatyana McFadden of the United States, second from right, compete in the women's 1500m wheelchair racing T54 final during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With <a href="https://www.paralympic.org/news/tokyo-2020-paralympics-set-break-all-broadcast-viewing-records">no international spectators and limited domestic crowds</a>, the importance placed on broadcasting the Paralympic Games is greater than ever before. When the Games were postponed in 2020, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons argued that the Paralympics were needed more than ever to put disability back at the <a href="https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/paralympics/news/ipc-president-paralympics-needed-more-than-ever-in-2021">heart of the inclusion agenda</a>. </p>
<p>With the highest estimated global viewership to date, at <a href="https://www.paralympic.org/news/tokyo-2020-paralympics-set-break-all-broadcast-viewing-records">4.25 billion total viewers</a>, Parsons was convinced that <a href="https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/paralympics/news/ipc-president-paralympics-needed-more-than-ever-in-2021">media representation of the Paralympic Games</a> would help “change attitudes, breakdown barriers of inequality and create more opportunities for persons with disabilities.”</p>
<p>But has the media represented Paralympic athletes in a way that can change attitudes about disability? Our <a href="https://library.olympics.com/Default/doc/SYRACUSE/471442/canadian-media-representations-of-para-athletes-at-the-2016-paralympic-games-erin-pearson-laura-mise?_lg=en-GB">recent analysis</a> found Canadian media coverage of Paralympians at the 2016 Rio Games fell into four main categories: athlete first, stereotyped, informative and multidimensional.</p>
<h2>Athlete first</h2>
<p>From a positive perspective, we found that many Paralympians were represented as athletes first. While not necessarily the most dominant approach, this frame was at the forefront of coverage. </p>
<p>In athlete first coverage, media referred to Paralympic sporting events as high-performance sport competitions, highlighted the dedication and training of athletes and focused on their results and accomplishments — all aspects of sports coverage we normally only see for able-bodied athletes. </p>
<p>Historically, this has not been the primary way of representing Paralympians, as stereotypical representations of disability <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2017.1397775">remain prevelant</a>. But we are starting to see this narrative used more often, especially with the coverage of the Tokyo Paralympics. </p>
<h2>Overcoming disability</h2>
<p>Despite the positive shift towards representing Paralympians as athletes first, stereotypical ways of covering Paralympians remain dominant in media coverage; this is the most common way they have been represented over the past two decades.</p>
<p>One of the most common stereotypes we saw used was the “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0193723511433865">supercrip narrative</a>.” This narrative frames disability as an individual problem that a person must “overcome” to achieve success. Paralympians were heralded as “superheroes” because they were able to “overcome” their disabilities to participate in the Paralympic Games. The media often used the word “participate” and not “compete” when describing Paralympians. </p>
<p>Other stereotypical narratives of coverage we observed portrayed Paralympians as “cyborgs” whose <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-297-enhanced-athletes-venezuelan-diaper-hoarders-gawker-s-founder-declares-bankruptcy-and-more-1.3707540/should-athletes-be-allowed-to-hack-their-bodies-to-get-an-edge-1.3707544">success was owed to their adaptive technologies</a>, such as running blades, rather than their athletic abilities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Athlete with blade prosthetic in the middle of long jumping" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418965/original/file-20210901-22-1u65j9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418965/original/file-20210901-22-1u65j9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418965/original/file-20210901-22-1u65j9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418965/original/file-20210901-22-1u65j9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418965/original/file-20210901-22-1u65j9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418965/original/file-20210901-22-1u65j9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418965/original/file-20210901-22-1u65j9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Germany’s Markus Rehm competes during the men’s long jump T64 final in the 2020 Paralympics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also observed “comparison” narratives where a Paralympian’s success was compared to an able-bodied counterpart, often an Olympic athlete who competed in a similar event. This was highlighted when Paralympic athletes achieved similar times in races as their Olympic counterparts. This appears to be a way for the media to justify the success of a Paralympian rather than celebrating their athletic abilities in their own rights.</p>
<h2>Why are stereotypes a problem?</h2>
<p>Celebrating a Paralympian for “overcoming” their disability in order to “participate” in sport, rather than celebrating them as a high-performance athlete, devalues their athletic performance. This type of narrative perpetuates the idea that any person with a disability can overcome it if they just tried hard enough. This misrepresents the experiences of Paralympians and the everyday lives of people who live with disabilities. </p>
<p>Alongside these stereotypical representations, we also observed that only a select group of people with disabilities tended to be given coverage. <a href="https://library.olympics.com/Default/doc/SYRACUSE/471442/canadian-media-representations-of-para-athletes-at-the-2016-paralympic-games-erin-pearson-laura-mise?_lg=en-GB">Our research</a> demonstrated that athletes with less visible impairments and more innovative technologies, such as wheelchairs or blades, were represented more in coverage than athletes with more visible impairments. </p>
<p>As a result, media coverage conformed to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.1997.10484258">what society thinks an athletic body should look like</a>, and ended up not representing the diversity of bodies and abilities that compete in sport. The issue of what bodies are acceptable at the Games and what ones are shown by the media continues to be hotly debated within <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.30.1.24">the Paralympic movement</a>.</p>
<h2>More than an athlete</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Man sitting in a wheelchair on a red carpet" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418971/original/file-20210901-15-190escj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418971/original/file-20210901-15-190escj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418971/original/file-20210901-15-190escj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418971/original/file-20210901-15-190escj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418971/original/file-20210901-15-190escj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1054&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418971/original/file-20210901-15-190escj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1054&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418971/original/file-20210901-15-190escj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1054&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ade Adepitan, a decorated Paralympian in wheelchair basketball, is hosting Channel 4’s highlights show as part of a 70 per cent disabled presenting lineup for the Paralympic Games.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The other two ways we observed Paralympians being represented was through informative and multidimensional frames. The informative frame focused on educating viewers about the Paralympic movement, disability sports and included articles written by Paralympians. The increase in <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/paralympics/paralympics-presenters-channel-4-team-b1907462.html">media commentary from former Paralympic athletes</a> supports this approach. </p>
<p>This is a step in the right direction, as it helps create a fan base for disability sport while providing a platform for Paralympians to share their perspectives and control their representation. </p>
<p>The multidimensional frame was another positive example of media coverage that addressed their roles outside of being an athlete. Stories that highlighted their roles as parents, spouses, children and friends were used to connect with audiences in a way that had been typically absent from Paralympic coverage previously. </p>
<h2>What about Tokyo 2020 coverage?</h2>
<p>The Tokyo 2020 Paralympics is the most widely broadcasted Games to date, and it’s encouraging to see a steady increase in the quantity and quality of coverage. The diversity of the coverage has also increased, and is comparable to what’s seen with able-bodied sports. It has also spread across a wide range of <a href="https://paralympic.ca/news/most-comprehensive-broadcast-and-digital-coverage-plan-set-tokyo-2020-paralympic-games-across">social media channels and platforms</a>, such as <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@paralympics?lang=en">TikTok</a>.</p>
<p>What we hope to see, in terms of the quality of media coverage, is a focus on athlete first framing that steers clear of stereotypical representations of Paralympians. That way all athletes can be celebrated as the elite, high performance athletes they train to be. </p>
<p>Earlier, we asked if media representations of the Paralympics can change attitudes about disability. We think they can if Paralympians are represented in non-stereotypical ways. The Paralympic Games have the ability to raise awareness and start important conversations about disability, but it’s important to remember the context of what we are watching and to not homogenize the experience of a Paralympian as the everyday <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.748648">lived experience of people with disabilities</a>. </p>
<p>What’s most important, however, is that conversations about disability, and campaigns such as <a href="https://www.wethe15.org/">#WeThe15</a> — a human rights campaign headed by the IPC and UNESCO to end discrimination against people with disabilities — continue beyond the Paralympics’ two-week life span. Tangible actions, not just rhetoric, need to occur 365 days a year to truly ensure that positive changes are made for people with disabilities across all areas of life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166879/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erin Pearson receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Misener receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>The media determines how Paralympians are depicted to viewers. What it chooses to focus on can help change attitudes about disability.Erin Pearson, PhD Student in Kinesiology, Western UniversityLaura Misener, Associate Professor & Director, School of Kinesiology, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1658562021-08-10T12:25:45Z2021-08-10T12:25:45ZBeyond the ratings, NBC’s Olympics telecast showed video’s future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415295/original/file-20210809-25-fg45dp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C33%2C7399%2C4892&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The cameras at the Olympics supplied video to television broadcasts – and to online streams.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/TokyoOlympicsAthletics/44c831ed99094c38bf062d64a23a20fa/photo">AP Photo/David J. Phillip</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>NBC’s Olympic Games programming from Tokyo has proved <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/nbc-sets-olympic-ad-sales-record-coronavirus-uncertainty-1282384/">a historic success</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps you’ve heard otherwise. Much reporting <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/business/media/nbc-olympics-tv-ratings.html">focused upon the decline</a> in traditional Olympic TV ratings. On Twitter, Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi went so far as to call the precipitous viewership decline <a href="https://twitter.com/farhip/status/1419867521486884869">a “catastrophic” development</a> for NBC.</p>
<p>Ratings still matter. But focusing narrowly on ratings mistakenly applies a 20th-century audience metric to a 21st-century event. The classic audience measurement can’t conclusively determine NBC’s success. In evaluating the Tokyo Games by traditional TV measures, critics miss NBC’s insight about how <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics-ratings-slide-points-toward-new-tv-viewing-reality-152607228.html">media consumption is changing</a>.</p>
<p>No TV programming other than the Olympics assembles <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/business/media/nbc-olympics-tv-ratings.html">almost 17 million viewers</a>, every night, for two weeks, as the Tokyo Games did. Even if NBC ends up re-airing ads at no charge to make up for lower-than-expected on-air ratings, network officials <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-30/olympics-ratings-slump-forces-nbc-to-haggle-with-advertisers">remained confident</a> that the Olympics coverage would be profitable. That’s no surprise, as NBC signed up more “premium advertisers” than in 2016 and <a href="https://www.adweek.com/convergent-tv/nbcuniversal-surpasses-rios-1-2-billion-advertising-haul-for-tokyo-olympics/">set a record in advance advertising sales</a>, with US$1.25 billion booked before the torch was lit.</p>
<p>Yet broadcast television comprised only one component of NBC’s distribution mix. The Tokyo Games provided enormous amounts of video content divorced from a single channel. Americans watched on phones, on laptops, through cable partners such as NBC owner Comcast and via streaming apps – as well as on traditional broadcast TV. Viewers shared clips across social media, providing free promotion and clicks, and, though the data is not yet available, it’s likely that <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/peacock-hits-54m-subscribers-amid-tokyo-olympics-1234990045/">many purchased subscriptions</a> directly from NBC’s Peacock TV streaming service. Streaming on the Peacock app showed a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-30/olympics-ratings-slump-forces-nbc-to-haggle-with-advertisers">24% rise over 2016</a>, and at one point, the app <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2021/07/peacock-olympics-nbc-why-so-bad.html">reached its largest audience ever</a>.</p>
<p>With a few rare exceptions, the Olympics have historically been profitable for U.S. broadcasters while giving viewers a glimpse of the future of media. As <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/36dtk7pp9780252040702.html">my research on Olympic broadcasting</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YxTJsxoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">has</a> detailed, media innovations that eventually become commonplace are often first introduced at the Games.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415299/original/file-20210809-23-43x7qv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white image of a cameraman on a crane above a crowd" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415299/original/file-20210809-23-43x7qv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415299/original/file-20210809-23-43x7qv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415299/original/file-20210809-23-43x7qv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415299/original/file-20210809-23-43x7qv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415299/original/file-20210809-23-43x7qv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415299/original/file-20210809-23-43x7qv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415299/original/file-20210809-23-43x7qv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 1936, cameras transmitted live images of the Olympic Games to viewing rooms elsewhere in the host city of Berlin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/1936SummerOlympics/914693463ae5da11af9f0014c2589dfb/photo">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Olympics and video innovation</h2>
