How Much of Sports Media is Just About Sports Media?

If a sports media member isn't outraged, did it really happen?

Sports media is in this weird state where a lot of what sports media talks about is other sports media. And it often takes the form of a daily outrage. Usually something nobody cares about 48 hours later.

This week ESPN laid off more employees. Other than some notable names, this isn’t really a big story. ESPN has been shedding talent for years as their business remains under pressure following its peak years of maximum relevance, revenues and profitability.

The reality is that ESPN is in a secular decline. Like most businesses that are in a secular decline, you get cost cutting.

But the main reason this made news is Ryan Clark was let go. Clark has been “controversial” in the realm of sports media outrage mostly for discussion points centered on race (as well as another time he told Peter Shrager he basically didn’t know what he was talking about because he never actually played football).

But the reality is that most consumers don’t really care if Ryan Clark no longer shows up on NFL Live when they flip on their TV. It’s only a story to a tiny group that is perpetually online and/or makes a living off the sports-media-commenting-about-sports-media news cycle.

Additionally today, we saw an absurd story about Caitlyn Clark and comparing her situation in the WNBA with Emmitt Til and historical racial atrocities of the past. And again, it got me thinking. Who is this for?

It’s a completely absurd opinion. But it got people talking. Is that the point?

Or does nobody read anything anymore, so you have to wander into the realm of insane to generate any response at all?

The reality is that all of this speaks to the current trend of sports media’s decline. Almost everything outside of live games is rapidly descending to zero value. The only exceptions are individuals who have built their own audience or have enough of a personal brand to rise above the slop. And these individuals are either entrepreneurs doing their own thing, or they’re being paid more and more while the rest are laid off.

ESPN is basically becoming Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith and a bunch of nobodies.

The USA Today columnist who told us today that Caitlyn Clark is about to spark a wave of violence against black people is completely irrelevant, likely to be replaced by AI content quite soon.

One question I ponder is did the decline of sports media lead to the increase in political slop, or did the increase in political slop lead to the decline of sports media?

The common view at least among those who reside in this world is that it’s the latter. “Go woke, go broke.” I don’t think it’s that simple.

I think the decline of sports media has led to filling the air with more nonsense. Because the value of all of it is going to zero. Hard analysis of last night’s game? Going to zero. The most progressive sports media members talking about the racial impact of some sports moment? Going to zero. It’s all dying.

I’ve always said to get ahead in sports media, you need to be one of the following or better yet a combination of the following: Incredible level of quality. Unique access. Funny.

But the problem is “level of quality” is going away as a differentiator as our AI tools accelerate daily.

Unique access is becoming less of a thing because all athletes and coaches have gotten so good at saying nothing.

So that leaves funny.

Funny is hard. Maybe the better word is entertaining.

Can you be entertaining while also really knowing sports? This is basically the formula for all the overpaid guys these days. Guys who have huge audiences and outsized personal brands.

Outside of this, your only options are be the loudest guy in the room during each moment of sports media outrage or work your tail off trying to outrun the secular value decline. Tough options.