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Well, America’s long nightmare is almost over, or just beginning, however you want to look at it. Election day is almost here and my goodness I cannot imagine the amount of available commercial inventory there will be on television when it’s finally over. While the news stations fight it out, we’ll all be over here in the sports world trying as hard as we possibly can to ignore what’s happening. At least that’s what we should be doing.
Sports is an escape for people, it is an escape for the hosts as well. Don’t ruin that escape bringing politics into the equation, ever.
On air talent are told to ‘play the hits’ and talk about what people are talking about. They are also told sometimes that’s not sports, that life needs to be the subject. And that is true, we shouldn’t be afraid to bring up other topics when they are overwhelmingly what others will be talking about. The two caveats to that are religion and politics.
If it were up to me, everybody would keep their political views to themselves. I really don’t understand, especially in today’s society, why anyone would want to give half the people a reason not to like them, unless you’re a media outlet and your whole purpose is to serve one half or the other. And don’t even get me started on people who go so far one direction they can no longer see the middle.
Sports radio should welcome all comers. Black, white, brown, Republican, Democrat, Independent, even the Green party is welcome here. Sports is the great unifier. Don’t ruin it by bringing politics into the discussion on a sports radio station or any sports content for that matter.
As we get closer and closer to election day, the more careful you will need to be. The rhetoric on social media is only going to increase and it will be that much more likely that people are going to want to respond and get into a war of words. If you are a sports content creator, it is best to just stay out of it.
Election day is going to happen, and it will obviously be a major story. Most likely it is going to be a crazy day and there will be long lines to vote and no matter what happens there will be some sort of controversy.
So, the question becomes do you talk about what is happening that day on your sports show? And the answer is yes.
Wait, didn’t I just say you shouldn’t talk politics on your show? I most certainly did, and I will remind you again that you should never talk politics on your show.
If you want to talk about how the traffic was, how long the lines were, or if you have really voted if you didn’t post ‘I voted’ with a selfie of you and your sticker on social media, go right ahead. Just don’t cross that line into talking actual politics or about any particular candidate.
I realize some people have a completely different view on politics in the sense that they aren’t afraid to tell anyone who will listen which side they’re on. They want to bring it up in everything they discuss and to them, it doesn’t matter if their views on politics keep people from listening to their content. They only want to talk to like-minded people anyway. That is completely their prerogative.
However, as always, you have to step back and look at the business we are in. We are in the business of driving listeners to us not away from us. Why would you take the chance? Do you think you are so good at creating content that you can survive with only half of the available audience even willing to give you a try?
In sports, it shouldn’t come up. Nobody tuned in to your sports show to hear you talk about politics. And, more importantly, it isn’t good for business as we know some companies don’t want to be associated with any political talk, that is why they buy the safer sports station to begin with.
When it comes to politics, sports radio needs to be Switzerland.
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The Best/Worst Thing I’ve Heard/Watched/Read Recently
Last week I wrote about what happened between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the morning team of Shan & RJ at 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. As I thought would happen, Jones came on at his normal time on Tuesday and even made a joke about it when he was told RJ Choppy was on vacation. “Did he want to avoid the confrontation?” Jones quipped to Shan Shariff.
It was handled well in the end by both sides and now the whole world knows where to listen to Jerry Jones every Tuesday morning, so congrats to 105.3 The Fan for that. It is certainly unique content to have Jerry Jones on your radio station each week and as Shariff pointed out, “it’s radio gold!”
You can find the Jones interview from Tuesday by clicking here.
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In Case You Missed It
Mark Kreidler wrote a column earlier this week on Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis, who will call the World Series for FOX Sports with John Smoltz, Tom Verducci and Ken Rosenthal. Mark mentions that Yankees fans are already upset because of Davis’s work with the Dodgers, however, as he points out Davis was doing play-by-play regardless of what team made it.
Kreidler also compares Davis to another Dodgers broadcaster, Hall of Famer Vin Scully and notes how their careers have been similar so far. Kreidler wrote, “Like Scully, Davis was a prodigy who ascended quickly. He became Scully’s full-time replacement in 2017 at age 29. And for Davis, like Scully, the Dodgers gig is amazing — but not everything.”
You can read the full column by clicking here.
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