<p>Since 1936, the Olympic Games have demonstrated the future of video distribution. The Berlin Games that year were distributed on the world’s first regularly scheduled television service. Although the images beamed into theaters around Berlin turned out to be largely disappointing due to lighting and technical issues, viewers were amazed at being able to observe an event occurring miles away in real time.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most innovative Olympic broadcast occurred in 1968, when ABC employed several new technologies in Mexico City. Color TV cameras had, until then, been bulky and onerous to use outside a studio, but <a href="https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/Museum/Visit/TOM-Schools/Teaching-Resources/Broadcasting-the-Olympic-Games/FicheInfo_DiffusionJO_TV_ENG.pdf">ABC engineers introduced a new, smaller color camera at the Games</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps more important, the experimental stage of live intercontinental satellite video relay that had <a href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/june/our-world">begun in the early 1960s</a> concluded successfully when the Mexico City Olympics showed it was possible to provide live intercontinental satellite programming over two full weeks of events. The future of watching events, <a href="https://www.teamusa.org/News/2018/October/25/12-Ways-The-Mexico-City-1968-Olympic-Games-Influenced-The-Course-Of-History">in color</a> and beamed from around the planet as they occurred, had arrived.</p>
<p>The broadcasting of the Barcelona Games in 1992 was the <a href="https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_254-romero.pdf">first global TV programming to provide two full signals for every event</a> – one in high definition and one standard. I worked for Radio Televisión Olímpica at the baseball venue that year, and I remember watching Japanese announcers installing specialized HD equipment because NHK, Japan’s Olympic broadcaster, was <a href="https://www.nhk.or.jp/digitalmuseum/nhk50years_en/categories/p58/index.html">the only organization making full use of HDTV</a> in 1992. I recall being dazzled by the clarity of the NHK signal.</p>
<p>NBC first tried selling broadcast service directly to viewers from Barcelona. The package was called “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5eEtjdSZn0">Olympics Triplecast</a>,” and it offered three channels of 24-hour coverage for $29.95 per day, or $125 for the whole two weeks. Olympics Triplecast was <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-10-sp-4894-story.html">widely considered a failure</a>, as U.S. audiences – habituated by decades of free Olympic TV coverage – balked at payment.</p>
<p>With the arrival of subscription streaming, it appears <a href="https://thestreamable.com/news/remembering-the-1992-olympics-triplecast-an-idea-30-years-ahead-of-its-time">Triplecast wasn’t so much a failure as too early</a>. With the collapse of advertising-supported media and the rise of streaming services training audiences to pay for content, it appears the media market has arrived at the place NBC envisioned in 1992.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Ws_3V7xd1A?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">NBC’s YouTube channel and Peacock app carried huge amounts of Olympics coverage not measured by traditional television ratings.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The audience paradox: Fewer viewers, more profits</h2>
<p>Traditional commercial broadcasting was simple: Higher ratings generally created more advertiser demand, resulting in more expensive commercials and increased profitability. Yet even this basic model was slightly wrong – as scholars have shown, ad agencies and networks always <a href="https://www.fordhampress.com/9780823253715/a-word-from-our-sponsor/">measured audiences by demographic characteristics</a>. Not all viewers were equal, as some programs with smaller audiences commanded higher prices because they moved consumer products more effectively. In general, however, the larger the audience, the higher the price.</p>
<p>But when alternatives – first cable TV, then the web and now social media – began siphoning off viewers, the old model transformed. Ratings declined everywhere, as additional options made concentrating the traditional mass audience for even huge events, like the Academy Awards, more difficult. </p>
<p>[_<a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-important">Get The Conversation’s most important politics headlines, in our Politics Weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>An ironic phenomenon then emerged: A few select video spectacles could defy the decline and make more money, even while losing viewers. The Olympics proved the most successful example, as NBC’s ratings from 2012 to 2016 <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/nbcs-ratings-for-rio-olympics-fall-behind-london-1471185907">declined about 15%</a>, yet the 2016 Rio Games produced the network’s <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2018/02/24/media/nbc-olympics-ratings-12-billion-rights/index.html">record profit for an Olympics</a>, $250 million. </p>
<p>This seems a paradox: How could smaller audiences lead to more ad revenue? The answer lies in the concept of scarcity, and the evolution of media. With so many options to choose from, programs that are able to assemble mass audiences – even if those audiences are smaller and shrinking – became more valuable precisely because there are so few of them. </p>
<p>That’s how NBC keeps selling the Games so effectively. It knows its primary customers are ad agencies, not viewers. And ad agencies understand the scarcity of the Olympic opportunity.</p>
<p>The other way NBC is generating profitability involves selling Olympic programming directly to viewers. The Olympics now consist of video content, not a television show. Success, for NBC, can’t be accurately measured until the number of paid Peacock TV subscriptions is fully tabulated and the quadrennial bump in adjacent NBC non-Olympic programming is known. The Olympics traditionally lifts everything on the network, from <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/rio-games-generate-week-2-182259334.html">The Today Show to NBC Nightly News</a>. NBC monetizes the Games in ways that many critics don’t seem to consider.</p>
<p>If <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-08/where-to-stream-tokyo-olympics-nbc-s-peacock-hosts-summer-games?sref=W6GJF3MS">paid Peacock TV subscriptions</a> do well, then we’ll all likely remember the Tokyo Games as the evolutionary moment when many Americans first realized they would need to pay up to watch live sports. “<a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/03/george_allen_and_the_future_is.html">The future is now</a>” was Hall of Fame NFL coach George Allen’s favorite saying, and when it comes to the economics of live sports programming, the Tokyo Olympics show that we’ve arrived.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165856/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael J. Socolow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Olympics are usually profitable for broadcasters and show off the future possibilities of media technologies.Michael J. Socolow, Associate Professor, Communication and Journalism, University of MaineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1553992021-02-19T11:28:21Z2021-02-19T11:28:21ZCricket: children are the key to the future of the game, not broadcast rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385026/original/file-20210218-14-1ii09lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C0%2C4532%2C3188&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jubilation: England cricket captain Joe Root celebrates a match-winning double century against India, February 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adam Davy/PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2021/feb/09/india-v-england-first-test-day-five-live">resounding victory</a> scored by England men’s cricket team in the first Test match in Chennai, India on February 9 was truly historic. India had lost only one of their most recent 35 Tests at home and had not lost in Chennai since 1999. The victory was largely assured by the England captain, Joe Root, who produced the highest ever individual score by an English player in a test in India. The icing on the cake was provided by fast bowler James Anderson, whose devastating display of swing bowling turned the momentum on the final day inexorably in England’s favour.</p>
<p>The match was also notable because it was the first time England’s test team had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/feb/03/a-long-16-year-wait-channel-4-confirms-india-v-england-test-tv-rights-cricket">appeared live</a> on UK terrestrial television since 2005. Historically England (men’s) Test matches had been deemed sporting “crown jewels” of such national interest that they must be available live and on free-to-air. But this meant the game missed out on the huge potential income from broadcast rights on pay TV. </p>
<p>The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) successfully petitioned government and at the end of 2004 it was announced that Test cricket would be <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/television-coverage-at-the-point-of-no-return-d7mvq2r5wnq">demoted to the B-list</a> after 2005, meaning it could be bought up by the likes of Sky TV for exclusive broadcast on subscription channels. Since then, with a very few exceptions, anyone not subscribing to pay TV has not been able to watch live international cricket in the UK.</p>
<p>It was terrible timing because the 2005 series was also truly remarkable, as viewers in the UK got to watch their team win a hard-fought series to break Australia’s 16-year domination of the Ashes, actually winning the trophy on home soil for the first time in 18 years. In one BBC Radio 5 Live poll in 2005, 80% of respondents stated that they now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/aug/22/mondaymediasection.bskyb">preferred cricket to football</a>. The television deal with Sky had been announced in December 2004 but grumblings <a href="https://www.thefulltoss.com/england-cricket-blog/lost-key-crown-jewels/">turned to dismay</a> in the autumn as people realised what the public would now be missing.</p>
<p>Standout England cricket victories are inevitably followed by a discussion of the potential for leveraging this public popularity. In part, this is because those who run the game or provide media coverage look enviously towards football’s wealth. Their firm belief that the game should be more popular explains, moreover, why cricket is unique in continuously tinkering with the game’s multiple formats by introducing one-day games and, more recently, the short-form T20 and (due for launch this year) <a href="https://www.thehundred.com/">The Hundred</a>, an even more abbreviated version of the game.</p>
<h2>Future of the game</h2>
<p>Ideas for expanding the game’s popularity invariably revolve around a desire to involve more children. For instance, <a href="https://www.thehundred.com/">The Hundred</a> is billed as “an unforgettable experience for the whole family”. But how realistic is that?</p>
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<img alt="A boy dressed for playing cricket stretches his leg, with other players in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385034/original/file-20210218-13-187kd8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385034/original/file-20210218-13-187kd8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385034/original/file-20210218-13-187kd8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385034/original/file-20210218-13-187kd8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385034/original/file-20210218-13-187kd8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385034/original/file-20210218-13-187kd8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385034/original/file-20210218-13-187kd8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Next generation? Primary school children would rather play cricket than watch it on television.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Rushton via Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>In a 2012 survey for the Cricket Foundation (published in the Journal of the Cricket Society in 2014 and unfortunately only available to members online), we found that even though 76.5% of primary school children played cricket at school, just 20% correctly named the England men’s captain. We found that the short-format T20 cricket was twice as popular as Test cricket among secondary school children. Only a quarter of these children had seen a live cricket match or claimed to watch England Test matches on TV.</p>
<p>While 35.8% owned an England football shirt, just 9.3% owned the equivalent cricketing gear. But – most significantly perhaps – overwhelmingly children wanted more opportunities to play the game rather than the freedom to watch games either live or on TV.</p>
<p>So children seem to engage with cricket differently to the way adults do. Children largely want the stimulation of hitting a ball or experiencing the visceral sensations of being part of a noisy crowd. Adults are more drawn by the intellectual engagement that the game provides. An understanding of the subtleties of the sport takes time to develop and, for those who want to increase cricket’s popularity, change can be frustratingly slow.</p>
<h2>Winning helps</h2>
<p>So what will make a difference to cricket’s popularity? It seems that widespread television coverage is not that important. When Sky TV generously shared coverage of the 2019 Men’s cricket world cup final with free-to-air channels, the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/wimbledon-cricket-world-cup-tv-viewing-figures-bbc-channel-4-sky-sports-online-a9005371.html">viewing figures</a> were just 100,000 less than the peak of 2005. So not much had changed in the intervening 14 years.</p>
<p>Rather, what we learn from 2005 Ashes and the unprecedented grip that cricket had on the nation’s attention, is that the greatest sports events resonate with some broader social narrative. The 2005 Ashes series took place against a backdrop of a new, more inclusive, democratic and open <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17430430802702897">sense of Englishness</a>. This was a team that challenged ideas about cricket being an upper-class game, with a heroic down-to-earth talisman in all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, roared on by the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1012690204040524">Barmy Army</a>.</p>
<p>But also, during that Ashes series, London was targeted by terrorist bombings at various transport hubs, killing 52 and injuring scores of others. The country desperately needed a feelgood factor. Cricket historians pointing back to the 1981 Ashes series, when another great all-rounder, Ian Botham, almost single-handedly defeated the visiting Australian team, recall that England was in the <a href="https://www.thesportsman.com/articles/how-botham-and-england-revived-the-spirits-of-a-nation-at-the-1981-ashes">grip of bitter and divisive race riots</a> at the time. </p>
<p>Cricket becomes popular when England does well. But the triumph in this year’s first Test against India was followed by a massive defeat in the next game. In the end, whether or not English fans continue to enjoy the success – or otherwise – of their national team on free-to-air TV, it will be the children who race outside with their bats and balls and youthful enthusiasm who hold the future of the sport in their hands.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155399/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominic Malcolm has previously received funding from the British Academy and the Cricket Foundation. He is affiliated with, and an Executive Board member of, the International Sociology of Sport Association. </span></em></p>The popularity of cricket is not as dependent on TV broadcasts as you might think.Dominic Malcolm, Reader in Sociology of Sport, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1244562019-10-02T12:34:14Z2019-10-02T12:34:14ZMeghan Markle, Ben Stokes, Gareth Thomas: three reasons why UK press needs help to understand ‘public interest’<p>The Duke and Duchess of Sussex <a href="https://sussexofficial.uk/">have announced</a> their intention to launch legal action against the Mail on Sunday for <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6686817/Letter-showing-true-tragedy-Meghan-Markles-rift-father.html">publishing a private handwritten letter</a> the Duchess had sent to her estranged father. Prince Harry <a href="https://sussexofficial.uk/">said in a statement</a>: “I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”</p>
<p>This latest episode follows two similar instances in September where high-profile sporting figures accused UK tabloids of insensitivity and invasion of privacy. The treatment of Ben Stokes and Gareth Thomas brings back to memory the litany of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/sep/14/leveson-inquiry-full-list-participants">press abuses</a> uncovered during the hearings of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/leveson-inquiry-report-into-the-culture-practices-and-ethics-of-the-press">Leveson Inquiry in 2011-12</a>. Taken together, these sorry stories show the need for tougher regulation of media processes to ensure fairness for people directly affected by publications.</p>
