Bomani Jones is correct. When he says that ESPN has run out of ideas, he’s not wrong. Around the Horn ended in May, yet we’re still waiting on a replacement. ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus told the SI Media Podcast w/Jimmy Traina that the network isn’t in a hurry to replace the former power hour program, instead saying a new show may not come till the fall of next year.
There’s your proof. ESPN has run out of ideas, or at least isn’t in the business of crafting its own programming for mass consumption. This isn’t your daddy’s ESPN anymore, and there’s proof.
What I’m left puzzled by is this: Is that a bad thing? Or is ESPN positioning itself for how the consumer thinks and acts on content now and in the future?
We all remember the ESPN of old. SportsCenter ran on a loop in the mornings with anchors everyone knew by a catchphrase or a nickname. Baseball Tonight ushered in Gammons, and Sunday NFL Countdown brought us Boomer. The network introduced “Boo-Yah” into our national vocabulary and held the collective consciousness of the sports fan.
Times change, and networks evolve. The era of sports debate crept into the programming at the “worldwide leader.” Cold Pizza turned into First Take, and the one-two punch of Tony Reali on Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption took over. Baseball coverage became an afterthought in lieu of even bigger media rights deals with the NFL and NBA.
Remember ESPNChicago.com and ESPNNewYork.com? How about ESPN The Magazine? Long live ESPN Bet.
Evolution once again. ESPN spun off ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, and ESPN Deportes. The network helped launch the ACC, SEC, and Longhorn Networks. They have even evolved to embrace ESPN8 The Ocho as reality from time to time.
Evolution is constant; change is mandatory for survival. Too many sports radio properties are finding that out every day but refuse to invest in navigating that change. ESPN is the leader for a reason because no competitor has come close to providing the level of content they have for over 46 years.
ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro’s mission statement is serving sports fans anytime, any place, and anywhere.
The difference today is sports fans have more options than ever before to be served. ESPN is taking notice while others simply watch from the sidelines. That’s attacking the latest edition of evolution for ESPN.
Bomani Jones was correct. ESPN has run out of ideas. However, what’s the difference between what ESPN is doing versus, say, an iHeartMedia?
iHeartMedia is the country’s leading audio company in the United States with over 860 radio stations in 160 markets. Its iHeartRadio app is the gold standard for how radio consumers evolve to the digital arm of the company.
Of those 860 radio stations across the country, there are thousands more people iHeartMedia hires as talent for their radio brands. iHeartRadio is also the top podcast publisher globally, with over 180,000,000 downloads a month according to their latest October data.
The radio listener has evolved to listening to podcasts and on-demand content instead of finding the radio. Hence, iHeartMedia had to evolve with the audience. However, ask yourself this: Are the thousands of employees iHeartMedia hires their top podcasters? Or has iHeartMedia arranged media deals with proven entities in the podcast space so iHeart can market their content on its platform?
Is iHeartMedia out of the ideas business too? Or is this just how business in media is done for the current time?
ESPN is simply evolving faster than any other network of its kind. It recognizes that independent creators have taken hold of a slice of the ownership the network once had on the sports fan’s day-to-day. There are more options than SportsCenter to get sports highlights and news. There are more sports debate shows because the barrier to entry has disappeared.
It doesn’t necessarily make the content better than what ESPN puts out. It’s more about whether it’s getting attention. The attention economy is all that matters for the programming at ESPN. Why invest in talent that is unproven and hope for the best when you can go out and sign independent creators to licensing deals?
ESPN is the most valuable megaphone for independent creators to chase for maximum visibility, for now. The network leverages that with creators whose content aligns with the branding of all things sports. Why would ESPN want a Pat McAfee viewer being served by going to YouTube when you can integrate him into every ESPN and onto the megaphone?
That’s not running out of ideas; that’s smart business. It’s the evolution of a network adapting and disrupting the new spaces where sports fans are being served.
I’ve talked to too many former athletes, including Emmanuel Acho and Robert Griffin III, who have started their own independent content. The goal is not to market the content and remain independent; the goal is to get to network.
The new résumé is no longer a sizzle reel. Your worth on a résumé is in subscribers, likes, watch time, reach, and engagement. Quality doesn’t matter if your stat line is overly impressive.
I ask again, is it a bad thing that ESPN has run out of ideas? Does ESPN need ideas for the next generation in the first place? Why get creative when ESPN can be the general manager signing proven entities at less cost and with more room to grow outside their own brand?
At some point, we have to stop grading ESPN on the scale of what it used to be and start evaluating it on what the business demands now. Maybe they’ve run out of traditional ideas. Maybe that era is gone. But in a landscape driven by clicks, creators, and constant disruption, ESPN’s smartest idea might be realizing it doesn’t need any.
Not when the marketplace is overflowing with proven stars who have already done the work themselves. That’s not creative bankruptcy. That’s strategic evolution — and for ESPN, it might just be the idea that keeps them dominant for another 46 years.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
