The Future of Sports Media

Technology, cable television, and the Internet have forever changed the future of sports media. Television, social media, the Internet, and blogs, have made sports journalism more competitive. There now seems to be a readjustment in the relationship between the sports leagues and teams and the media. In this transformation media giants will be pressed to perform to the needs and wants of the viewers, and fans will have unprecedented access to information on numerous and yet-to-be-determined distribution channels. This can already be seen with networks such as ESPN and the MLB Network, which cater to the needs of consumers. ESPN has multiple networks that allow the fans to focus on just the news (ESPN News), college sports (ESPNU) or other obscure/extreme sports (ESPN2). The MLB Network has also followed suit with livestream broadcasts and television networks that allow the consumer to watch football at the same time. Even college conferences have taken advantage of TV networks such as the Big East, Big Ten, and Big 12, who allows fans of their respective conferences to have programming catered to the universities and colleges. All of these also add significant amounts of value and additional revenue for the organizations. Social Media Web sites, such as Twitter and Facebook also allow athletes to communicate with their fans, which has allowed viewers to feel more connected to their favorite athlete or team than ever before. Lastly, the Internet has overstepped the traditional boundaries of magazines, newspapers, and traditional local news to allow fans to access information about their favorite organization or player with the click of a button.

With all of the technology, however, many worry about what negatives this new form of sports journalism and media will do due to the credibility of reporting. Some argue that sports journalists are now looking to social media Web sites and blogs for leads on stories and information since the fans, through technology, have the opportunity to become apart of the sports writing community. For these reasons, many believe that writers and bloggers could report information that is falsified. Also, a recent surge in technology means that organizations and their players are now scrutinized in the public eye even more.

The changes in technology while to date have been very positive, may lead to some type of rules and regulations to protect these sports organizations. Until then, organizations will have to work harder than ever before to protect the integrity of the organization and those that are members. Also, sports journalists will also have to do more due diligence in regards to the credibility of their sources. The most important thing to realize regarding technology however, is making sure that technology is used to positivelyaffect the future of sports media, which has far the most part done so.