<p>Thomas, a former Wales international rugby union player, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-49739345">revealed</a> on September 18 that he had been compelled to publicly disclose that he was HIV positive after an unidentified tabloid had threatened to publish details of his diagnosis. This was essentially the same thing as threatening to reveal details of someone’s medical record or treatment. This type of information has always been <a href="https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/2004/22.html">seen by the courts</a> as being worthy of privacy protection.</p>
<p>What makes the conduct of the press particularly egregious in this case is the callous behaviour towards a person who belongs to a particularly vulnerable group. The right and opportunity to tell something so deeply personal appears to have been taken away by a journalist who, according to Thomas, informed his parents of his HIV-positive status before he had the chance to tell them himself.</p>
<p>The Sun’s <a href="https://imagevars.gulfnews.com/2019/09/18/The-Sun-tweet-Ben-Stokes_16d4512b8a3_original-ratio.jpg">front-page story</a> on the tragedy that affected the close family of Stokes, an England cricketer, about 30 years ago – before the player was born – was described by Stokes in a highly poignant <a href="https://twitter.com/benstokes38/status/1173893834377441280">statement</a> on Twitter as the “lowest form of journalism”.</p>
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<p>The newspaper defended its publication, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/49726913">stating</a> that the unfortunate events were already in the public domain following wide coverage in New Zealand at the time and that an estranged family member had shared details. Although Clause 2 of the <a href="https://www.societyofeditors.org/resources/editors-code-of-practice/">Editors’ Code of Practice states</a> that “in considering an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy, account will be taken of … the extent to which the material complained about is already in the public domain”, this is not always easily reconciled with how privacy law works.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ben-stokes-v-the-sun-gross-intrusion-or-simple-reportage-how-media-privacy-law-works-123827">Ben Stokes v The Sun: gross intrusion or simple reportage? How media privacy law works</a>
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<p>The Sun’s explanation disregards the seminal 2016 Supreme Court judgment in PJS v News Group Newspapers Ltd (known as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/may/19/supreme-court-upholds-celebrity-threesome-injunction">“celebrity threesome”</a> case), in which the private information that a high-profile public figure (known only as PJS) sought to protect through an injunction had already been widely circulated in other jurisdictions – similar to the story concerning Stokes and his family. </p>
<p>The fact that the information was available was not decisive, the Supreme Court held. Such a proposition overlooked the invasiveness and distress which unrestricted publication by the English media would entail. The Sun should have known – not least because its own publisher was the defendant in the PJS case – that the same could apply to Stokes’ case. There was little doubt that publication in England would unleash, as the court put it, a “<a href="https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2016-0080-judgment.pdf">media storm</a>”, which would reproduce intimate details likely to add greatly to the intrusiveness felt by Stokes and his family, who had not courted any publicity.</p>
<h2>The public interest</h2>
<p>Occasionally journalists may act in a way that is incompatible with the Editors’ Code of Practice. Breaches of <em>some</em> of the code’s provisions may be justified if an editor can demonstrate that what was done was “<a href="https://www.societyofeditors.org/resources/editors-code-of-practice/">in the public interest</a>”. This includes (but is not confined to) exposure of serious impropriety. Intrusions into a person’s private life may also be warranted to <a href="https://www.editorscode.org.uk/downloads/codebook/codebook-2019.pdf">unmask hypocrisy and prevent the public from being misled</a>. But Stokes’ story and Thomas’ treatment were nowhere near these exemptions. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.societyofeditors.org/resources/editors-code-of-practice/">Clause 4</a> of the editors’ code places the onus of responsibility for appropriate sensitivity in cases involving trauma squarely on the press and requires journalists covering tragedy and suffering to make inquiries with “sympathy and discretion”. But Stokes’ <a href="https://twitter.com/benstokes38/status/1173893834377441280">tweet stated</a> that “serious inaccuracies” were included in The Sun’s article which, in his words, exacerbated the impact of the publication for his family. The same code also <a href="https://www.societyofeditors.org/resources/editors-code-of-practice/">makes it very clear</a> that a public interest defence <em>cannot</em> be put forward in cases which engage Clause 4.</p>
<p>Thomas’ public figure status cannot also, by and of itself, justify a threat to publish sensitive details such as his HIV status. The journalist who initially approached the athlete’s parents ought to have appreciated that it was not part of his role to break the news to his family, something which reportedly caused Thomas enormous upset.</p>
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<p>In both cases, in my view, the press flagrantly ignored its responsibilities towards the public interest, in whose name it exercises its privileged position in society. There is always of course a considerable role to be played by the courts, which maintain powers to order <a href="https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/1964/1.html">exemplary damages</a> (if sought through a privacy claim) in order to punish outrageous press misconduct that disregards claimants’ rights for commercial profit.</p>
<h2>Wrecking ball</h2>
<p>The treatment of the two sportsmen’s deeply personal stories has swung a wrecking ball through responsible journalism. It raises serious questions as to whether the tabloid press has learned any lessons from the Leveson Inquiry, <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/leveson-statement-in-full-8368769.html">which concluded</a> “beyond doubt” that the British press had “damaged the public interest, caused real hardship and … wreaked havoc in the lives of innocent people” for many decades.</p>
<p>In 2018, the government <a href="http://merlin.obs.coe.int/cgi-bin/article.php?iris_r=2018%205%2019&language=en">regrettably decided</a> against putting into motion <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/22/section/40/enacted">section 40</a> of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, under which publishers not signing up to be members of a formally recognised regulator (for example <a href="https://impress.press/about-us/faq.html#what-benefits-impress-membership">IMPRESS</a>) would be hit with the potentially severe penalty of having all the costs of a complainant’s privacy (or defamation) action automatically awarded against them, irrespective of whether they won or lost the case. Although this provision remains on the statute books, it has been <a href="https://pa.media/2017/01/09/pa-bringing-section-40-force-will-simply-enact-expensive-pointless-injustice/">vehemently opposed</a> by much of the news industry.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-believe-what-you-read-section-40-will-protect-the-local-press-not-kill-it-71226">Don't believe what you read: section 40 will protect the local press, not kill it</a>
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<p>Whatever happens in the case of the threatened action by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, alongside the experiences of both Stokes and Thomas, one can now see less reason than in the past as to why this provision should not be put into effect. If it is implemented by a future government, it is likely to create an additional incentive for the press to think twice before publishing a story that unreasonably interferes with an individual’s privacy and lacks any meaningful public interest.</p>
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<p><em>The Conversation is a member of the independent press regulator IMPRESS.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124456/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandros Antoniou does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A number of recent controversial stories show why the UK media needs a regulator with teeth.Alexandros Antoniou, Lecturer in Media Law, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1201962019-07-11T10:45:31Z2019-07-11T10:45:31ZWimbledon: Johanna Konta interview and the problems with viewing sports stars as public figures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283654/original/file-20190711-173370-10uvigb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C796%2C445&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Still from video of Johanna Konta press conference, July 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2019/07/judging-player-one-liner-ordeal-press-conferences/83388/">Wimbledon.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After her loss to Barbora Strycova in the Wimbledon quarter finals, British tennis player Johanna Konta reacted somewhat angrily to a line of questioning from a journalist that appeared to hold her to account for her loss. The <a href="http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2019/07/judging-player-one-liner-ordeal-press-conferences/83388/">fallout and public reaction</a> to this press conference, while predominantly in support of the athlete, raises questions about the wider context of sports journalism. </p>
<p>Discussion centred on whether Konta had been right to be angry at the line of questioning by Matthew Dunn of the Daily Express after her quarter final loss or whether he had overstepped the line. The episode led to public discussion as to whether modern athletes are overly sensitive and whether they should be prepared to held personally accountable for their losses. </p>
<p>Linguists like to unpack cases like these. They are an opportunity to reflect on what issues lie beneath a conflict between two people. The service that linguists offer can help us to pin down the often taken for granted norms of human communication and the ideologies and beliefs that underlie the institutions, such as journalism, that communicators represent. So, what does this case say about the expectations that govern sports journalism encounters? </p>
<h2>A linguistic lens</h2>
<p>Around three and a half minutes into <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgnUMSk-TT4">her press conference</a>, Dunn asked Konta a question. Up to this point Konta had put the loss down to a difficult opponent, a move that could be interpreted as magnanimity on her part – positioning herself as the humble loser. But Dunn appeared to signal that the athlete was using this to deflect attention from her own performance.</p>
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<p>Dunn began by listing the athlete’s shortcomings: 33 unforced errors, a missed smash at the net and a double fault, which already put Konta on the defensive in the press conference. But he then used this to challenge Konta’s assertion that it was Strycova’s performance that had caused her to lose. He suggested that Konta’s failure to convert a number of key points was a more suitable explanation for her loss. He bundled all this up and presented it to the interviewee for confirmation. </p>
<p>Dunn’s use of the phrase “it’s all very well” is particularly marked here. It implies that the journalist feels that the assessment he has put forward is – arguably – a more relevant reason that perhaps better explains the loss and that Konta should reconsider her position. The list of failings is used strategically to strengthen Dunn’s position and support his evaluation. In the process it puts Konta in the somewhat uncomfortable position of needing to agree with him. </p>
<p>These are fairly standard journalistic practices that we see every day in media interview language and out of context there is nothing inherently wrong with these strategies. But are such practices suitable in the context of sports journalism? They would be right at home in a political interview where it is the journalist’s role to make politicians – and others who hold public office – squirm as they test the veracity of their policies, claims or decisions on behalf of the tax-paying public. </p>
<p>These accountability interviews perform a very important purpose in democratic societies. But are there different norms and expectations in play in sports interviews that perhaps require adaptations to interviewing strategies? </p>
<h2>Athletes and accountability</h2>
<p>The question of whether an accountability style of interview can or should be used in sports journalism will probably depend on your beliefs about the status of professional athletes in society and whether you feel they are accountable to the press in a similar way that politicians are. Generally speaking, there are crucial differences between politicians and professional athletes that suggest a different tact is needed – particularly if pursuing a critical line of questioning.</p>
<p>First, are athletes accountable public figures? They do represent their publics, typically compete under national flags and have huge numbers of followers and fans. But they are not elected into public office and do not make decisions that affect the livelihoods of people. They may in some cases get public funding to support their development – but does this mean that journalists should act as a tribune of the people and hold them to account? </p>
<p>Konta clearly does not think so. She <a href="https://tennishead.net/jo-konta-accuses-journalist-of-being-disrespectful-patronising-and-picking-on-her-in-emotional-press-conference-after-wimbledon-loss/">accused Dunn</a> of being “disrespectful, patronising and picking on her” – and she is probably not alone. But, perhaps more interestingly, <a href="http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/75207/">my research suggests</a> that the patterns and strategies we see in the bulk of sports interviews also indicate that many interviewers are aware of this tension and shape their interviewing practices accordingly.</p>
<p>Sports interviewers tend to heavily modify any critical remarks, often in ways that offer the interviewee a clear path of escape (for example, saying: “… or do you see it differently” after a critical evaluation). They often try to avoid directly calling into question an athlete’s account and – if they are going to criticise – they typically assign the criticism to those who have expert power, like pundits or ex-players. So you might hear a journalist say something like: “John McEnroe called your performance terrible, do you agree with that assessment?”. Such strategies help journalists to do accountability, but to do it more carefully. </p>
<p>The use of such strategies rarely result in the confrontation-as-entertainment interview we see so often in the political realm. But their prevalence in interviews with sportspeople is perhaps an indirect acknowledgement that such a style is an uncomfortable fit in sports journalism. </p>
<p>Athletes are public figures but they are not accountable to the public. They are more often than not willing interviewees that do address critical questions. But they are also elite level, gifted human beings that have risen to the top of their profession through hard work and determination. Their skill set is valued and respected by the public and they have amassed admirers that are willing to support them in good times and bad. Journalists that are able to show they understand this context and balance it with their own identity as a journalist, are more likely to get an interviewee to open up.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120196/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kieran File consults for Reactive Sports Media. </span></em></p>Should sports journalists be able to hold athletes to account?Kieran File, Assistant Professor , Centre for Applied Linguistics, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1167952019-06-13T12:41:51Z2019-06-13T12:41:51Z‘I still get tweets to go back in the kitchen’ – the enduring power of sexism in sports media<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279231/original/file-20190612-32361-mhtbnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lesley Visser was one of the first female television sports reporters – but she's appalled at how little progress has been made.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-Associated-Press-Sports-Minnesota-United-/d41890b5deb24287becbb18a7b5cf8d6/1/0">AP Photo/Bill Sikes</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The story of the 2019 U.S. women’s national soccer team is not yet written, but its opening chapter – <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48600795">a 13-0 drubbing of Thailand</a> – has inspired American fans hoping for a championship repeat. </p>
