ESPN

[SlickVT]

I have gradually become more and more annoyed with ESPN for their contnuing coverage of Poker as a sport. This is probably due in large part to the ridiculous amount of television coverage.
I was more irritated today when they showed an hour worth of the Nathan's hot dog eating contest and described the eaters as athletes.
The icing on the cake was ESPN showing the national rock-paper-scissors championship on television today.

...And they still will not give track and field its due time.

Sad.

[BruceFlorman]

When I first started visiting Russian sports websites a couple of years ago, I thought it was bizarre that they considered chess to be a sport. But if American sports outlets consider poker and competitive eating to be sports, then I suppose chess is as well.

[KYSEAMAN]

a few months ago there was a ESPN all day special on some kind of cup stacking contest...these kids were stacking and unstacking cups (like the ones you drink out of) as fast as possible...and it was on ESPN

[theczar]

a few months ago there was a ESPN all day special on some kind of cup stacking contest...these kids were stacking and unstacking cups (like the ones you drink out of) as fast as possible...and it was on ESPN

now there's a sport!

[WillinghamPV]

national rock-paper-scissors championship

[newPVer]

wow, i just turned on ESPN, and yes, the WSOP is on, its really not that much fun.

i think thats its just a filler, b/c they cant find anything else, and you can never tell if its a rerun, all of the poker things look the same. but yea, they could put on some meets, but b/c track isnt a popular, the ratings wouldnt be as high, sadly,,,,

[SlickVT]

Of the attractiveness of a "sport" where you can sit on a chair and be obnoxious all day.


...Only in America.

[Barto]

The main reason track gets such poor coverage compared to such activities as eating, cup stacking, poker, ect. is not as much comparable popularity as it is comparable production costs. Track's tv popularity is pretty good; however, it is not high enough to offset the much greater production costs of televising a track meet.

If you will notice when watching one of those other "minor" sports you will generally only see one or two camera angles. Networks love things you can record head on and from the side. Two cameras is wayyyyy less expensive than the minimum four it takes to show a track meet. Not half as much, but more like 20 percent as much. Fewer camera men, fewer grips and workers, fewer editors, fewer producers, fewer caterers, it goes on and on.

Cheerleading is really cheap to show - straight on and from the side. Bowling - ditto. Billiards - ditto. Cup stacking, spelling bees, eating, drag racing, strong man competitions, all are filmed by two cameras or less. Poker tournaments usually look like they were filmed by my high school AV club. This means for a track meet to be televised profitably it will have to draw more than 500 percent greater audience than these other programs. Not going to happen.

Personally, I believe that if track is ever going to gain a television audience in the North America it is going to have to take control of it's own production and forget about the major networks. Take control of our own sport. Produce a one hour weekly show with our own video production crew, and sell it to a minor cable channel and internet outlets. This is what the professional bull riders did. They almost single-handedly made the OLN channel a success. Now it is the Versus channel and wildly popular. Ultimate Fighting has gone a similar route as well.

I hope I have not bored anyone to death, but I hope I have helped a few people understand why track and television just don't mix well in the US. In Europe production costs are less than half what they are in the US. As I sit here in my apartment in Slovenia, I watched two hours of the Zagreb Grand Prix meet last night. Better than any track coverage we have ever seen in the US and it was for a pretty small meet. But they were probably able to broadcast it for less than an American spelling bee.

my 2 cents,

Barto

[nitro]

The main reason track gets such poor coverage compared to such activities as eating, cup stacking, poker, ect. is not as much comparable popularity as it is comparable production costs. Track's tv popularity is pretty good; however, it is not high enough to offset the much greater production costs of televising a track meet.

If you will notice when watching one of those other "minor" sports you will generally only see one or two camera angles. Networks love things you can record head on and from the side. Two cameras is wayyyyy less expensive than the minimum four it takes to show a track meet. Not half as much, but more like 20 percent as much. Fewer camera men, fewer grips and workers, fewer editors, fewer producers, fewer caterers, it goes on and on.

Cheerleading is really cheap to show - straight on and from the side. Bowling - ditto. Billiards - ditto. Cup stacking, spelling bees, eating, drag racing, strong man competitions, all are filmed by two cameras or less. Poker tournaments usually look like they were filmed by my high school AV club. This means for a track meet to be televised profitably it will have to draw more than 500 percent greater audience than these other programs. Not going to happen.

Personally, I believe that if track is ever going to gain a television audience in the North America it is going to have to take control of it's own production and forget about the major networks. Take control of our own sport. Produce a one hour weekly show with our own video production crew, and sell it to a minor cable channel and internet outlets. This is what the professional bull riders did. They almost single-handedly made the OLN channel a success. Now it is the Versus channel and wildly popular. Ultimate Fighting has gone a similar route as well.

I hope I have not bored anyone to death, but I hope I have helped a few people understand why track and television just don't mix well in the US. In Europe production costs are less than half what they are in the US. As I sit here in my apartment in Slovenia, I watched two hours of the Zagreb Grand Prix meet last night. Better than any track coverage we have ever seen in the US and it was for a pretty small meet. But they were probably able to broadcast it for less than an American spelling bee.

my 2 cents,

Barto

i agree with that

[theczar]

yay ESPN!

[WillinghamPV]

yay ESPN!

"The greatest moment in the history of American sports."

That made me laugh

[powerplant42]

There were at least three cameras there though: one on Kobayashi, one on Chestnut, one on the whole event. What gives?