Are Sports Too Big To Fail?
This week we are focusing on
sports. In the worlds media industry this day in age sports is one of the most
popular and largest money grossing type of media. As a huge sports fan most of
my media consumption is sports and other sports related media. The sports
industry is big money, and as sports fans we are willing to buy into these
sports and pay to watch these athletes perform. According to Forbes, just in
the MLB alone is worth 36 billion dollars. “The average baseball team is now
worth $1.2 billion, 48% more than a year ago, the biggest year-over-year
increase since we began tracking team values in 1998. A record 15 MLB teams are
now worth at least $1 billion, up from five in 2014.”( Ozanian) average salarys for pro players this in
todays world are in the millions. According to Business Insider, “On
average, NBA players make $5.15 million, MLB players make $3.2 million, NHL
players make $2.4 million, and NFL players make $1.9 million per year.”
(Manfred) The crazy part of this is that this isn’t even the most
popular sport in America. The NFL today is Americas most popular American
sport. This years super bowl commercials cost 4.5 million dollars per 30
seconds of air time. And as we know the super bowl commercials are one of the
best parts of the super bowl.
Now with
sports being this huge in our media and entertainment world, we idolize
athletes as heroes and icons. But as of recently there has been a disturbing
trend arising in professional and college sports. Criminal activity has been a
growing issue in professional sports. The NFL in particular has seen an
increasing number of these cases in recent years. This year alone we have seen
some of the most disturbing cases in recent history. Between the legal issues
dealing with drugs, domestic violence, and child abuse the NFL has seen a huge
jump in legal term oil this year.
Ravens
Running back Ray Rice, is one of those in the spotlights for his actions. “Ray
Rice received
only a two-game suspension for knocking out his then-girlfriend (now wife)
and dragging her unconscious body out of a hotel elevator.”(lund) For his
actions Rice was only suspended two games. Now with this issue many people see
that rice should have been removed from the league. But due to the NFL’s policy
on domestic violence he was only suspended initially. but after extreme
controversy, his sentence was that he was suspended from the league for even
longer. A second example of legal issues in the NFL would be Adrian Petersons
case. Peterson was charged with child abuse after he was exposed for beating or
as he says “disciplining” one of his young sons. According to the New York
Times, Peterson’s charges included, “Minnesota Vikings
running back Adrian Peterson agreed to a plea bargain Tuesday, reducing his
felony child-abuse charges to a single charge of reckless assault, a
misdemeanor that comes with a $4,000 fine and an order to perform community
service.” (Zinser) Both of these cases
were major headlines for the NFL this year, but were among numerous other
offenses by players that raised the public’s eye.
These
issues bring me to my point of why do we continue to watch these sports if they
are allowing players to commit such crimes and only be sentenced a few games
and allowed to return. If these players were general people they would have
extreme legal issues. Now does this say something about us as sports fans? Do
we lack morals by still watching sports and cheering for teams even though
their morals are against what is publicly and legally acceptable. I think Jeb
Lund asks the perfect question, “Does watching the NFL make you evil?” By
watching these sports that “allow” their athletes to almost get away with
illegal activities, make us the viewers evil as well? By watching these sports
does that make our morals as a society the same as these athletes who commit
these offenses. If we as a society see these actions criminal and morally wrong
why do we continue to watch? With these issues plaguing sports will we ever see
a type of protest where people will stop supporting pro sports and their
athletes? But the big question is that are sports to big in todays world that
no matter what happens, with players and teams morally or even criminally, professional
sports will never fail as a business and media source.
Works
Cited
Do I think sports will ever fail? Absolutely not. Sports have become more than the actual game in that it has grown into a media sensation. It is less about the actual game and more about the players. What the players are doing in their spare time, what they are tweeting about, what brands they are endorsing. And because people love these certain players, they will support them in whatever they do. Look at Michael Jordan for example. He started his own shoe line and because of his huge following, the line has turned into a major success. He hasn’t played in the NBA in over 10 years, but according to Kurt Badenhausen, “Jordan earned an estimated $80 million last year from corporate partners Nike, Gatorade, Hanes, Upper Deck, 2K Sports, Presbyterian Healthcare and Five Star Fragrances. Other Jordan assets include six restaurants, a North Carolina car dealership, a motorsports team and his 80% stake in the Charlotte Bobcats.”