<p>The U.S. women’s soccer team has long been the envy of the world. And yet, thanks to a scheduling “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/07/sports/womens-world-cup-preview.html">oversight</a>,” should the squad make the Women’s World Cup final on July 7, they’ll have to complete for viewers with the Copa America and Gold Cup finals, which will be held on the same day.</p>
<p>In other words, two regional men’s soccer tournaments might upstage a signature worldwide women’s sporting event.</p>
<p>To me, this scheduling “oversight” is just a microcosm of the way women are treated in the world of sports. And it isn’t just relegated to the playing field. </p>
<p>In my new book, “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Power_of_Sports.html?id=eVZxDwAAQBAJ">The Power of Sports</a>,” I draw upon dozens of interviews to look at the barriers female athletes and journalists face. </p>
<p>It’s worse than you think. </p>
<h2>Lack of interest or lack of coverage?</h2>
<p>Almost every single survey of sports media over the years – irrespective of the sport or outlet – finds female athletics wildly underrepresented relative to men’s. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/2167479515588761">one 25-year-long study</a> showed that local news outlets spend only 3% of their airtime covering women’s sports, with ESPN allocating a mere 2% of its coverage. </p>
<p>Not until the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278591905701964">1990s</a> did women’s sports begin receiving – barely – more attention than sports involving horses and dogs. Of course, that didn’t prevent Serena Williams’ 2015 selection as Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsperson of the Year” from <a href="https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-serena-williams-american-pharoah-sports-illustrated-20151214-htmlstory.html">igniting a debate</a> over whether Triple Crown thoroughbred American Pharaoh deserved the honor instead.</p>
<p>The typical rebuttal to the lack of coverage is an alleged lack of interest.</p>
<p>But this obscures the circular logic that bedevils women’s sports: The way in which sports media outlets market and cover games partly determines how much fan interest they’re able to gin up. In other words, ratings are often generated by hyping the games. When ratings go up, it justifies the use of those resources.</p>
<p>So when a WNBA game gets punted to an obscure cable channel and has a low production value, it sends a message about priorities to audiences.</p>
<p>Networks like to claim they’re just responding to market forces when they ignore these games. But it’s never been a level playing field: <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-case-for-boosting-wnba-player-salaries-100805">Women’s sports rarely receive the media attention lavished on men’s</a>, so the comparison seems unfair.</p>
<p>When I asked ESPN’s executive vice president for programming and production about this problem, he shrugged. “Any media entity,” he said, “tend[s] to focus the majority of [its] coverage on the topics that are most interesting to your viewers, right?” </p>
<p>In other words, ESPN claims to be amoral on questions of gender equality. Its obligation is to simply give the audience what it thinks it wants.</p>
<h2>All men, all the time</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, sports media remains an overwhelmingly male field.</p>
<p>More than 90% of <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/2167479515588761">anchors</a>, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/2167479512467977">commentators</a> and <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/2167479513482118">editors</a> are men. Not until 2017 did a woman announce a men’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/sports/ncaabasketball/another-woman-at-the-march-madness-mike-that-only-took-2-decades.html">March Madness</a> or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/sports/nfl-beth-mowins-julie-dicaro.html">Monday Night Football</a> game.</p>
<p>Might this color the way female athletes are portrayed? <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/2167479512472883">One 2013 review</a> highlighted some notable disparities. When talking and writing about female athletes, commentators tend to focus more on their emotions. They tend to downplay their physical prowess on the field and <a href="https://www.sicovers.com/anna-kournikova-2000-june-05">sexualize</a> their bodies off the field.</p>
<p>Conditions aren’t much better for women working in the media.</p>
<p>Lesley Visser was a sportscaster across multiple networks for four decades. In the late 1970s, as a young reporter for The Boston Globe, she received – and <a href="https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2016/01/25/Champions/Visser.aspx">ignored</a> – a media credential stipulation that forbade “women or children in the press box.”</p>
<p>She assumed that waves of women would have followed her lead. But she can’t believe how little progress has been made. </p>
<p>“I go to the NFC Championship, and in the press box there are maybe three women out of 2,000 credentials,” she told me. “I think we’re at the same percentage as in the 1980s.”</p>
<h2>Social media mobs swarm</h2>
<p>The few that do break through can expect to be targeted on social media.</p>
<p>“I still get tweets to go back in the kitchen,” Tina Cervasio, a sports reporter for Fox’s New York affiliate, told me. “They’re worried about color of hair and how a woman looks. … If I was as fat and bald as [some male sportscasters], I would not have that job.”</p>
<p>Kim Jones of the NFL Network concurred. “I’ve gotten tweets that the only reason I have a job is because of my looks; I’ve also gotten plenty more tweets that, you know, I’m an unattractive reporter who shouldn’t be on television.”</p>
<p>This highlights <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1080/07393180600933147">the double bind</a> that female sports journalists face: They feel the pressure to look good for the cameras. But then they’re also denigrated by some who say they only have their jobs because of that attractiveness. It’s tough to imagine a handsome male sportscaster having the same charge leveled against him.</p>
<p>And when mistakes get made – as any human is liable to do – the female sports reporter feels like she’s given less leeway than her male counterpart because he doesn’t have to prove that he really belongs there.</p>
<p>As former ESPN anchor Jemele Hill explained to me, whenever she makes an honest error, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The immediate reaction from a still-too-large segment of the public is going to be, ‘That’s why women shouldn’t talk sports.’ Even though most guys that are in [my] position probably would make a similar mistake, but it’s never going to be about their competence. It’s never going to be about their gender, where it will be for me.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279230/original/file-20190612-32351-lpopn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279230/original/file-20190612-32351-lpopn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279230/original/file-20190612-32351-lpopn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279230/original/file-20190612-32351-lpopn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279230/original/file-20190612-32351-lpopn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279230/original/file-20190612-32351-lpopn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279230/original/file-20190612-32351-lpopn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Journalist Jemele Hill speaks on stage during the 2017 Hashtag Sports Conference in New York City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Hashtag-Sports-Conference-Day-Two/321d9b1db7164f3ebd2228d67cf2890e/16/0">Steve Luciano/AP Images for Hashtag Sports</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2016, an award-winning <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tU-D-m2JY8">public service announcement</a> featured male fans reading actual tweets that had been directed at prominent female sportscasters. </p>
<p>“I hope you get raped again,” one read. Another: “One of the players should beat you to death with their hockey stick like the whore you are.”</p>
<p>One of those targeted on social media, Chicago sports talk radio host Julie DiCaro, weighed in poignantly this past April. </p>
<p>“It always seems to come down to this idea that men have a proprietary interest in sports that women don’t have,” <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/stevens/ct-life-stevens-tuesday-stephen-moore-keep-women-out-of-sports-0423-story.html">she told The Chicago Tribune</a>. “As if we aren’t the daughters of Title IX. As if some of my earliest memories aren’t sitting on my dad’s lap watching the Bears and Cubs. … Sports belong to all of us.”</p>
<p>They should. They just don’t – yet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116795/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Serazio does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Female athletes barely receive more attention than horses and dogs. And if you’re a woman who wants to become a sports journalist, you should steel yourself for some social media venom.Michael Serazio, Associate Professor of Communication, Boston CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1023862018-09-21T10:40:41Z2018-09-21T10:40:41ZThe future of ‘golf’ may not be on the links<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237173/original/file-20180919-158225-tdiknc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">To play disc golf, all you need is 20 dollars for a couple of discs, and you're good to go.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-throws-blue-disc-on-lawn-112575275?src=mPBYFJVE7KMb9QLGo20x2Q-1-23">Jari Hindstroem</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Could disc golf become more popular than ball golf by 2028? </p>
<p>Ask disc golfers and they’ll say, “You bet – our sport is growing like crazy.”</p>
<p>But for most Americans, the answer is, “What’s disc golf?” And the typical ball golfer will likely respond, “No – and stop calling my sport ball golf.” </p>
<p>For the uninitiated: Disc golf is an outdoor sport that is played by throwing streamlined plastic discs into metal baskets from varying distances. It shares many of ball golf’s rules, but the two sports are culturally distinct.</p>
<p>In my upcoming book, “Disc Golf Land: Rise of an Unknown Sport,” I talk about how the rapid growth of several nontraditional sports – think roller derby, parkour, drone racing, esports and disc golf – has gone mostly unnoticed by the public and major media outlets.</p>
<p>That could be about to change.</p>
<p>While the odds of disc golf overtaking ball golf in popularity within a decade are slim, if you consider recent social trends, it’s not outside the realm of possibility.</p>
<h2>A generation gap</h2>
<p>It’s no secret that ball golf courses are in trouble. </p>
<p>From 2011 to 2016, the number of U.S. courses dropped from <a href="https://www.gcmonline.com/docs/default-source/document-library/2016-us-golf-economy-report.pdf">15,751 to 15,014</a> – an average loss of 147 per year. If this trend continues, there will be only 13,245 courses by 2028.</p>
<p>In comparison, disc golf is experiencing <a href="https://parkeddiscgolf.org/2017/05/01/disc-golf-is-trending-in-u-s-newspapers-evidence-of-disc-golfs-fast-growing-sport-claim/">rapid growth</a> and may be nearing a <a href="https://parkeddiscgolf.org/2016/10/15/has-disc-golf-reached-a-tipping-point/">tipping point</a>. In 2011, there were <a href="https://www.pdga.com/files/2011_PDGA_Year_End_Demographics_0.pdf">2,982</a> U.S. disc golf courses, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association. By 2016, this number nearly doubled to <a href="https://www.pdga.com/files/2016_yr_end_0.pdf">5,467</a> – an average gain of 497 courses annually. If this rate continues, disc golfers will have almost as many places to play as ball golfers in a decade.</p>
<p>One of the main reasons for ball golf’s decline is a falling participation among young Americans.</p>
<p>In the past, the 18- to 34-year-old age group was the most likely to play ball golf. But between the early 1990s and early 2010s, there was a <a href="https://blog.nextgengolf.org/golf-help/nccga-president-interns-for-the-world-golf-foundation-golf-2020">30 percent decrease</a> in participation in this age group. Today, only <a href="http://wearegolf.org/blog/2018/05/the-national-golf-foundation-issues-2018-golf-industry-report/">26 percent</a> of ball golfers are between the ages of 18 and 34.</p>
<p>Perhaps young people are instead deciding to throw discs. </p>
<p>In 2017, <a href="https://infinitediscs.com/blog/who-participated-in-the-state-of-disc-golf-survey/">55 percent</a> of disc golfers were aged 18 to 35. Among members of the Professional Disc Golf Association, which includes both amateurs and professionals, <a href="https://www.pdga.com/files/2017_pdga_year_end_demographics_-_final_1.pdf">47 percent</a> were 20 to 34.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237170/original/file-20180919-158243-6ul3wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237170/original/file-20180919-158243-6ul3wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237170/original/file-20180919-158243-6ul3wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237170/original/file-20180919-158243-6ul3wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237170/original/file-20180919-158243-6ul3wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237170/original/file-20180919-158243-6ul3wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237170/original/file-20180919-158243-6ul3wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237170/original/file-20180919-158243-6ul3wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two friends search for lost discs in a river along a disc golf course in Lancaster, New York.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/New-York-Daily-Life/e0b09d9422f64b6d92cb3f517b135ea3/2/0">AP Photo/David Duprey</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Could finances be playing a role?</p>
<p>Young adults are <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e5246526-8c2c-11e7-a352-e46f43c5825d">worse off financially</a> than previous generations. Stagnant wages and mounting debt may discourage them from paying expensive greens fees and investing in costly equipment.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, roughly <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/32f6/0a99b1e05bca4e41f7407a65af0846f26280.pdf">90 percent</a> of disc golf courses are in public parks, and the cost of equipment is low – all you need is around US$20 for a couple of discs. At most courses, people can play as little or as much as they wish, free of charge. A round of disc golf takes about half the time it takes to play ball golf.</p>
<h2>It’s the environment, stupid</h2>
<p>There’s also an environmental cost to playing ball golf that many could find off-putting.</p>
<p>A typical <a href="https://www.gcsaa.org/uploadedfiles/Environment/Environmental-Profile/Property-Profile/Golf-Course-Environmental-Profile--Property-Summary.pdf">ball golf course</a> requires roughly six to seven times more land area than a <a href="https://www.pdga.com/files/AcreageChart_0.pdf">disc golf course</a>. Building ball golf courses often involves clearcutting trees to make room for fairways. To keep the greens green, courses rely heavily on synthetic fertilizers and need to be watered. The water needs of ball golf courses vary across seasons, but, according to the Alliance for Water Efficiency, the average course requires <a href="http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/golf_course.aspx">as much as 1,000,000 gallons</a> in the summer months. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237169/original/file-20180919-158213-d9zlqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237169/original/file-20180919-158213-d9zlqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237169/original/file-20180919-158213-d9zlqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237169/original/file-20180919-158213-d9zlqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237169/original/file-20180919-158213-d9zlqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237169/original/file-20180919-158213-d9zlqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237169/original/file-20180919-158213-d9zlqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237169/original/file-20180919-158213-d9zlqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Keeping golf courses green can be a real drain on natural resources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/golf-course-view-plane-504886522?src=Lssr4bjAi-lsG87eNUc6hQ-1-23">Dmitri Ma</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Disc golf courses aren’t great for the <a href="http://www.whitefishdf.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Sport-Subcultures-and-Their-Potential-for-Addressing.pdf">environment</a>, either – trees might need to be selectively cut or trimmed. But the overall impact is far smaller: Chemicals are almost never used, and water demands are low or nonexistent.</p>
