The Media Vs. The Leagues: Who Has The Best Coverage?

Over the weekend, in my graduate class, we had a guest speaker from Media General (Company that owns a lot of newspapers from the Richmond Times-Dispatch to newspapers in Tampa, FL.) who said that it is getting hard for sports journalists to gain access to many sports events because of the restrictions that the professional leagues are putting on them. He said that the leagues want to have their own coverage (NFL.com and NBA.com are two examples of leagues who do this) and don't want other sports media outlets to get more coverage than they do. This leaves the other sports media outlets digging deeper and starting to cover more high school and college sports. ESPN is a perfect example of this as they even have a website dedicated to high school athletes.

With all this being said, it made me wonder, who really has the best coverage and who deserves it?

Well lets begin with the sports media. Before leagues like the NBA and the NFL had their own media, companies like ESPN and Fox Sports have been doing a good job covering them, in my opinion. ESPN seems to be the more popular because of the fact that even athletes talk about getting on Sportscenter's highlights reel. In my opinion, their shows are more entertaining and that may be because they have been around longer. I feel that without media like this the NBA and the NFL may of not received the publicity and the popularity that it enjoys today.

However, with the leagues I understand why they would want to branch out and have their own outlets to provide their news. It is a lot of money to be made and I assume that they feel that it is an opportunity to make more money. However, I don't feel that it is right, if they are in fact doing this, to push for more restrictions on newspaper writers and other media outlet writers so that their own writers and reporters can gain that inside edge. The NFL, NBA and I think the NHL all have their own networks but customers have to pay for it whereas ESPN and Fox networks come for free on most cable network lineups. This makes it more easier for fans to get their news from them than it is to get their news from the league networks.

Overall, I think the leagues should just make access equal. The leagues have no need to get into the media field, in my opinion, because ESPN is so much more popular and more available to customers than the leagues media outlets are. As for the local newspaper writers and reporters, I feel that they shouldn't be shut out either because when you think about it, they are even more available and provide that local feel to readers more than the league's media does. But will the league do this? I doubt it because like it is most of the time in the business world, if their is money to be made then that company will push hard to make it. Even if they have to shut others out to do so.