No News Is Good News But No Sports Is Bad News

We still have no idea how much the shut down of sports will impact the media over the months and years to come. So much to think about, but plenty of time to do so. 

It is pure speculation about how this will impact the sports media in the long run. All we know is that there is likely to be a major impact.

As of press time, it appears it could be months, rather than weeks, before sports as we know it is able to fully resume. Since teams are not able to practice together, it is likely that players will return with a huge variation in their physical condition. It is quite possible that players not typically counted upon will be in better condition and perform better than some all stars normally would.

Consequently, a lot of fans may not take resumptions of the NBA and NHL seasons (if that happens) seriously. That could negatively alter the ratings for the post-season. Fans might not be as eager to watch knowing that the outcome of the current seasons would be tainted in comparison with previous seasons.

In addition, the delayed start for MLB and the possible "regular" start for the NFL could see skyrocketing ratings in comparison. However, all of the sports, also including golf, auto racing, and soccer, could combine for an overload of live sports after nothing new for weeks.

This will be a concern for advertisers, who may opt to cut back on expenses in order to cover lost sales and employee revenue, forcing the networks (national, regional, and local) which televise the games to take a financial hit. 

There is more to consider. Pro sports teams are currently making big money as a result of TV rights. Before all of this happened, reports had Comcast and Charter losing approximately 250,000 subscribers during just the 4th quarter of 2019. Economics are likely to dictate more consumers reducing or eliminating cable/satellite fees in order to better handle the economic crisis.

Another important factor is that ESPN reportedly is required (again - required) to provide a minimum amount of "premium" sports content to justify its higher fees to cable/satellite providers and subscribers. As a result, ESPN faces a financial hit if and as the shutdown of sports continues for months.

If fans can't afford to attend the games or subscribe to cable/satellite to watch them, advertisers need to reduce their spending in order to recover, and businesses and corporations can't afford season tickets and luxury suites, teams will lose significant revenue. 

Meanwhile, sports radio will suffer over the next couple of ratings periods. Markets such as Boston, where two sports stations consistently appear in the top 10, and Milwaukee with four competing sports stations, are among the many that will see an impact in ratings, and likely advertising revenue to go along with it.

I had planned to write about how the networks such as MLB Network, NHL Network, and NBA Network are making the best of the situation with replays of past games. It's not easy for them to face the challenges of suddenly having no programming when they had hours of live coverage and analysis already in place.

However, the bigger concern is how close things will get to "normal" over the next few years for the sports media, the sports fans, and for all of us around the world.

Hopefully we'll be back with The Broadcast Booth very soon.