<p>Climate change, however, might be the biggest threat to ball golf.</p>
<p>While warmer weather could arguably <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00222216.2006.11950083?journalCode=ujlr20">extend the seasons</a> of both sports, the downsides of climate change are more acute. For instance, a recent study by the <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58b40fe1be65940cc4889d33/t/5a79bac853450a7495861454/1517927115822/Game+Changer.pdf">Climate Coalition</a> documented the troubling effects of climate change on ball golf courses in the United Kingdom, with rising sea levels and coastal erosion threatening some of the world’s oldest golf courses.</p>
<p>Indeed, increased rainfall, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2018.1459629?journalCode=rsus20">irregular drying and warming</a>, more extreme weather events, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:CLIM.0000024690.32682.48">coastal erosion and rising sea levels</a> are hurting the ball golf industry all over the world. While several vivid examples exist – some Trump resorts, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/09/trump-florida-mar-a-lago-hurricane-irma">like Mar-a-Lago</a>, are increasingly threatened by tidal flooding and storm surges – the more significant problem involves the gradual loss of revenue due to temporary course closures and rising maintenance costs.</p>
<p>Given that disc golf courses are more rugged, natural and far cheaper to maintain than ball golf courses, disc golf will have an environmental edge over ball golf in the years to come.</p>
<h2>Rich in enthusiasm, but not in riches</h2>
<p>Even if shifts in course infrastructure, demographics and climate lead to relative gains for disc golf, the sport has no chance of catching ball golf unless a series of game-changing events come to pass. To go mainstream, the sport will require substantial buy-in from public institutions, greater media attention and an influx of private investment.</p>
<p>Many emerging sports that eye expansion set their sights on the Olympics. In 2015, the International Olympic Committee <a href="https://www.pdga.com/international-olympic-committee-grants-full-recognition-disc-sports">officially recognized</a> the World Flying Disc Federation, which bolstered the Olympic hopes of flying disc sports, including disc golf.</p>
<p>Among them, disc golf’s cousin, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_(sport)">Ultimate</a>, is the clear favorite for the 2024 or 2028 Olympic Games. An Olympic berth for Ultimate could boost disc golf participation and strengthen the sport’s institutional footing.</p>
<p>For decades, the viability of all sports has been tied to television. While cable TV is still the <a href="http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2018/2017-year-in-sports-media.html">primary sports platform</a>, younger fans are increasingly cutting the cord and opting for online streaming services. With the <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-sports-with-the-oldest-and-youngest-tv-audiences-2017-06-30">oldest fanbase</a> in pro sports, ball golf faces the challenge of satisfying aging TV watchers, while attracting young digital natives.</p>
<p>Disc golf rarely receives <a href="https://parkeddiscgolf.org/2018/07/16/fair-is-foul-and-foul-is-fair/">attention</a> from television networks. But new technologies – YouTube, streaming services, <a href="https://udisclive.com/">live scoring apps</a> and countless websites, podcasts, <a href="https://parkeddiscgolf.org/">blogs</a> and social media accounts – are paving the way for niche sports to gain exposure, energize their communities and grow.</p>
<p>To be sure, disc golf faces significant challenges. Chief among these is the lack of outside investment from large manufacturers and corporate sponsors. Currently, the primary manufacturers of equipment and most event sponsors come from within the disc golf community. </p>
<p>In the end, many of the trends discussed above will merely lead to modest growth. Only more media coverage and investments from major sports brands like <a href="https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2016/04/11/inside-deal-brought-adidas-disc-golf/">Adidas</a> will elevate disc golf into the mainstream.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102386/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Woods received a $1000 "Innovation Grant" from the Professional Disc Golf Association to support his academic blog, <a href="http://www.parkeddisgolf.org">www.parkeddisgolf.org</a>. None of this funding was paid to Joshua Woods personally. He is also one of the thousands of members of the Professional Disc Golf Association, but holds no office or governing power in the organization.</span></em></p>A disc-golf boom is coinciding with a ball-golf bust.Josh Woods, Associate Professor of Sociology, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/986862018-06-26T10:41:29Z2018-06-26T10:41:29ZAs states legalize sports betting, will sports media go all-in?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224720/original/file-20180625-19382-16m5yrz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">States, casinos and leagues could all cash in. Will sports media get a cut of the action too?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/sports-betting-neon-sign-design-template-1044716362?src=ygXyCeA1mJYqEptUTgNURQ-1-98">Soifer/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Widespread, legalized sports gambling could change the way you watch your favorite sport. </p>
<p>It could also soon change how the media cover sports.</p>
<p>Since the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/supreme-court-sports-betting-new-jersey.html">Supreme Court</a> in May gave states the option to allow sports betting, it seemed like a vast, untapped well of revenue had been opened. Until then, illegal sports wagering had been an industry <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5696d0f14bf118aff8f1d23e/t/5a78efe5e2c4835296bc3b11/1517875173502/Embracing+America%27s+Passion.pdf">worth about</a> US$150 billion a year.</p>
<p>Since the May ruling, Delaware and New Jersey have each implemented sports gambling, with <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/21486/rhode-island-sports-betting-law-signed/">Rhode Island</a>, West Virginia and Mississippi not far behind. All of these states will be able to tax betting. Their casinos will be able to open sports books to lure customers. And leagues are lobbying for a cut of each wager, though that hasn’t yet come to pass. </p>
<p>Lost in all this has been the question of how the sports media will respond. </p>
<p>When I was a reporter and editor for The Associated Press, I saw first-hand how traditional media outlets were slow to adapt to the internet, much to their detriment. Now, with sports gambling, editors and reporters will ideally adjust appropriately, attracting more readers and subscribers by providing information that’s useful to bettors. A potentially disastrous outcome would be if already cash-strapped media outlets are reluctant to change, and are slow to meet readers’ needs.</p>
<h2>A new lens of analysis</h2>
<p>“To not acknowledge sports betting would be to do a disservice to your audience,” Barry Bedlan, director of sports products for the AP said in an interview for this piece. </p>
<p>Bedlan had spoken hours earlier at a panel on sports betting at the annual convention of the <a href="http://apsportseditors.com/">Associated Press Sports Editors</a>, the body of the nation’s print and digital sports editors.</p>
<p>Bedlan predicted that, in a few years, major papers and websites in states with legalized betting will have a position in the sports department in which a reporter writes exclusively from a bettor’s perspective. Reporters on a team’s beat, meanwhile, may start to inject gambling into routine coverage – noting the impact of a star player’s injury on the betting line, for instance, or saying whether a winning team covered the point spread in a game recap.</p>
<p>The Associated Press highly values its credibility and strict adherence to journalistic ethics. The news agency has long provided <a href="https://www.oddsshark.com/sports-betting/point-spread-betting">point spreads</a> – the number of points teams are expected to win or lose by – to its clients. But expect its offerings to expand. </p>
<p>“Straight predictions and picks should gain renewed importance – Team A will beat Team B, and here, quickly, is why, according to our experts,” Jeff Rosen, assistant managing editor for sports of The Kansas City Star, wrote to me in an email. </p>
<p>Even weather reports could become more important: For example, if snow is expected on a Sunday in Philadelphia during an Eagles home game, it will likely reduce the points that are scored. This bit of information would certainly interest gamblers wagering on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over%E2%80%93under">over/under</a>, a bet on the total points scored in a game.</p>
<h2>How much of an appetite is out there?</h2>
<p>The big question many in sports media face now is how deeply – and how soon – to cover betting. </p>
<p>Some of that, of course, depends on whether sports betting is legal in the state where the outlet is located. But out there for all to see is the success of the <a href="https://www.vsin.com/">Vegas Stats & Information Network</a>, a multiplatform gambling news outlet that launched in 2017 and enticed renowned broadcaster Brent Musberger <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/brent-musburger-used-to-make-veiled-gambling-references-now-hes-dropped-the-veil/2017/03/14/f9c7d0d2-08ea-11e7-93dc-00f9bdd74ed1_story.html?utm_term=.350b0d674b5b">away from ESPN</a> to be its face. </p>
<p>It has a Sirius channel, podcasts, live streams and a growing following that some media executives have surely noticed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224773/original/file-20180625-19404-v3jw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224773/original/file-20180625-19404-v3jw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224773/original/file-20180625-19404-v3jw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224773/original/file-20180625-19404-v3jw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224773/original/file-20180625-19404-v3jw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224773/original/file-20180625-19404-v3jw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224773/original/file-20180625-19404-v3jw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224773/original/file-20180625-19404-v3jw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brent Musburger broadcasts from a glass booth at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for the Vegas Stats & Information Network.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Brents-Big-Bet/6098a825062c47e8aa765a10031122a3/3/0">AP Photo/John Locher</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That doesn’t mean everyone is pouring their resources into sports gambling. Some are taking a wait-and-see approach. </p>
<p>Kevin Manahan, sports director at NJ Advance Media, told me that a key question is whether bettors who have been making illegal bets will want more information now that the activity has been legalized, or whether they’ve already been getting what they need.</p>
<p>“We just don’t know what the audience is going to be,” Manahan said. NJ.com closely tracks what works with readers, so if there’s an appetite for gambling analysis, it will respond appropriately.</p>
<p>Bill King, <a href="https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2018/05/21/Law-and-Politics/Gambling.aspx">who covers the gambling issue</a> for the Sports Business Journal, agrees that the big question is how much the gambling market will grow.</p>
<p>“What we’re really talking about is taking an illegal business and making it legal,” he said. </p>
<p>Does that mean new people will bet? There could be a huge swath of people who think it would be fun to lay down a $10 sports bet on a weekend, but had been turned off by the sketchiness of signing up for an illegal offshore account. </p>
<p>King also notes that the media in regions where betting has been legalized could benefit from advertising buys from bookmakers. Opening a betting account is more complicated than, say, signing up for a social media account. Many people will likely only have one or two betting accounts, which could lead to intense competition among bookmakers. </p>
<h2>The Las Vegas model portends a new era</h2>
<p>Bill Bradley, an editor at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, believes sports gambling can be a big draw for newspapers and their websites. </p>
<p>When he became assistant managing editor for sports in 2015, Bradley took a reporter who was covering sports betting part time and made that his full-time job. </p>
<p>The results were dramatic. The betting stories and videos were consistently among the sports section’s top draws, and betting now <a href="https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2018/05/21/Law-and-Politics/Gambling.aspx">has its own section on the paper’s website</a>. Even simple stories, like Sunday’s NFL lines and injury reports, have become more popular when reported and analyzed with the bettor’s perspective in mind. </p>
<p>“Basically, it’s found money,” Bradley said.</p>
<p>In fact, the work of the reporter on the betting beat was so well-received that he wound up getting hired away – by the Vegas Sports Information Network.</p>
<p>Certainly, in terms of journalistic ethics, offering reporting and analysis for betting demands some new rules in the newsroom, editors said. For reporters, that includes not betting on the team you cover or even the sport you cover.</p>
<p>And <a href="https://www.fordham.edu/info/22941/full-time_faculty/4708/mark_conrad">Mark Conrad</a>, an associate professor at Fordham University and author of the popular textbook “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Business-of-Sports-Off-the-Field-in-the-Office-on-the-News/Conrad/p/book/9781138913202">The Business of Sports: Off the Field, in the Office, on the News</a>,” cautioned that, amid the novelty of legal sports betting, the media also need to cover issues such as gambling addiction. </p>
<p>But a cultural change is afoot. </p>
<p>Bradley and Bedlan noted that many editors at the APSE meeting had, in the past, never bothered to learn even basic sports gambling terms such as “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlay_(gambling)">parlay</a>” or “<a href="https://www.sportingcharts.com/dictionary/sports-betting/bad-beat.aspx">bad beat</a>” because betting was illegal and perhaps not true to the spirit of sports. </p>
<p>Now they’re studying up. </p>
<p>Sports fans might want to do the same.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98686/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Affleck was a reporter and editor for The Associated Press for 22 years, the majority of that time as a national manager in the news and sports departments. </span></em></p>With bettors clamoring for an edge, legacy media outlets could add a gambling beat to their daily sports coverage – or risk losing out.John Affleck, Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/912382018-02-12T00:41:44Z2018-02-12T00:41:44ZLive from Pyeongchang: how an Olympic broadcast works<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205643/original/file-20180209-180808-4998kh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sporting events like the Winter Olympics are one of TV's most valuable products.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most major sports events that appear on our screens follow a similar broadcast model. TV stations pay for the broadcast rights and then employ the production crew – including expert camera operators, producers and talent – to take the event from the confines of a stadium to a spectacle viewed by millions.</p>
<p>It’s costly but worth it. Sport is one of TV’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-sport-broadcast-rights-worth-the-money-37460">most valuable products</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-sport-broadcast-rights-worth-the-money-37460">Are sport broadcast rights worth the money?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But at a major event like the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics (which many are now tuning into), where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sells broadcast rights to multiple regions, this would become a logistical nightmare. </p>
<p>So, instead of the Australian rights holder, Channel 7, setting up its cameras on a downhill skiing course next to other overseas broadcasters, the video is delivered globally through a central service.</p>
<h2>What is the Olympic Broadcasting Service?</h2>
<p>While earlier broadcasts were a combination of the organising committee working with local broadcasters to make a feed to be delivered around the world, the IOC in 2001 created a dedicated ongoing department, the <a href="https://www.obs.tv">Olympic Broadcasting Service</a>. </p>