ReplyDeleteAlso, it is very easy to access information about sporting games, players, and other events. Almost every major league has an app, and within those leagues, almost every sport team has an app too. For me, I have the NFL app, along with the New York Giants app, and the New York Rangers app. Having this app on my phone, makes my life a little bit easier when I am not near a television to physically watch a game. I get live updates during the game, and also important updates on players ad future events. According to Stephen Master, “Over 70 million people consumed sports content on either their smartphones or computer, and of that, the top 20% consumed eighty-five percent of the total sports minutes viewed in Q3 2014, and over 8 times as many minutes as the second heaviest quintile.”
I have been saying this since my first blog, and I will say it again, we live in a world that is all about convenience. It used to be, if you were not around a television for the game when it was airing live, unless you recorded it on a VHS player, you most likely were never going to see that game. Now, you can live stream any game almost anywhere. I will admit, there were times where I was live streaming a game when I wasn’t supposed too, but the fact that it was right at my fingertips, I would have felt guilty not too. Master also mentioned, “Americans streaming video on the computer particularly in the sports category continues to explode as the total time the average person spent streaming and the number of streams they viewed continued to increase through the year.”
So, will sports ever fail? My answer remains the same. There is just too much invested in these teams for it to ever die, and besides for all the technological advances, there are still people out thee who truly enjoy watching sporting games. Also, I don’t think marketers would ever want to give up the chance to have their commercial play during the super bowl.
Works Cited
"2014 Year in Sports Media Report." Nielsen.com. Accessed 29 March 2015. Web.
Badenhausen, Kurt. "How Michael Jordan Still Earns $80 Million A Year," Forbes 14 Feb. 2013. Web.
Sports are huge when it comes to the media. Fans are consistently keeping up with sports on a daily basis, especially when each season comes around. I agree with Frank that sports are one of the most popular and largest money grossing type of media. As we already know, the Super Bowl was one of the top watched shows and this is also due to the Super Bowl commercials. Several people watch the Super Bowl to just see the commercials and half-time show, instead of watching the game. Like Frank said, the commercials this year cost 4.5 million dollars. Besides the NFL, MLB is huge as well. The New York Yankees are worth “$3.2 billion,” making them worth the most, and they “are tied with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys as the most valuable U.S. sports team” (Ozanian 1). No matter what season it is fans are always tuning in, whether it’s on television or through social media, throughout the day.
ReplyDeleteI think the rise of technology is partly responsible for the rise in sports and why it is so huge in the media and among our society. The expansion of technology and access to the Internet and social media through various devices has allowed us to keep up-to-date on sports information. Whether it is time for the draft, the game, or hearing about sports scandals, connections through social media can be found through any device. Over 70 million people consumed sports on their smartphones or computers in 2014 and out of this group, “the top 20%—10 million on phones, 15 million online—consumed 85% of the total sports minutes” (“The Year In Sports: Digital Steps Up To The Plate” 1). As you can see, sports is widely talked about and consumed by fans.
This information we consume can be good or bad. Some professional sports athletes have committed illegal crimes and a lot of these players come from the NFL. Like Frank mentioned, Ray Rice was charged with domestic violence, and Adrian Peterson was charged for child abuse. Both athletes though got away with minor forms of punishment, compared to what an ordinary citizen would be charged with. Yet we still consume sports and follow that player or the team they play for. I don’t think that makes us evil in continuing to watch and support these athletes or teams. Some people still follow their team, even if a member commits a crime, because they are true fans and support the team overall. That doesn’t necessarily mean they support that particular player. I think no matter what sports will continue to grow both as a business and media source.
Furthermore, we are not the only country that is big in sports. There are other countries that are much larger and known for sports compared to the U.S. Even through social media, these other teams grow in much more popularity than ours. “Barcelona (69 million), Real (67 million) and United (53 million) have the three biggest Facebook followings among sports teams,” and if the NFL were to combine all of it’s teams’ Facebook followers, it is barely more than Barcelona with 75 million followers (Badenhausen 1-2). We are not the only country where sports are huge and continue to grow among society. I think sports are too big to fail and will continue to be consumed by people everyday.
