ESPN covering WWE's Summerslam is pretty much the nail in the coffin for me

[Homerboy]

I know ESPN blows, but it's a nice one-stop-shop for general sports news -- especially as background noise in the morning while getting ready to recap the previous days' events.

But their "coverage" of WWE Summerslam has pretty much crossed the line for me. It's BEYOND stupid and not even remotely (true) sports related. I'm not saying that the WWE wrestlers are not athletic or aren't doing something incredibly difficult. I'm just saying it's flat-out stupid to include them with unscripted sports.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/blakeoe...m-coverage-shows-espns-willingness-to-change/

 

[Anubis]

ESPN airs poker, a card game, they have for years

you should have quit like a decade ago

 

[Homerboy]

ESPN airs poker, a card game, they have for years

you should have quit like a decade ago

At least that isn't pre-determined outcome. I might not call it a "sport" per se, but it at least isn't a script.

 

[twinrider1]

The E does stand for Entertainment, but I still don't like it. They key difference between this and their past non-traditional events is competition. The poker, the spelling bees, darts, I even remember lawn mower racing years ago, they were all competitive. The outcome was not predetermined. That's where they've crossed the line.

 

[CPA]

Haven't watched SportsCenter in years, primarily thanks to the now-departed Stuart Scott. Actually, only reason I watch ESPN now is for college football and basketball games.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

ESPN jumped the shark a long time ago. WTF cares if they air wrasslin', it beats 20 hours a day of SportsCenter. There's not a whole lot else for them to do this time of the year.

 

[lupi]

Used to love watching the world's strongest man shows on there.

Recently got a survey asking a lot of questions about doing more esport coverage too.

 

[futurefields]

WWE > ball sports

 

[poofyhairguy]

Meh, I think WWE is the poster child for pent up homosexuality but I can also recognize it has a large appeal. ESPN is losing subscribers for the first time in their existence, they can't afford to draw lines everywhere. The NFL squeezes them at the top (NFL Network) and shifting national demographics plus differing minority tastes squeeze them at the bottom. They own college football, that is their golden goose, but it can't keep the mouse running all year. Makes sense.

 

[z1ggy]

They are just filling the air with content. July-August is probably the worst time of year for American sports. Basically all there is MLB, and some random stuff like soccer, tennis & golf. Hockey isn't on, football isn't on, basketball isn't on, and no college sports are on at all.

I might have left some stuff out, but basically it's the down time for sports of the year for pro and college games.

 

[MixMasterTang]

Meh, I think WWE is the poster child for pent up homosexuality

Not that I agree with you (nor do I disagree) I just had to share a story. A friend of mine has always been the biggest WWE fan Ive ever met. Buys all the PPV events, gets front row tickets, etc. He is in his early 40s and recently came out as gay, so I did get a bit of a laugh from your post!

 

[Homerboy]

They are just filling the air with content. July-August is probably the worst time of year for American sports. Basically all there is MLB, and some random stuff like soccer, tennis & golf. Hockey isn't on, football isn't on, basketball isn't on, and no college sports are on at all.

I might have left some stuff out, but basically it's the down time for sports of the year for pro and college games.

Uhhh there's lots going on right now -- both college and pro football is ramping ump and they do a TON of milking those.

poofyhairguy nailed it on the head -- ESPN is losing eyeballs and they are going to do everything in their power to keep eyeballs on their screens. That being said, I think it will backfire. They will lose a lot of "older' eyeballs (such as myself) which I realize is a shitty demographic they don't care about anyways.

 

[smackababy]

Meh, I think WWE is the poster child for pent up homosexuality but I can also recognize it has a large appeal.

Wat? That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Wrestling is entertainment. It is no different than a Bruce Willis movie. It is just theater. What that has to do with homosexuality is lost on me.

The rest of your post is fairly spot on though. ESPN is losing viewership. Nobody wants to watch the Little League World Series or 24 hours of Sports Center. There is better content out there and people are moving to it.

 

[z1ggy]

Uhhh there's lots going on right now -- both college and pro football is ramping ump and they do a TON of milking those.

Meh, guess I personally don't care or pay attention to pre season anything. Plus, I'm a hockey fan, I give 0 shits about football/basketball/baseball these days. I also don't have cable anymore either, so I get 99% of my updates through google news, reddit or from friends. Seems pretty odd though that ESPN would cover WWE... Didn't think it was all that popular anymore.

 

[Anubis]

yea preseason might as well be the off season

 

[smackababy]

yea preseason might as well be the off season

The only reason the NFL hasn't go into hibernation after February is because of the idiotic shit between Brady and Goodell.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Wat? That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Wrestling is entertainment. It is no different than a Bruce Willis movie.

Suuuuure.. Bruce Willis movies always have long draw out entrances for men wearing minimal clothing like it is a Chippendales or something!

 

[alien42]

Seems pretty odd though that ESPN would cover WWE... Didn't think it was all that popular anymore.

WWE's market cap is currently $1.5 Billion, someone's consuming it.

 

[Jodell88]

Suuuuure.. Bruce Willis movies always have long draw out entrances for men wearing minimal clothing like it is a Chippendales or something!

Male power fantasy. Men can't be objectified.

 

[k3n]

"The GWF was the last pro wrestling promotion to be seen on ESPN regularly. Beginning in the mid-1990s, the network began to emphasize talk shows in the mid-afternoon hours, supplanting pro wrestling."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Wrestling_Federation

According to another wiki article, professional wrestling had been seen as low budget entertainment for the under-educated working class [until the mid 1980s].

 

[smackababy]

"The GWF was the last pro wrestling promotion to be seen on ESPN regularly. Beginning in the mid-1990s, the network began to emphasize talk shows in the mid-afternoon hours, supplanting pro wrestling."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Wrestling_Federation

According to another wiki article, professional wrestling had been seen as low budget entertainment for the under-educated working class [until the mid 1980s].

Before the mid 80's, it was all local promotions and traveling acts. It wasn't the unified spectacle Vince McMahon made it. He brilliantly bought up the smaller outfits to incorporate them into the promotion he got from his father. He then got some of the largest stars to sign on board (Andre the Giant, Hulk Hugan, etc) and promoted the hell out of them.

 

[MarkXIX]

I still write to my cable company weekly demanding that they put "ESPN 8 - The Ocho" in my channel line up. They still flat out ignore my demands, assholes.

 

[NoTine42]

They are just filling the air with content. July-August is probably the worst time of year for American sports. Basically all there is MLB, and some random stuff like soccer, tennis & golf. Hockey isn't on, football isn't on, basketball isn't on, and no college sports are on at all.

I might have left some stuff out, but basically it's the down time for sports of the year for pro and college games.

ESPN used to do a great job showing the random sports (like Worlds Strongest Man) before they loaded up on Pro packages and became "too big" for their own good.

 

[Away]

I still write to my cable company weekly demanding that they put "ESPN 8 - The Ocho" in my channel line up. They still flat out ignore my demands, assholes.

If it's almost a sport, we've got it here.