<p>The service has run the full broadcast since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, when it hired 2,500 temporary staff – including camera operators, technical staff, commentators and reporters – to deliver 800 hours of live coverage. In Sochi in 2014 that rose to 1,300 hours of coverage delivered by more than 3,400 staff.</p>
<p>However, the Winter Olympics are small fry compared to Summer Olympics. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, more than 7,200 Olympic Broadcasting Service staff created the broadcast, with 1,000 cameras delivering 7,100 hours of footage. That turned into more than 350,000 hours of coverage <a href="https://www.obs.tv/fact_file?tab=rio">broadcast globally</a>.</p>
<p>And, for the first time, more hours were broadcast on digital platforms from Rio than on traditional TV. </p>
<h2>The role of rights holders</h2>
<p>The Olympic Broadcasting Service model is that a neutral feed with independent commentary is sent out to rights-holding broadcasters in real time. They can either take that feed or push in their own commentary over the top.</p>
<p>This is why, if you are in Australia, you are likely to see specialist commentators drop in to events where Australians might do well. For example, multiple world champion Jacqui Cooper will offer expert comments on aerial skiing alongside Australian hosts. But you might hear a Canadian accent if Channel 7 simply takes the Olympic Broadcasting Service feed for, say, curling.</p>
<p>For others, the service becomes the base for a much-expanded production. NBC’s Olympic production for Pyeongchang includes additional cameras in venue to supplement the Olympic Broadcasting Service, <a href="http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2018/01/24/nbc-olympics-announces-record-89-commentators-for-coverage-of-the-xxiii-olympic-winter-games-from-pyeongchang-south-korea/">89 of their own expert commentators</a> and 13 studio sets.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.newscaststudio.com/2018/01/03/nbc-olympics-pyeongchang-preview/">The largest set</a> is a 325-square-metre dome that includes a giant video wall, 18 monitors, 15 different locations for reporters to deliver pieces-to-camera, plus an anchor desk, interview areas and a news update desk.</p>
<p>But in an era of shrinking media budgets, there will also be more broadcasts from off-location. NBC will have a further five studios based in the US. Channel 7 anchored Rio Olympics shows back in Australia as well as in Brazil.</p>
<p>This approach isn’t necessarily exclusive to Olympics. Commentary on ATP tennis tour events is often recorded in London studios, rather than on site: technology increasingly allows this to be an option. </p>
<h2>A new reality</h2>
<p>Olympics have often provided the impetus for large-scale broadcasting innovations. For instance, TV was introduced in Australia for the 1956 Games in Melbourne.</p>
<p>The Olympic Broadcasting Service production at Rio was the first to use drones, captured footage in 8K Super Hi-Vision footage (which is so far available only on a limited number of <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/2/12349954/8k-broadcasts-start-japan-nhk">screens in Japan</a>), and also made content available in virtual reality.</p>
<p>In Pyeongchang, networks such as <a href="https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2018/01/30/eurosport-to-charge-e0-99-for-winter-olympics-vr-coverage/">Eurosport</a> and <a href="http://variety.com/2018/digital/news/nbc-2018-winter-olympics-vr-virtual-reality-live-streaming-1202657978/">NBC</a> will broadcast <a href="https://www.sporttechie.com/inside-intel-plans-capture-2018-pyeongchang-olympics-virtual-reality">virtual reality content</a> live for the first time.</p>
<p>At each Olympics fans can simply expect more coverage as networks move to capitalise on content across multiple screens. But it won’t necessarily come cheap.</p>
<p>Other markets may be used to paying a premium for major events through pay TV channels, so Eurosport and NBC charging for their virtual reality access may not raise too many eyebrows. But Australia is an interesting case: sporting events of major significance are on <a href="https://theconversation.com/anti-siphoning-changes-a-blow-to-sports-fans-who-want-to-watch-on-free-to-air-tv-78666">an anti-siphoning list</a> that ensures these are broadcast on free-to-air TV. </p>
<p>The only way Australians could watch the entire feed produced from the Rio Games was to purchase a premium A$19.99 app, which was <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/sport/rio-olympics-2016/2016/08/08/rio-olympics-2016-channel-7/">much criticised</a>. This time Channel 7’s communications suggest that all content will be available for free on the app, but <a href="https://tvtonight.com.au/2018/02/2018-winter-olympics-guide.html">a premium A$14.99 upgrade</a> will offer less commercial content, and HD coverage.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if this option is popular and, if so, whether it works more effectively than before.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91238/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Merryn Sherwood receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Olympics have often provided the impetus for large-scale broadcasting innovations, such as when TV was introduced in Australia to broadcast the 1956 Games.Merryn Sherwood, Lecturer in Sports Journalism, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/847662017-10-03T01:05:11Z2017-10-03T01:05:11ZStraight from the athlete’s mouth: Australia’s sports media landscape could be set for a shake-up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188289/original/file-20171002-28503-1985pfj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nick Kyrgios has written of his on-court struggles for athletes' website PlayersVoice.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Jose Mendez</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent weeks, AFL star Gary Ablett’s <a href="http://www.exclusiveinsight.com/why-i-created-exclusiveinsight-com-for-athletes-fans/">Exclusive Insight</a> and <a href="https://www.playersvoice.com.au">PlayersVoice</a> have joined <a href="http://www.thesportssource.com.au/">The Sports Source</a>, <a href="https://20four.com.au">20FOUR</a> and <a href="http://unscriptd.com">Unscriptd</a> as online sports media products aimed at connecting athletes directly to fans. But will they provide a point of difference enough to transform Australia’s sports media landscape?</p>
<h2>‘No filter’</h2>
<p>PlayersVoice has delivered stories – like footballer Alex Fasolo <a href="https://www.playersvoice.com.au/alex-fasolo-death-was-an-escape-fantasy/">on</a> his depression, tennis player Nick Kyrgios <a href="https://www.playersvoice.com.au/nick-kyrgios-the-battle-raging-inside-me/#8A14ByhEQsqgJOb2.97">on</a> his seesawing form, AFLW star Erin Phillips’ <a href="https://www.playersvoice.com.au/erin-phillips-a-prime-minister-afraid-to-lead/#qXkpdirtgyG7DW3M.97">statement on marriage equality</a>, and Pek Cowan’s <a href="https://www.playersvoice.com.au/pek-cowan-stress-tears-and-a-club-ruined/">emotional description</a> of the Western Force’s axing from Super Rugby – that have all been strong enough to be covered by other media outlets. </p>
<p>Along with a star-studded contributors list, its structure most closely resembles the most successful of these products: the US-based Players’ Tribune. Launched in 2014 by baseballer Derek Jeter, it has played host to both high-profile news stories such as basketballer Kevin Durant’s decision to join the Golden State Warriors, and more personal ones such as hockey player Patrick O’Sullivan’s <a href="https://www.theplayerstribune.com/patrick-osullivan-nhl-abuse/">devastating description</a> of his father’s abuse. </p>
<p>Players’ Tribune <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/01/19/derek-jeter-players-tribune-funding/">recently raised US$40 million</a>, has monthly page views of 100 million, and its readers stay on pages for an average of five minutes. The last of these is a significant figure in an era where readers’ attention spans are often compared to that of goldfish.</p>
<p>The launch messages for both Exclusive Insight and PlayersVoice were similar to that of Players’ Tribune: that athletes no longer trust the media, and their sites offer a space for athletes to tell stories with no filter. PlayersVoice CEO Kerry McCabe <a href="http://www.mediaweek.com.au/playersvoice-ceo-kerry-mccabe/">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In Australia we have gone too far with the negative focus as a result of some of the systemic pressures on traditional media. As someone who has worked in digital publishing and social media, [I think] we have moved away from great sports storytelling, which used to be available in the media.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But what PlayersVoice and its competitors are selling isn’t great journalism; while they may have hired journalists to help athletes craft their stories, so far the writing is not exactly literary prose.</p>
<p>Instead, what these sites are selling is access. And when it comes to access, their biggest competition is not mainstream media outlets – because they have already lost much of it.</p>
<h2>The sport and media relationship</h2>
<p>The sport and media have shared a symbiotic relationship for more than a century. </p>
<p>In an overhaul of the struggling New York World in 1883, Joseph Pulizter introduced the first newspaper sports department – directly because of its potential to attract readers.</p>
<p>It wasn’t the only change, but it was an important one. By 1898, the paper’s circulation had <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/press_box/2005/09/the_lost_world_of_joseph_pulitzer.html">increased from 15,000 to 1.5 million</a>.</p>
<p>Since then, media have relied on sport to sell copies and attract viewers. Rupert Murdoch famously said sport was a good <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/1999/feb/28/newsstory.sport2">“battering ram”</a> to get into new markets.</p>
<p>Sport has similarly relied on media to deliver it revenue, primarily through broadcast rights, and more generally to communicate its messages. As a result, sporting organisations have hired media relations staff to help connect media and athletes.</p>
<h2>Media managers as gatekeepers</h2>
<p>The media manager’s role is needed to help facilitate the number of journalists covering sport. The AFL accredited <a href="http://s.afl.com.au/staticfile/AFL%20Tenant/AFL/Files/AFL%20Annual%20Report%202012_web.pdf">more than 2,000 media personnel in 2011</a>, which way outstrips the <a href="http://pressgallery.net.au/about-us/">300 in the federal press gallery</a>. </p>
<p>But recently, media managers – whose initial role was simply to facilitate access to talent when journalists asked for it – strategically look at each request. One AFL club staffer <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1012690216637631">told me</a> they weighed up each request based on what they could achieve:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s not negotiation but you are almost pitching back to journalists … journalists will request and you will say, ‘yes, but how about this player instead?’. Because we know that will allow us to achieve our own ends, while facilitating their need for content.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Limits on access have been further driven by sporting organisations that no longer need the media to deliver their messages. Instead, athletes and organisations can speak directly to audiences through their own platforms.</p>
<p>All sport organisations now have websites and multiple social media platforms to fill. This has led to staff employed in content production roles. </p>
<p>While Collingwood in 2014 was the first Australian club to build a <a href="http://www.afr.com/business/media-and-marketing/collingwood-aflclub-builds-build-tv-studio-for-digital-marketing-expansion-20140107-jydqz">full TV studio</a>, most professional sports clubs in Australia now have broadcast-quality production in-house. </p>
<p>These sites aren’t just a way for clubs to build digital audiences they can sell to sponsors: they are also a way for the clubs and athletes to explicitly control their brand.</p>
<p>As another AFL club staffer <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21670811.2016.1239546">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The global trend is to seize control of the news because news has economic value. By eliminating the middleman, the megaphone that is the press, we are able to tell the story in the way that we want without any filter or interpretation.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188291/original/file-20171002-28516-1cbgntf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188291/original/file-20171002-28516-1cbgntf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188291/original/file-20171002-28516-1cbgntf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188291/original/file-20171002-28516-1cbgntf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188291/original/file-20171002-28516-1cbgntf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188291/original/file-20171002-28516-1cbgntf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188291/original/file-20171002-28516-1cbgntf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The number of media accredited to cover the AFL is in the thousands.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Tracey Nearmy</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Challenges for athlete-to-fan products</h2>
<p>This leaves the new wave of athlete-to-fan digital products with a few challenges. Chief among these is getting attention in a crowded media marketplace. While legacy media might be floundering, it still has a significant audience share. </p>
<p>The second challenge is revenue. PlayersVoice is presumably paying its contributors and staff, but proudly proclaims it won’t have banner ads or associations with gambling advertisers.</p>
<p>Another challenge is that it might be difficult to continue to create a stream of relevant and interesting content once the platforms’ novelty wears off. In a world where athletes have many competing priorities, will creating content for these sites remain one?</p>
<p>Ultimately, these platforms’ success may come down to the digital priorities of the athletes’ primary employers. Clubs or professional leagues may decide that their existing platforms should be a priority over third-party sites. </p>
<p>With increasing club investment in both player payments and digital resources, it remains to be seen whether they will be happy to hand over too much of their audience to sites where they might not be able control the whole message.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84766/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Merryn Sherwood receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>The new wave of athlete-to-fan digital products will be faced with a few challenges if they are to be successful.Merryn Sherwood, Lecturer in Sports Journalism, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/814802017-08-04T00:15:32Z2017-08-04T00:15:32ZCricket pay saga a case study in how not to resolve industrial disputes in sport<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180960/original/file-20170803-5614-9oglqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Both James Sutherland and Alistair Nicholson faced criticism for their handling of cricket's pay dispute.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Tracey Nearmy</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-03/cricket-pay-deal-explained/8771988">protracted pay dispute</a> between Cricket Australia and its players is over. Harmony is restored in the sport’s employment relations. Playing tours to Bangladesh and India, and the related commercial agreements, can resume.</p>
<p>Most importantly, the Ashes are saved – at least until England arrive later in the year.</p>
<p>Extended collective bargaining disputes between players’ unions and their employers are not unusual in modern professional sport, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/03/us/pro-sports-lockouts-and-strikes-fast-facts/index.html">especially in the US</a>. Baseball, for example, had eight work stoppages, including one season-long dispute, between 1972 and 1995.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, an unusual characteristic of this dispute is that it appeared for long periods to be a process of negotiation through media spin and not traditional face-to-face talks. The resulting <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jul/14/greg-combet-hits-back-at-cricket-australia-chairmans-absurd-claims">lack of trust</a> between the players and their employers delayed the negotiations. This relationship <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-03/cricket-australia-reaches-pay-deal-with-players/8765040?section=sport">will need rebuilding</a> in the months ahead.</p>
<h2>Spinning in the media</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/fears-playerboard-relations-set-back-40-years-due-to-pay-dispute-20170725-gxiio1.html">lack of trust</a> was exacerbated by the inevitable media focus on key individuals in the dispute. </p>
