I don’t like the journalist Pat McAfee. Don’t get me wrong, he is a great entertainer. Whether a host for College Gameday or a commentator for the WWE, McAfee’s comedy-driven presentation and opinions make him a sports industry favorite. However, McAfee the journalist sums up everything wrong with sports journalism today. ESPN and other networks now give precedence to entertainers over trained journalists and, as a result, the industry suffers from the lack of required reporting and investigation that have shaped. In McAfee’s case, his supposed sports show focuses on everything from vaccines to conspiracies at the Olympics. The problem doesn’t end with him. Personalities like Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe and Jason Kelce dominate the sports media industry while cashing in on large contracts.
ESPN’s $85 million contract with McAfee, a former football player for the Indianapolis Colts, was years in the making. Since 2018, the network faced declining viewership and revenue from various factors, including the rise of streaming and the popularity of social media. As a result, the network took on McAfee’s show to alleviate its losses. But adding on McAfee was just a part of the network’s changes — a month after signing McAfee, ESPN laid off 20 of its on-air talent and others, a practice the network continues to do as it reorganizes its content.
But McAfee isn’t alone in enjoying superstar status on the networks. Stephen A. Smith, another television personality, is paid $12 million a year by ESPN. Jason Kelce, a recently retired Philadelphia Eagle, also earns a reported $1.8 million for his limited appearances on the network. Shannon Sharpe, a co-host with Smith on First Take, one of the network’s most viewed shows, likely has a multimillion-dollar contract, too.
While demanding large salaries amidst layoffs, these men have become the network’s main attractions. Needless to say, ESPN’s strategy worked. Viewership and profits have ticked up since McAfee’s signing. But the issue isn’t the battle for viewership and profits that ESPN aims to gain, it’s the content the network prioritizes.
Each of these men represents a worrying new age of content for the network. Gone are the days of SportsCenter and other shows focusing on informing the viewers about what was happening in the sports world and other informational shows that provide viewers with quality debates between experienced professionals. In the past, when ESPN hired former players as commentators, they spoke somewhat exclusively about their area of expertise. Now, personalities like McAfee, a former football player, and Smith, a former basketball journalist, are given the reins to discuss whatever they want, regardless of their level of knowledge.
This content becomes worrying for the sports journalism industry as a whole. No longer is there an emphasis on being a subject matter expert about a particular sport or team. It is now an emphasis on who can entertain the best, with bonus points for those who played a sport before. It’s worth noting that Smith is a trained sports journalist, getting his start as a general sports columnist writing for newspapers in New York City and Philadelphia. However, he has long abandoned the title of journalist for that of commentator. Regardless of where these men came from, their personality and ability to entertain are centerfold in their positions, rather than their ability to investigate and report. The absence of real sports journalism hurts everyone, from the journalists who seek employment to the audience they inform.
Sports journalism is fundamental to what makes sports, well, sports. It allows viewers to learn about their favorite teams, provides in-depth analysis of sports and investigates them to their fullest. When journalists reveal the problems that occur with a given person, team or sport, these issues are brought to light to change them for the better. Sports journalism highlighted the MLB doping scandals and Formula One’s “Crashgate.” The work of these journalists is meant to inform the viewers and fix sports to make them better and fairer, not just to entertain their audience for publicity.
The rise of commentators like McAfee could be the next logical step for sports journalism. McAfee and Smith are as popular as ever, and ESPN reaps the benefits with higher ratings. Other networks have even tried to imitate the system ESPN has by hosting commentators like Skip Bayless on the now-canceled “Undisputed.” Viewers may also favor more common, non-elite hosts who aren’t afraid to hide their lack of knowledge on a subject. McAfee notably uses his platform to interview players and coaches about sports, but often caters his discussions to prioritize entertainment instead of information. Viewers may gather information in these interviews, but they are usually intended to be fun for the interviewee instead of acting as a source of new information or knowledge about their sport.
Aside from interviews, viewers know McAfee and Smith for their divisive opinions on many topics. So much so that their shows cater to these men, whose opinions are a focal point of their shows instead of the topics they cover. This has led to strong support for these commentators — snappy opinions boost ratings and bring an influx of cash to ESPN.
Although this method brought forth a short-term ratings boost, it can lead to long-term problems. As ESPN and other networks deprioritize sports journalists, their in-depth coverage of sports and well-informed opinions go away, too. Changes in sports, resulting from prior investigations later published by journalists, will become subject to less scrutiny. In this way, cheating and collusion will go unchecked. The absence of well-informed opinions also makes it easier for leagues and teams to get away with abuses traditionally scrutinized by the media and the public. But there is still hope for sports journalism.
By reading and supporting sports journalism on all levels, whether it’s the local newspaper or national coverage, we can show networks like ESPN that sports journalism still matters. Sure, Pat McAfee may be entertaining, but recognizing that McAfee and Smith should not be the source of sports news is a major step. Sports journalism should continue to matter well into the future because it makes sports great. A well-informed take can be as valuable as 20 uninformed opinions, even if it isn’t as entertaining.
Thomas Muha is an Opinion Columnist and can be reached at tmuha@umich.edu. His column “Internet Insight” discusses the legal and economic issues facing the internet today.
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