Works Cited
Badenhausen, Kurt. "The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2014." Forbes 18 July 2014. Web.
Ozanian, Mike. "MLB Worth $36 Billion As Team Values Hit Record $1.2 Billion
Average." Forbes 25 March 2015. Web.
"The Year in Sports: Digital Steps Up to the Plate." Nielsen.com. 5 Feb. 2015. Web.
Frank pose a great question that I’ve been recently been wondering myself: is sports too big to fail? As the numbers Frank highlighted in his blog, millions and billions of dollars are poured into sports. I was watching the Kentucky versus Wisconsin game this Saturday and started to think about the amount of money that is poured into these two basketball programs all for it to lead up to this one game. The amount of people in that stadium that have invested a great amount of money to be at that game to further invest themselves emotionally for the next few hours all just for this one game. What is it about sports that it is able to draw in such huge devoted followers and fans?
ReplyDeleteThe athletes that perform well at the right time are later look at upon as heroes for younger children and aspiring athletes. Take Michael Jordan for example. During his prime he was once one of the best basketball players in the game, if not the best player. He is largely known as a great basketball player and idolized and often put on a pedestal for his talent. But what many people do not know about Jordan is his personal life and his competitive nature that is so competitive that many fans who knew might have a different take on Jordan. He also had a gambling issue that might also be looked down upon if he was a “regular person”. But because of his ability to put a ball through a hoop, all his flaws are over looked and even to an extent, excused. According to a Forbes article, in 2003 Jordan’s estimated net worth was at $650 million and was earning a salary of $90 million from the Bulls. How is it that he was able to make such a large amount of money when he is not playing basketball? Jordan is so idolized that even in his retirement he is still making money off of his abilities he once had in putting ball in hoop. He is remembered and highlighted as one of the greatest players of all time but his extremely competitive nature and gambling problem is something we’ll hush hush about and sweep under the rug.
In more recent times, the issue of idolizing an athlete so much that his personal flaws are excused is shown in the case of Ray Rice. Rice was caught on tape for violently hitting his then girlfriend unconscious and then dragging her body out off a hotel elevator. This might possibly be the biggest scandal so far but the punishment for Rice was a few game suspensions. According to Nielsen’s 2014 Year In Sports Media Report an average of 112.2 million viewers watched the Super Bowl, 92.1 million viewers watched the Thanksgiving Classic Reach P2+ and 55.9 million viewers watched the NFC Championship. What is the punishment for Rice’s actions saying to the 92.1 million people watching the most hyped up event of the year and religiously following the football and players? That if you are good enough at one sport and if you are athletic enough, you can get away with domestic violence? Is that the right message to be sending out to children who idolize these athletes as heroes?
Towards the end of Frank’s blog, he ask the question who’s fault is it that this culture is built around sports and athletes? Is it the consumer’s fault for still tuning in and watching sports or is it the organization’s fault for allowing the players to continue playing? I think the fault is with the organizations that value money more than morals so in this sense, yes sports is too big to fail. Sports - the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB - are at the end of the day multi-millions dollars organizations that are going to be more concern with the business aspect of the game and players than with moral issues. Talented players like Jordan and Rice are in a sense “tenured” despite any personal flaws they may have as long as they are able to put ball in hoop or help move ball from point A to point B.
Works Cited
“2014 Year in Sports Media Report.” Nielsen.com. Accessed 5 Apr. 2015. Web.
Badenhausen, Kurt. “How Michael Jordan still Earns $80 Million A Year.” Forbes. 14 Feb. 2013. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.
Over the past year the NFL has taken lots of negative public pressure to handle off-the-field issues with its players in a more disciplined way. As Frank mentions in his blog post, the notable cases of Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice punching his fiance in an elevator and Minnesota Vikings player Adrian Peterson beating his child, have been pushed to the forefront of media attention prior to the season. The incidents raised many questions about how far should businesses punish their employees, do they have the right to for non-work related incidents , but also is football, and other major sports leagues, simply too big to feel the consequences of negative publicity and public relations?