<p>For one, Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland was <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/james-sutherland-must-intervene-in-knifeedge-pay-spat-says-brendon-julian-20170620-gwujz0.html">heavily criticised</a> for his apparent brinkmanship in not getting involved until a very late stage of the dispute. </p>
<p>However, his approach – leaving the initial contacts to the governing body’s lead negotiator, Kevin Roberts, and suggesting that, in the absence of agreement, mandatory arbitration might be necessary – was a wholly unremarkable negotiation ploy in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-australian-cricketers-industrial-dispute-drags-on-heres-what-weve-learnt-80544">“structured antagonism”</a> of industrial relations.</p>
<p>On the other side, speculation surrounded the capacity of the Australian Cricketers’ Association’s Alistair Nicholson to complete a deal. The speculation, noting Nicholson’s AFL background, highlighted his <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/cricket-pay-dispute-alistair-nicholson--the-man-holding-cricket-australia-at-bay-20170727-gxjsei.html">apparent inexperience</a> – even naivety – in such deal-making. Again, this spin was as unhelpful as it was unsubstantiated.</p>
<p>Both sides also used the media to flag that a failure to negotiate a deal would have potential legal ramifications. The 230 or so players argued that the termination of the previous agreement meant they were, in effect, unemployed. Thus, as free agents, they claimed they could negotiate their own sponsorship and endorsement deals.</p>
<p>These deals, they argued, would inevitably rival existing, and protected, Cricket Australia sponsorship deals. The impact this may have had, in terms of the pressure that <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-10/cricketers-union-makes-bold-play-for-sponsorship-deals/8693346">official sponsors</a> brought to bear on Cricket Australia to complete a deal, should not be underestimated.</p>
<p>In echoes of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-cricketers-pay-dispute-will-lightning-strike-twice-in-the-same-place-78119">World Series of Cricket</a> split of the 1970s, the players also argued that any interference by Cricket Australia in such deals – including the possibility of them playing in events not sanctioned by Cricket Australia – would equate to an illegal <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/cricket-pay-dispute-ca-may-stop-uncontracted-australians-from-playing-away-20170523-gwbhkk.html">restraint of their trade</a> or livelihood.</p>
<p>A less effective ploy by the Australian Cricketers’ Association was its idea that it would seek to exploit its players’ <a href="http://www.cricket.com.au/news/player-pay-dispute-ca-aca-ip-mou-cricket-australia-digital-rights-intellectual-property-promotions/2017-05-24">collective image rights</a> in India. </p>
<p>The exact nature of the companies that might invest in such rights always remained unclear. In any event, players’ exploitation of image rights is seen more as a <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?DocID=COG/PCG201711/NAT/ATO/00001">legally recognised</a> way to reduce their personal tax burden, rather than having any meaningful, external economic value.</p>
<p>Both sides also engaged in quite an amount of what can only be called “virtue-signalling” regarding their commitment to grassroots and women’s cricket.</p>
<p>Cricket Australia made much of its “duty of care” to the sport as a whole. It argued the <a href="http://www.cricket.com.au/news/james-sutherland-pay-dispute-cricket-australia-association-grassroots-growth-revenue-sharing/2017-05-27">existing revenue-sharing model</a> – 70% on elite cricket, 18% on administration costs and 12% to grassroots cricket – needed to be amended.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/cricketers-propose-peace-plan-to-end-pay-impasse-ahead-of-ashes-20170723-gxgsbc.html">players</a> continuously highlighted their commitment to a “gender-neutral” final pay agreement, which would recognise the growth of the women’s game and that the average wage for a female international player should double to A$180,000.</p>
<p>In both instances, the union’s negotiators seemed to have got the better of Cricket Australia. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-03/cricket-pay-deal-explained/8771988?section=sport">It secured</a> the biggest pay rise in the history of women’s sport in Australia. In addition, the Australian Cricketers’ Association will largely claim the credit for an innovative grassroots investment fund.</p>
<h2>What about the revenue-sharing model?</h2>
<p>At its core, however, this was a straightforward workplace pay dispute. The players demanded an increased share of rising revenue streams, while the employers sought to balance these demands against the longer-term good of the game.</p>
<p>Again, it appears the Australian Cricketers’ Association prevailed.</p>
<p>Unlike the announcement of <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-06-20/players-get-20-per-cent-pay-rise-in-new-cba">recent sports pay deals</a>, little effort was made at Thursday’s press conference to present the deal <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/crickets-pay-stoush-each-side-will-think-itself-the-winner-in-truth-there-are-two-losers-20170803-gxoqrw.html">as a win-win</a> for both parties.</p>
<p>The reason is clear. Cricket Australia made much of the need for the sport to move away from <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/progress-slow-in-crickets-pay-dispute-between-players-and-cricket-australia-20170719-gxema1.html">a gross revenue model</a> to one based on a set pool/shared revenue approach. </p>
<p>In May, and somewhat strangely by <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/cricket-australia-releases-explanatory-video-in-bid-to-end-pay-dispute-20170530-gwgq83.html">video</a>, Cricket Australia’s chief negotiator outlined its offer to the players predicated on an amended revenue-sharing model. Comparing that offer to what has been agreed – the players obtained up to 30% of agreed revenue – it’s clear the union’s definition of revenue-sharing <a href="http://www.auscricket.com.au/news-media/news-articles/heads-of-agreement-reached-in-mou-negotiation">prevailed</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, an interesting feature of this agreement is what remains unsaid. The players have secured not only an upfront or guaranteed share of Cricket Australia’s revenue stream, but also a share in its forecast growth.</p>
<p>This is of interest because, in 1997 – when the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/malcolm-speed-says-australian-cricketers-must-face-up-to-revenue-reality-20170628-gx0i7d.html">first agreement was reached</a> – Cricket Australia’s revenue was $40 million per year, split evenly between gate money, sponsorship and broadcast rights. </p>
<p>Cricket Australia’s current revenues are around $400 million per year; 80% of it from broadcast rights. This 80% is subject to what’s called the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/digital-disruption-16055">digital disruption</a>” of sport, a phenomenon that encapsulates our social-media-driven age and its impact on the ways in which we play, watch, sponsor and consume sport.</p>
<p>Longer forms of cricket (and other sports) are becoming less attractive. In addition, large-scale broadcasting deals with a handful of TV companies are becoming a thing of the past, as the broadcasting market for sport fragments onto a bewildering array of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/01/amazon-outbids-sky-to-win-exclusive-atp-tour-tennis-rights">multimedia and digital platforms</a>.</p>
<p>A characteristic of this dispute, and why its details will be closely followed elsewhere, is how it will in the future capture greater revenue from shorter forms of the game, as broadcast on platforms such as <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/cricket/cricket-talks-stick-on-allocation-of-digital-revenues/news-story/e9aff5c420a60cf6d2b327226994390e">Cricket Australia’s website</a> and related social media outlets.</p>
<h2>What now?</h2>
<p>In the end, Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association struck a deal in a rather old-fashioned, “Test match” way. </p>
<p>Both sides faced off for four to five days. Some spin was used. But, eventually, the game was declared a draw – and one side (Cricket Australia) was left with many regrets.</p>
<p>Whether Test cricket remains the game’s future is a matter of debate. What’s rather more certain is the way the game is financially exploited, and its players remunerated, is changing rapidly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81480/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Lack of trust between Australia’s cricketers and the game’s governing body delayed negotiations in their protracted pay dispute. This relationship will need to be rebuilt in the coming months.Jack Anderson, Professor of Sports Law, Melbourne Law School, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/818272017-07-31T06:13:30Z2017-07-31T06:13:30ZLes Murray’s death deprives football in Australia of its most passionate and inspiring voice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180299/original/file-20170731-23754-1rkpa10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Broadcaster Les Murray, who has passed away aged 71, was the archetypal team member.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Penny Bradfield</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-31/les-murray-australias-voice-of-football-dies-aged-71/8759810">The death</a> of broadcaster Les Murray at the untimely age of 71 deprives Australia – not just football in this country – of one its greatest supporters.</p>
<p>As the game nurtured him, so he helped football transform itself from a predominantly migrant activity in this country into what he loved to call <a href="http://www.hardiegrant.com/au/publishing/bookfinder/book/the-world-game-by-les-murray/9781740668897">“the world game”</a>. He opened the eyes of his new compatriots to what they would otherwise have ignored.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/highlights/johnny_warren_collection">Through his partnership</a> with the former captain of the Socceroos, Johnny Warren, Les became football’s public face in Australia. Alan Crisp called them Mr and Mrs Soccer, but never told us which was which.</p>
<p>Together, Murray and Warren enabled SBS to establish itself as something more than a niche broadcaster. Their enthusiasm carried them through some very low spots as Australia’s football teams reached the last qualifying stages for successive World Cups, but always just managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.</p>
<p>Though Warren did not live to see it, Les was there when Australia returned to the World Cup, in Germany in 2006.</p>
<p>The coverage of successive World Cup finals every four years, which used the matches as windows into the host countries, was real education and pioneering broadcasting. The Tour de France has followed and extended the pattern they set.</p>
<p>It wasn’t just the Socceroos or the National Soccer League that benefited from the efforts of Murray and SBS. They were always on the lookout for the next generation of talent here and overseas. So, if you followed them, you would soon learn about emerging players, new schemes for coaching and training, and ideas about how the game was developing.</p>
<p>Not all their ugly ducklings turned into swans, and sometimes their enthusiasm went too far. But you could never fault the commitment of their defence of the code against unjustified criticism from those whose only interest in the game was to do it down.</p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Les Murray pays tribute to on-air partner Johnny Warren.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Les was the archetypal team member – whether it was playing with his fellow musicians in their Rubber Band, taking part in veterans’ football, attending grassroots football clubs to promote their anniversaries and celebrations, or joining me to try to explain why the <a href="http://hungarytoday.hu/news/hungarian-golden-team-best-ever-bbc-88006">Golden Team</a> of his native Hungary – of Puskas, Hidegkuti and Kocsis – did not appear in Melbourne in 1956 to defend the Olympic gold they won in Helsinki four years earlier. </p>
<p>After his interview with Jeno Buzanszky, at the time one of the only two survivors of that team, we had reassurance that our argument that the Soviet authorities had put pressure on the Hungarians to withdraw did indeed have legs.</p>
<p>All this was done by Les without infringing his amateur status as far as the game and its history was concerned.</p>
<p>Only a couple of years ago I tried to get him to contribute to a book I was putting together, but this time he said he could not do so. Then, he reflected:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Sometimes when I think about the hours I put into the game, I guess I only get about ten cents an hour for my efforts. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>My immediate response was:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Les, you get ten cents. How do you get so much!?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The unspoken answer was always that he gave so much more. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">An SBS tribute to Les Murray from 2014.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of his last public occasions was probably as close to his heart as anything he did in his career, when he unveiled a <a href="http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2017/02/04/ferenc-puskas-statue-unveiled-melbourne">golden statue of Ferenc Puskas</a> in the corner of Gosch’s Paddock, just outside football’s Melbourne home.</p>
<p>A proud Hungarian, born László Ürge in a small town outside Budapest, Les was an equally proud Australian. He was an inspiring example of the ability to hold more than two allegiances: he was a citizen of the world, and he never tired of explaining the wider ramifications of what that meant. </p>
<p>He tried to put that into practice as a member of FIFA’s Ethics Committee as the governing body went through <a href="https://theconversation.com/scandals-are-forever-for-fifa-as-world-cup-hosting-saga-drags-on-34240">scandal after scandal</a>. He did not get everything right, but he looked into that cesspool and tried to tackle it as best he could.</p>
<p>Les wrote several books about the game from his unique perspective. Sometimes you got the feeling that he believed it only began in this country around the time he and his migrant colleagues arrived in the 1950s. Bill Murray and I tried very hard to persuade him otherwise, but when he launched <a href="https://www.amazon.com/History-Football-Australia-Roy-Hay/dp/1742707645">our history of the game</a> in 2014 it was clear that he still clung to his own ideas. </p>
<p>I will miss one of the most generous and inspiring human beings I have come across since we migrated to this country. Les was a great Australian.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"891899443049574400"}"></div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81827/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roy Hay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Les Murray helped football transform itself from a predominantly migrant activity in Australia into what he loved to call ‘the world game’.Roy Hay, Honorary Fellow, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/767922017-05-02T06:54:23Z2017-05-02T06:54:23ZChasing the audience: is it over and out for cricket on free to air TV?<p>How Australians watch cricket on screens in the future could depend on what happens with the Nine Network’s current discussions with Cricket Australia over the 2018-23 media rights.</p>
<p>UBS media analyst Eric Choi <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/channel-nine-urged-to-step-away-from-the-cricket-contract-by-analysts-20170425-gvruzl.html">said</a> the current deal costs Nine about A$100 million a year but generates only A$60 million to A$70 million in gross revenue.</p>
<p>Choi said the network should either ask for access to more content at no additional cost, or step away from its <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-1970s-cricket-revolution-a-beginners-guide-9024">long association</a> with cricket.</p>
<p>The ramifications of Nine’s decision could be broad, impacting not only its potential revenue and viewers, but also participation rates among Aussies playing grassroots cricket. </p>
<h2>Cricket’s current standing</h2>
<p>The current <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-04/grassroots-cricket-to-benefit-from-financial-windfall/4732566">media rights deal</a> for cricket <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/apr/28/nine-ten-foxtel-or-optus-australian-cricket-tv-rights-explained">includes</a> the Nine Network and Network Ten. Nine has the rights to international tests, one-day internationals and T20 international games played in Australia, whereas Ten has the rights to the Big Bash League (BBL). </p>
