Board 8 > ESPN is dying

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://deadspin.com/a-running-list-of-espn-layoffs-1794664091

yikes
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w/e
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Man I liked some of those people. RIP Russillo and Kannell
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Another nail in cable TV's coffin
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Not surprised, ESPN has been a massive party from what i understand. Very few people do work, and their coverage of things is significantly declining.

I dont give a shit about Lavar Ball and his attempt to be relevant through his child. I don't care about seeing 500 articles slurping Nick Saban, etc. Small blogs cover actual data analysis and decision making, ESPN is basically Wal Mart tier sports reporting with the exception of a few people.

Tebowmania and how First Take covered it (and then how the rest of their sports talk shows followed suit) was the last straw.
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they should probably double down on more stephen a smith and jemele hill

because thats been working out so well for them so far
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ESPN is dyin', Cloud!
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EndOfDiscOne posted...

Another nail in cable TV's coffin

^

And from that PoV (among a few others), I say good riddance.

Coachman survived.
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SmartMuffin posted...

they should probably double down on more stephen a smith and jemele hill

because thats been working out so well for them so far

I don't know numbers but I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was true
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I get why other cable networks are shrinking - because they're being replaced by better options like Netflix, Amazon, other streaming services for shows, etc. But what's replacing ESPN? Just online sports streaming and sports websites?
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Not caring about sports probably
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yeah. just less people subscribing to cable. their numbers have been declining for a while now. I think it's kind of inevitable - I kinda see cable tv as being in the same place as, say, GameStop.
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mlb network
nfl network
nba tv
nhl network

blogs that cater to specific teams that do actual data analysis (very prominent in baseball for obvious reasons, nba analytics is also growing immensely), and of course illegal streams of sporting events.
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I think people are still watching a ton of sports on ESPN. It's more that they're reading less of ESPN's publications and watching less of their talking heads/reporting.
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watching less of their talking heads/reporting.

maybe because its universally terrible
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I open up twitter and see every highlight to every basketball game in my feed, in small 10 second chunks. why watch sportscenter? why deal with commercials and wading through sports I don't care about?
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Wonder if they have buyers remorse on some of those long tv deals they paid for.
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Also, besides baseball seeing a youth movement, the other 3 sports leagues saw a golden age begin about a decade ago and are seeing less young talent.

The NFL still revolves around Brady, Manning (despite retiring hes on TV every sunday), Brees, Rivers, Roethlisberger, etc. Most of the elite QBs in the league are 34+. There are a few late 20s now (Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Andy Dalton count?, etc).

The NHL still revolves a lot around Crosby, Ovechkin, and Kane. All are 10+ year vets now.

The NBA is still the Lebron/Melo/Paul/Curry/Durant/Westbrook show mostly, although there are some super young names rising to fame too in Towns, Davis, etc. The NBA saw a massive golden age begin with the Celtics big 3/Lebron turning heel
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the NBA is more popular now than ever
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It is, but its about to see a bit of a leveling off/decline.
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There's nothing wrong with leveling off or slight decline. Constant increase in anything is unsustainable and arguably unhealthy. I think the NBA's gonna continue to be in a great position for the next five years - which is about as far out as it makes sense to predict.
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SeabassDebeste posted...

Constant increase in anything is unsustainable and arguably unhealthy.

Capitalism, ho!
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to be a contrarian, if the Finals are the Cavs and Warriors again I could see the casual NBA viewer giving up on watching regular season and even some playoff games
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Yeah, the thing with ESPN is that I would only ever watch it when I was bored during football season, so I'd turn it on and use it as background noise while I did other stuff.

I think the analysts typically come across as people I just don't care about listening to. So many other people do it online now and as mentioned, specific analyzing of teams and stuff, that it's like... Why go out of my way to watch ESPN when I can get everyone I want literally on my phone with a brief click of a few buttons? And sometimes without even looking for it when it pops up on my Facebook?

ESPN is another in a dying breed of news media getting passed by. I frankly don't even know how they fix themselves either.
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SeabassDebeste posted...

There's nothing wrong with leveling off or slight decline. Constant increase in anything is unsustainable and arguably unhealthy. I think the NBA's gonna continue to be in a great position for the next five years - which is about as far out as it makes sense to predict.

I kinda agree. Well i think its just natural. Nothing sees sustained growth the NBA saw from the Celtics Big 3 then Lebron going Evil then the return, etc.