ReplyDeleteNow sports leagues are massive institutions with unimaginable amounts of wealth, tons of popularity and negotiating power which makes them, in many regards, “too big to fail”. Issues such as the Rice and Peterson scandals, which in other industries may have caused a detrimental effect on popularity and even the businesses bottom line, are ineffective at driving away fans, at least in substantial numbers.
Monetary values seem to suggest that sports teams values are increasing to astronomical numbers. Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes suggested that the limited number of sports teams available and increased allotments of money amongst investors in the stock market has led to teams being highly valued. He states: “Credit the massive wealth created in the stock market over the last five years, exploding TV rights fees and the limited number of teams available.” Badenhausen goes on to explain that the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers for an unbelievable 2 billion dollars is a reflection of the growing value of sports teams in different markets. I believe, as Badenhausen suggests, TV rights to televise games are also highly coveted amongst media organizations which attempt to get access to broadcast these games. This, coupled with the continued growing popularity of sports themselves, makes sports leagues very powerful and renders social scandals ineffective at hurting the brand.
Sports may also attribute media to their rise in value. Sports leagues are becoming even more popular thanks to new media which allows fans to be connected to their favorites sports at all times. Much of this new media is particularly mobile devices, which are providing alternative methods for sports fans to watch and be engaged with sports. Nielsen reported on the changing trends in sport enthusiasts viewing and participation habits: “more than 70 million people consumed sports on either their smartphones or computer in the third quarter of 2014. And of that group, the top 20%—10 million on phones, 15 million online—consumed 85% of the total sports minutes viewed in that quarter.” (Nieslen)
Nielsen referred to sports fans thirst for sports content as an “insatiable appetite” which seems to be a fair characterization considering the massive increase in numbers and value that sports leagues are now at due to their popularity. New age media has allowed sports leagues to become even more popular and their economic value has also increased tremendously.
References
THE YEAR IN SPORTS: DIGITAL STEPS UP TO THE PLATE. (2015, February 5). Retrieved April 7, 2015.
Badenhausen, K. (2014, July 6). The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
Abigail Sisti
ReplyDeleteI believe that the sports industry is a very profitable. I never thought about if sports would ever fail until now. I personal think that the sports industry will not fail. I think certain sport teams and sports individual have more fans then others. Sports fans are loyal fans so once they are for a specific team they usually stick with that team. A great way for sports player to earn their money is to promote there self’s. The way they can promote there self is to gain endorsement deals. Not only does the endorsement deals help the player earn money but bring recognition to the team that individual play on. For example Gatorade uses sports players and team to promote their product by having Gatorade be a drink that helps better their ability to preform.
Another reason I don’t think that sports will ever fall is because of social media. Social media is one of the most popular ways for company’s to stay relevant. Sports fan now can follow the page of their team’s player’s lives. This is a great way for sports fan to get updates about their teams fast and conveniently. “Barcelona (69 million), Real (67 million) and United (53 million) have the three biggest Facebook followings among sports teams,” (Badenhausen). Facebook is like a community; if you have a common interest then you can like a page. I believe that this can help the sports industry. By a fan connecting with other fans a belong to a group they can it will become a community. By using social media fans can connect with other fan so this expands the brands name. I think that any number of followers is great because it is still fan promoting their teams.
I also think that being able to have information fast is a key to why the sports industry will not fall. “A collective 72.3 million Americans consumed a staggering 7.1 billion minutes of sports content in October 2014 alone, and those numbers will only continue to grow. From October 2012 to 2014, the average user increased their monthly time spent on mobile sports content by 35%”(sports media report). I think that since our cellphone are so high tech now sports fan can stay more active then ever before. The fans can constantly get updates during the games and through out the season. For example ESPN has an app that people use the app when they can watch the game and get statistics.
Work Cited
Badenhausen, Kurt. "The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2014." Forbes 18 July 2014. Web.