<p>The BBL has become a crucial cricketing brand, continuing to <a href="http://www.bigbash.com.au/news/big-bash-league-bbl-viewers-broadcast-ratings-fixture-bbl06-tickets/2016-05-07">gain high ratings</a> and listed in <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/7204-top-20-tv-shows-of-2016-by-audience-engagement-in-australia-201704061403">Australia’s Top 20 engaging programs</a> for 2016. </p>
<p>The league also has excellent crowd attendance, having recently ranked 9th in the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/big-bash-league-jumps-into-top-10-of-most-attended-sports-leagues-in-the-world-20160110-gm2w8z.html">world’s top-attended sports leagues</a>. </p>
<p>Based on the BBL’s success and the increases seen in the new media rights for the <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-08-18/afl-on-the-verge-of-signing-new-tv-deal">Australian Football League</a> (AFL) and <a href="http://www.nrl.com/nrl-broadcast-rights-deal-announced/tabid/10874/newsid/91023/default.aspx">National Rugby League</a> (NRL), Cricket Australia will want to see an increase in the bidding for its rights.</p>
<p>This is particularly relevant if Cricket Australia still relies as heavily on these rights as <a href="http://www.alrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/subs/228._org_cricketaustralia.pdf">in 2012</a>, when it said the rights accounted for 60%-80% of the total annual income.</p>
<p>But can the media rights continue to increase with the current unstable media landscape?</p>
<h2>The current media landscape</h2>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.arnhem.com.au/">Arnhem Investment Management</a>, the era of advertising-supported premium sport on Australian television is “<a href="http://www.arnhem.com.au/thats-not-cricket/">drawing to a close</a>”.</p>
<p>The free-to-air (FTA) broadcasters are also currently requesting that the government <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/commercial-tv-licence-writedown-puts-ten-in-the-red/news-story/5497cf9333b1fc6f518265fa42343b3c">reduce license fees</a> and reconsider plans to further restrict <a href="https://theconversation.com/wide-ranging-ban-on-gambling-ads-during-sport-broadcasts-is-needed-to-tackle-problem-gambling-74687">gambling ads</a> during the broadcast of sports.</p>
<p>Ten has said it expects its revenue to be “<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/commercial-tv-licence-writedown-puts-ten-in-the-red/news-story/5497cf9333b1fc6f518265fa42343b3c">above</a> the 1.2% increase” it outlined in February this year. Yet it will still need to undertake a “<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/ten-posts-2322-million-loss-following-writedown/news-story/6589bdc494968269db5a4758d7b568ea">significant focus</a>” on a corporate cost-cutting program and profitability as a priority.</p>
<h2>New stakeholders</h2>
<p>With FTA broadcasters under financial pressures, any increase in new rights will require new stakeholders. </p>
<p>Foxtel currently shows international cricket matches played overseas, but does not have local coverage rights. If it could gain local cricket rights, this would further strengthen Foxtel’s sports offering of AFL, NRL, A-league, V8 Supercars, and many international sports.</p>
<p>Australia’s <a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Broadcast/Television/TV-content-regulation/sport-anti-siphoning-tv-content-regulation-acma">anti-siphoning regulation</a> could prevent Foxtel completely dominating the cricket media rights. But this list is expected to be <a href="http://www.afr.com/business/media-and-marketing/tv/nick-xenophon-argues-for-abolition-of-tv-licence-fees-and-toughening-up-on-google-and-facebook-taxes-20170424-gvroyd">trimmed</a> further by the government this year, furthering opening up the sports media battleground for pay television in future rights deals.</p>
<h2>The future for digital rights</h2>
<p>Digital rights will also be a major consideration with the new cricket media rights. While most would be looking at Telstra and Optus, there have been new players in this area who may also wish to place a bid.</p>
<p>Currently Cricket Australia has the <a href="http://www.cricket.com.au/promotions/cricket-australia-live/">Cricket Australia Live app</a> which allows users to pay a subscription (A$30 per year or A$5.99 a day) to gain access to live streaming of games, but the new rights could also see this change.</p>
<p>Optus may continue its affiliation with cricket. It recently become the <a href="http://www.optus.com.au/shop/entertainment/sport/cricket">official</a> mobile media partner of Cricket Australia, and principal sponsor of the Melbourne Stars Big Bash League team. Customers can access cricket content via the <a href="https://sport.optus.com.au/">Optus Sports app</a>, which also includes Optus’ recently acquired <a href="https://theconversation.com/optus-the-new-player-in-australias-sports-media-rights-battle-50069">English Premier League</a>. </p>
<p>Twitter has had success with broadcasting the US National Football League (NFL) and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/twitters-live-stream-of-the-melbourne-cup-could-change-how-we-broadcast-sport-67291">Melbourne cup</a> last year. This year it <a href="http://www.sporttechie.com/2017/04/28/technology/digitalmedia/major-league-lacrosse-twitter-to-live-stream-mll-game-of-the-week-for-2017-season/">signed</a> a two-year deal with the US National Lacrosse League. Twitter may consider its interest in a global sport like cricket. </p>
<p>Amazon, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/amazons-new-grand-tour-series-could-be-the-next-illegal-download-victim-68141">recently launched</a> its Prime Video service in Australia, could also be a contender. This year Amazon won the rights for NFL Thursday night matches. It <a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/5/1/15386694/nfl-live-stream-amazon-prime-thursday-night-football-ratings">paid</a> US$50 million for ten games, five times the price paid by Twitter last year. Amazon may look at the cricket as another potential global sport to add to its catalogue.</p>
<p>Another consideration is if Nine or Ten were to obtain the digital rights and use the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rio-olympics-are-a-test-case-for-the-future-of-sports-broadcasting-63589">free and subscription approach</a> that the Seven Network used as part of their Rio Games coverage <a href="https://theconversation.com/sevens-olympic-coverage-could-change-the-way-we-watch-sport-on-our-screens-60563">last year</a>.</p>
<h2>The impact on the viewing experience</h2>
<p>Can you “slice and dice” too much? This is a <a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/5/1/15386694/nfl-live-stream-amazon-prime-thursday-night-football-ratings">question</a> being asked in the US by CBS chief executive Les Moonves with regard to the NFL.</p>
<p>Adding another stakeholder to cricket will impact the viewers’ experience. This year the new <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-afl-gets-richer-who-gets-richer-with-it-46321">AFL media rights</a> created some frustration linked with the way the rights had been negotiated, particularly the digital rights.</p>
<p>Telstra, the digital rights holder, is restricted by its agreement to limit live match videos to a 7-inch screen size. Highlights and replays are available in full-screen size 12 hours after the match ends. (Foxtel, meanwhile, can stream the games full-screen.)</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"832163675657998337"}"></div></p>
<p>This change has outraged some fans who paid the A$89 subscription fee for the <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/mobile">AFL Live app</a>. Because of the screen size restrictions, Telstra users with a large phone or tablet have a large amount of black space on their screen.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"832194025855741952"}"></div></p>
<p>Some Australians are being creative in working around the restrictions.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"832164417081004032"}"></div></p>
<h2>Media coverage and participation</h2>
<p>The media rights for sport can be looked at far more broadly than solely the coverage of the game itself.</p>
<p>In the United Kingdom there has been ongoing debate associated with cricket’s coverage. Since the sport moved to pay-TV, there has <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/801645.html">been a decline</a> in participation levels, which many argued is <a href="http://www.espn.com.au/cricket/story/_/id/19064584/elizabeth-ammon-state-english-county-cricket">primarily due</a> to the game no longer being broadcast free to air. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/jul/12/ashes-sky-england-australia-ecb-tv">Reports of a Sport England Active People survey</a> show a 32% drop in participation levels in people aged over 16 since coverage of cricket moved to satellite and cable TV.</p>
<p>There are now steps being taken to <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9220b274-0a38-11e7-97d1-5e720a26771b">introduce</a> a new Twenty20 tournament in the UK, built around the success of the Indian Premier League and Australia’s BBL, which had some games <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/12/20/channel-5-brings-back-live-cricket-free-air-tv-after-decade-long-absence">live broadcast</a> in the UK during the last season.</p>
<p>This is an interesting case study for Cricket Australia, which only last year <a href="http://www.cricket.com.au/news/cricket-australia-census-participation-numbers-women-men-children-james-sutherland/2016-08-23">announced</a> cricket as “No 1 as the current top participation sport in Australia”.</p>
<p>Any changes to the rights that impact the percentage of Australians with access to the coverage, could also see a decline in participation based on the UK experience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc C-Scott is a board member of C31 Melbourne (Community Television Station)</span></em></p>Negotiations for the new media rights for cricket in Australia could see a change in how we watch games, and even be linked to a drop in people actually playing the game.Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Screen Media, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/710842017-01-10T19:35:38Z2017-01-10T19:35:38ZJames Hird’s suspected drug overdose: invasive reporting breaches a right to privacy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152213/original/image-20170110-16990-olreco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Football figure James Hird is recovering following a suspected drug overdose last week.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Tracey Nearmy</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pleas by James Hird’s family to <a href="https://www.triplem.com.au/sport/afl/news/tania-hird-releases-statement/">respect its privacy</a> present challenges to media covering the latest chapter of a life that has become a very public Greek tragedy.</p>
<p>It might seem right that the media back off – ask no questions, take no photos – and await news from Hird’s family or spokespeople. If the reports of a <a href="http://wwos.nine.com.au/2017/01/05/17/46/ex-dons-afl-coach-hird-in-hospital-report">suspected drug overdose</a> are correct – suggesting a deliberate act – then the last thing the former Essendon player and coach or his family should have to endure is the added stress of scrutiny and interference.</p>
<p>More broadly, finding a balance between providing information and minimising harm is often a delicate pickle for journalists.</p>
<h2>Sports journalism and media ethics</h2>
<p>To provide valuable information to the public, media must act independently, unconstrained by vested interests, no matter how powerful or loud.</p>
<p>As a champion player and as coach, Hird was a high-profile public figure – a superstar in a billion-dollar industry – and still is a public figure due partly to his role in the <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/news/essendon-supplement-scandal">seemingly unrelenting supplements controversy</a>. There is no doubt that the public, many of whom have followed Hird’s career, wants to know what happened in the lead-up to his hospitalisation and treatment, and how he is faring now.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tasa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/27.pdf">Some observers</a> argue that when footballers become public figures they enter a Faustian pact in which they also become sports celebrities, and with that celebrity status, anything they do is public or at least newsworthy. </p>
<p>Competition among sports journalists is fierce, and there is pressure to break fresh news and be first with the story. The AFL accredits about 850 print, radio, television and digital reporters to cover football. A further 1,100 people work as broadcast crew, photographers, player statistics collectors and so on. That’s about 2,000 media covering between 720 and 792 registered players, depending on the year.</p>
<p>Terry Wallace played 254 AFL games, mainly for Hawthorn and also for Richmond and Footscray, which is now the Western Bulldogs. He coached the Western Bulldogs and, less successfully, Richmond, for 247 games.</p>
<p>More recently, as a sports commentator with a regular radio program, Wallace has been on both sides of the media/privacy issue. He believes that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Somewhere along the line, there have to be boundaries about what is private and what is not private.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Journalists’ actions shocked Wallace on occasions when he coached Richmond between 2005 and 2009. One night in June 2008, Richmond defender Graham Polak was <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/afl-footballer-critical-after-hit-by-tram-20080628-2yme.html">hit by a tram</a>, bruising his brain so badly that doctors put him in an induced coma. </p>
<p>After months of treatment and rehabilitation, he was allowed home but complained of short-term memory loss and balance issues. Wallace recalls that someone from the media appeared at Polak’s house, claiming to have the club’s permission to interview him. He says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This was something to me that stepped across the line of what was fair and reasonable.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What is the ‘public interest’?</h2>
<p>Many stories about footballers’ off-field antics fall into the category of being of public interest, but it’s difficult to see how they are in the public interest. So what is there to guide journalists? </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.meaa.org/meaa-media/code-of-ethics/">Media Alliance</a>, the <a href="http://acma.gov.au/webwr/_assets/main/lib100084/privacy_guidelines.pdf">Australian Communications and Media Authority</a> and the <a href="http://www.presscouncil.org.au/privacy-principles/">Australian Press Council</a> have codes and guidelines that essentially say the right to privacy should be respected but may be transgressed when there is a clear public interest.</p>
<p>The difficulty is that journalists interpret what is in the “public interest” differently depending on the circumstances, the exclusivity of the story, the numbers impacted, and so on. Figuring out the right thing to do is not an exact science.</p>
<p>A key function of the media is to expose those who transgress laws, rules and common standards. That’s what happened to Hird when his actions as coach during Essendon’s supplements program attracted tough media scrutiny and questioning.</p>
<p>It was in the public interest for Hird’s role to be probed and exposed because he was operating under the codes and rules governing football. In August 2013, Hird was suspended from his position as Essendon coach for 12 months under these rules.</p>
<p>But that’s different to Hird’s current situation. Reporting details of his suspected overdose or filming wife Tania and his children without their consent intrudes on their right to privacy, with no valid journalistic justification. It has no sense of being in the public interest as there is no need nor right for the public to know. </p>
<p>Only, perhaps, a desire to know.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This piece is based on a <a href="http://www.futureleaders.com.au/book_chapters/pdf/Media-Innovation-Disruption/Bill-Birnbauer.pdf#zoom=80">longer book chapter</a> from Media Innovation and Disruption (2016).</em></p>
<p><em>Readers who are seeking assistance can call Lifeline on 131 114 or beyondblue on 1300 224 636.</em></p>
<p><em>This piece has been amended since publication.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71084/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Birnbauer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Finding a balance between providing information on public figures like James Hird and minimising harm often is a delicate pickle for journalists.Bill Birnbauer, Senior Lecturer, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.