Connect with us
blank

Sports Online

Dan Le Batard: What is the Market for Sports Journalism if Sports Illustrated is Dead?

“What is your market if people aren’t clamoring for it?”
Jordan Bondurant

Published

4 weeks ago

on

blank

Layoffs at Sports Illustrated commenced this week, and Dan Le Batard wonders what the future holds for sports journalism as a medium as SI slowly morphs into a shell of what it once was.

Jessica Smetana is a former Sports Illustrated employee, who now works as a producer for Meadowlark Media. She told Dan that it was sad to see the publication go in the direction it’s gone. Despite still employing some very talented writers and staff, Le Batard said SI hasn’t adapted well with the times. He recalled a moment where the consensus in a meeting one time was that no one was going to read a piece of long-form sports journalism in a magazine or magazine style.

“I remember it clearly because of how much it hurt and how it jarred me without realizing oh this is how and where it’s gonna change too with debate culture and argument shows and the need for speed,” Le Batard said on his Thursday show. “And I don’t have time to sit down and read something that’s well-written that actually gives me illumination and insight into an athlete I care about. Unless it’s a book.”

Dan said SI used to be an institution. The Sports Illustrated style of writing is unique in his eyes and he wondered if there was another outlet that would even come close to what SI used to do well.

“Where would you go right now that would be like Sports Illustrated?” Le Batard asked. “Where you would go because you want to be more informed than you are about the personalities and about the stories. Not the data, not the analytics. There are a lot of places that will give you a lot of good information that is learning. But just to learn something more about a personality.”

The conversation then pivoted to outlets like The Athletic, which really grew its audience with a different approach to sports reporting. But the company has failed in recent years to be profitable and had to be sold to the New York Times. The Athletic continues to operate at a loss, and Le Batard said it’s tough to operate in a space where the audience reach is supremely limited or niche.

“If you’re running a business and the business happens to have journalism in it, and I’m telling ya that the people will not pay, content is expensive and doing these things can be prohibitive,” Dan said. “What is your market if people aren’t clamoring for it?”

“It is very expensive to try to do this, and I don’t know what the market is as Sports Illustrated dies and nobody seems to care,” he added.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Sports Online

Dan Le Batard: ‘Does Sports Media Care if Interviews Are Done Well?’

“An exclusive interview with Ja Morant, who hasn’t talked to anybody after his controversy, is going to get eyeballs, so it doesn’t matter how good it actually is.”
blank

Published

6 hours ago

on

March 17, 2023

By

blank

Mike Greenberg had praise for Jalen Rose this week. He said that no one but his ESPN colleague could have handled the interview with Ja Morant that has been airing on the network. Dan Le Batard has the exact opposite opinion of what he saw.

“What I saw was soft and didn’t seem to serve anybody except ESPN,” Le Batard said on his Thursday show. “This seems to be a lot of people around the economy of basketball and Ja Morant orchestrating an interview so Ja Morant can move onto the next stage of his branding.”

Whereas Greenberg thought the shared experience of an NBA career made Rose more likely to get answers from Morant, Le Batard said it created a problem. He accused Rose of letting Morant get away with using “talking points” in lieu of answering any actual questions about the string of erratic behavior and disturbing incidents the Memphis Grizzlies star has been involved with.

It wasn’t the only interview that Dan Le Batard pointed to. He noted that Pat McAfee’s interview with Aaron Rodgers may have drawn an audience of nearly half a million, but very little substance was offered.

“Does anybody in the audience, in sports fandom, or even, at this point, in sports media companies, care in a real and legitimate way whether the interview is done well or not?”

He added that the standard has changed for these interviews because the goal has changed. They are no longer about journalism as much as they are about branding, particularly in the case of ESPN’s exclusive interview with Ja Morant.

“An exclusive interview with Ja Morant, who hasn’t talked to anybody after his controversy, is going to get eyeballs, so it doesn’t matter how good it actually is,” Le Batard concluded. “All you need, if you’re the media partner, is please get me the famous guy to sit down.”

Continue Reading

Sports Online

Jomboy, Aaron Boone Partner For Weekly Podcast Appearance

“I thought it was a really interesting opportunity, and a cool idea. These guys have been innovators in this business and they’ve built a massive, young following.”
blank

Published

1 day ago

on

March 16, 2023

By

blank

It isn’t unusual for a professional sports team to partner with a local radio station for weekly interviews with team personnel. Even though Jomboy Media is a digital outlet, it didn’t stop the company from inking a deal to have Yankees manager Aaron Boone on one of its signature podcasts.

In a move announced Thursday, Jomboy Media has signed a deal for Boone to appear on its popular Talkin’ Yanks podcast — hosted by founder Jimmy O’Brien and Jake Storiale — once a week throughout the baseball season.

“I thought it was a really interesting opportunity, and a cool idea. These guys have been innovators in this business and they’ve built a massive, young following,” Boone told The New York Post. “I think Jimmy and Jake are both really good guys. And they’re passionate about what they do, and they love the Yankees. And, sometimes they’re a little misguided and it’s my chance to set the record straight every now and then.”

Previously, Boone had a weekly spot on 98.7 ESPN New York’s The Michael Kay Show, which reportedly paid him six figures.

“It’s going to be really fun and it kind of goes with the changing landscape of media,” O’Brien said. “The fact that two fans can create a show and in five years get to the point where they get to ask questions to the manager of the Yankees and bring whatever insight we can get out of that to our audience — it is pretty wild, a little surreal.”

Continue Reading

Sports Online

Sports Media Reacts to Aaron Rodgers Telling Adam Schefter ‘Lose My Number’

“Here are some of the best responses from Schefter’s sports media colleagues to the tweet.”
Jordan Bondurant

Published

2 days ago

on

March 16, 2023

By

blank

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and revealed that if he gets his way, his time with the Green Bay Packers is done. He intends to play for the New York Jets in 2023.

Rodgers told McAfee that the hang-up lies with Green Bay, which is trying to determine the appropriate compensation for trading for a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Rodgers also revealed that he had an interaction with ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. Schefter, who was obviously digging as much as he could to get the scoop on what was going on with Rodgers’ future, texted Rodgers trying to confirm the information he had.

“I didn’t respond to Dianna Russini I think her name is,” Rodgers said. “But I would say the same thing that I told Schefty. Lose my number. Nice try.”

Upon hearing Rodgers’ account, Schefter followed up with a screenshot of Rodgers responding exactly how he said, and that sent social media into a whirlwind.

Here are some of the best responses from Schefter’s sports media colleagues to the tweet:

Continue Reading
Advertisement

blank

Barrett Media Writers

Copyright © 2023 Barrett Media.