2014 Year in Sports Media Report." Nielsen.com. Accessed 29 March 2015. Web.
I don’t think sports are going anywhere any time soon. Sports have become a huge part of our society and have provided a vast amount of money to multiple industries. When we think of how much money the Super Bowl brings in every year, which alone should tell you that we are nowhere close to getting rid of sports. This year’s Super Bowl brought in 114.4 million viewers per minute on NBC, which made it the most watched event in American TV history (James). On top of that, it also brings in over $300 million in ad revenues alone, a 30-second advertisement during this year’s Super Bowl game cost $4.5 million.
ReplyDeleteThe people in our society are obsessed with everything that surrounds sports, the competitiveness, feeling as though they belong to a certain team, etc. The viewers also are obsessed with the suspense feature that is included in sporting events. The fact that there is no predetermined outcome of the event and that no one, not even the players, coaches, or TV producers know what is going to happen is also what draws us in more. Real mentions this in his article, he says, “Sports are, in fact, more "real" than many types of reality programming because the sporting even is not created only for television and has an existence prior to its being televised” (Real, pg. 21). There are multiple reality television shows that do well but aren’t actually even legitimate reality. In sports, that is as real as it gets, most of the time you are watching a live game and the end result is up to the team and the players and no one else can change that.
Sports also aren’t going anywhere because they are literally everywhere you turn; they are even included in a vast majority of the news shows we watch on a daily basis. While journalist report are reporting on the games on the sidelines while it is currently happening, we also hear about it the next day on the news as well. Typically after a popular game is finished, there are shows following which display people discussing every aspect of the game. Then once those are over, there are more people talking about it on news channels the next day and if it was a really important game, then people can continue to talk about it for more than a week after. I mean it is quite ridiculous if you think about how much we as a society are discussing sports.
The other reason I don’t believe sports can go anywhere is the use of technology and the convenience of watching sports anywhere. An article on Nielsen found, “The on-the-go convenience of a smartphone is a perfect fit for the dynamic, fast-paced world of sports. A collective 72.3 million Americans consumed a staggering 7.1 billion minutes of sports content in October 2014 alone, and those numbers will only continue to grow” (Nielsen). Since technology has made it easier to access people are watching sports wherever they go. For these reasons I don’t believe that we can get rid of sports and I don’t think anyone wants to.
"2014 Year in Sports Media Report." Nielsen.com. Accessed 29 March 2015. Web.
Real, Michael. "Theorizing The Sports - Television Dream Marriage: Why Sports Fit Television so Well." Sports Media: Transformation. Integration, Consumption (2012): 19-39. Print.
Frank is definitely right about the fact that sports media consumption is a large part of our society today. According to Nielsen’s study of sports in 2014, “more than 70 million people consumed sports on either their smartphones or computer in the third quarter of 2014.” In the same report, they said, “Fans’ insatiable appetite for sports spans all forms of media, including radio,” (Nielsen). Though not as many people listen to the radio on a daily basis as they used to, professional and collegiate sports get plenty of airtime on television, the internet, on smartphone apps, and yes, even still on the radio.
ReplyDeleteMoving on to some more specific parts of the industry, I thought Frank’s part on MLB payroll very interesting. I was not aware in the vast growth of major league baseball in terms of each team's worth. In just a year, that 48% increase in the average worth of a team is an extremely substantial figure. I also found it interesting that the average basketball player makes more than twice what the average football player makes. With professional football being the most watched sport in the US, and the popularity of the Super Bowl in comparison to fandom in the MLB and the World Series, one would expect that football players make more on average. However, if you consider the fact that there are 53 players on an active NFL roster (46 of which can suit up for that week's game) compared to just 13 on an active NBA roster. So the pay gap balances out because there are going to be a lot of players on every NFL roster who make far less than the majority of players in the NBA.
The Forbes article on the most valuable sports teams across the globe was also intriguing to me. As prolific as professional football may be in America, the fandom of professional soccer across the globe is quite potent and widespread. The article states, “As expensive as prime U.S. sports properties have become, they can’t match the top European soccer clubs when it comes to value and global reach,” (Badenhausen). Football teams may become popular across the US, but Futbol teams receive worldwide notoriety, popularity, and fandom.
Works Cited
"2014 Year in Sports Media Report." Nielsen.com. 29 March 2015. Web.
Badenhausen, Kurt. "The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2014." Forbes. 18 July 2014. Web.