The NBA needs superstars though, and I'm not sure if the young crop can carry the load as well as Lebron/Wade/Melo/Paul/Kobe (he kinda toes the line of 2 eras tbh) and a few others did. People forget that Russell Westbrook just completed the epic season, but hes already 29 at the start of next season. Him and Durant arent really young anymore.
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I frankly don't even know how they fix themselves either.

Switch to an online/on-demand format to appeal to niche interests.
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Become the go to platform for E-Sports.
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ESPN as we know it has been dead for years, this is just them accepting it and becoming more focused on the entertainment and Shout Debate market.
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SmartMuffin posted...

I frankly don't even know how they fix themselves either.

Switch to an online/on-demand format to appeal to niche interests.

See, you can't just flip that switch when you have so many stations, so many sponsors, so many advertisers. It is so much more complicated than that. You need to at the very least figure out how to slowly shift to that format, and that is insane to me and a logistical nightmare.
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When you have unproductive assets, it's better to sell them sooner than wait for them to become even less valuable...
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if they are cheap enough to keep around, you can hope that the unproductive assets become productive, but that seems less likely in ESPN's case.
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SmartMuffin posted...

I frankly don't even know how they fix themselves either.

Switch to an online/on-demand format to appeal to niche interests.

Was Vince actually ahead of the curve?!?
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transcience posted...

http://deadspin.com/a-running-list-of-espn-layoffs-1794664091

yikes

Kind of their own fault. They tried to monopolize the industry by overpaying talent to keep everyone under their rein, but it is impossible to do with the internet as rampant as it is. Too many sources of competition no matter how much you try to monopolize it. Plus, they are getting labeled more and more tmzish due to their laughable articles at times. As well, they are continually being more and more liberal with their ABC parent company ideals which has turned off many to the site.
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Jakyl25 posted...

SmartMuffin posted...

I frankly don't even know how they fix themselves either.

Switch to an online/on-demand format to appeal to niche interests.

Was Vince actually ahead of the curve?!?

I mean didn't we all say this at the time? I thought I did at least!
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Dr_Football posted...

to be a contrarian, if the Finals are the Cavs and Warriors again I could see the casual NBA viewer giving up on watching regular season and even some playoff games

Nba has little to do with ESPN. But, NBA is driven by Lebron and Steph. Once Lebron retired, if someone does not step up then NBA will fall off.
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The NBA needs some post-LeBron superstars in the Eastern conference. The West seems stacked with well-known guys, but as a casual fan, I don't really know a single guy in the East outside LeBron. I've heard about Isaiah Thomas and thought "when did I step in this time machine."
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have no fear LeBron Jr is on his way. by the time LeBron retires he'll be coming in
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Whats sad about the east is that its been such a long time that the balance of power should of been not just switched back to the east, but back to the west.

The west has been by far more dominant since Jordan retired.
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CaptainOfCrush posted...

I don't really know a single guy in the East outside LeBron.

don't worry

THE PROCESS is on the way
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If they start shutting down channels, ESPN8 is probably the first to go. Where am I going to watch some dodgeball and kendo, then?
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MrGreenonion posted...

ESPN is dyin', Cloud!

this was my thought. figured someone else would come post it before I could, though.
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Metal_DK posted...

The NHL still revolves a lot around Crosby, Ovechkin, and Kane. All are 10+ year vets now.

Connor McDavid mother fucker.
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ClyTheCool posted...

Metal_DK posted...

The NHL still revolves a lot around Crosby, Ovechkin, and Kane. All are 10+ year vets now.

Connor McDavid mother fucker.

He'll always be behind the other stars in the US because he plays in Canada. Same for Austin Matthews, although at least he plays in Toronto, which is a little better.
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ESPN doesn't cover hockey anyway...
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the NBA died when Jordan left too. it's going to take a hit when Lebron leaves regardless. he's historically great.

that's 3-4 years away though at earliest and a lot can happen. I think the future of the east is probably Giannis.
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yazzy14 posted...

ESPN doesn't cover hockey anyway...

According to ESPN anchor Jonathan Coachman they don't cover rumors now either!

What do they cover anymore!?
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Its Giannis but Isaiah Thomas is tiny guard who will get tons of fans solely because his size makes him more relatable to an average human being. Part of the reason why Curry got as popular as he did is because hes maybe 6'3" with his shoes on. Thomas is like 27 or something though idk.
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Thomas has like 1-2 more years before he falls off dramatically. he'll most likely be gone before Lebron due to his size. he's unusual though so maybe he can beat the odds.
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Thomas does have significantly less wear and tear though due to not starting much and not going on a ton of deep playoff runs. But ya his size will shorten his career obviously so his lack of minutes probably isn't important when considering his frame
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