Chapter 3 – History and Growth of Sport Communication
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- To understand the historical, technological and cultural development of
sports communication
- To learn about sports coverage in newspapers, magazines, radio,
television, cable, new media, and emerging technologies
- To recognize the effort of the 1920s golden age of sport-on-sport
coverage
- To learn about key pioneers in sport communication while considering
the evolution of sport coverage
- To understand the significance of sport coverage from its agrarian
roots to today’s multimedia world and the differences in content,
distribution channels, and experiences
Sport journalism distinct periods
- The pioneer era (up to 1830)
- The period of acceptance (1830-1920)
- The golden age (1920-1930)
- The prospective period (1930- 1950)
- The transition years (1950-1970)
Early eras of sports journalism
- Early coverage of leisure activities
o Daily/ weekly newspapers dedicated to leisure life
o Newspapers typically address horse racing, boxing, and wrestling
o Advertisers valued the newspaper’s extensive reach, and the
revenue gave editors and publishers the freedom to experiment
with printing equipment and news-gathering technologies
- Importance of sport recognized by newspapers
o The growth of sport journalism was also propelled by the
development of the web printing press (1865), improvements to
the typewriter (1869), and the intention of the telephone (1876)
- The industrial age
o New journalism sought social reform – a fact evidenced by the
articles it inspired in mass-produced, sensationalized
newspapers.
o 40-60h work weeks
o Living standards improved, work laws dissipated, and Sunday
blue laws disintegrated, thus offering people in the US more
time, money, and opportunity for leisure activities
- Turning to sports for a sense of cohesion
o Sport offered an outlet for both celebrating individual
achievement and for creating a sense of community and social
cohesion
- Military legitimation of interest in sport
o Sport was viewed as a means for achieving physical fitness and
gaining an advantage in life
o More than 4mil men and women participate in intercamp
competitions in football, basketball, baseball, soccer, boxing, and
track and field
o Sport represented a post-war optimism, an escape, and a means
for exalting the human spirit
The golden age of sport
- Athletes, coaches and sportswriters gained iconic status
- Sportswriters’ development of unique, descriptive prose
o Sports coverage increased from 2%-20% of total news coverage
o Sportswriters enjoyed celebrity status akin to that of their
subjects
o Helped restore and energize the nation in an era that preceded
the commercialization of sport and television
Perspective period
- Ethics and importance
- Change in public perception.
o Questioning professionalism if sports writing
- Reorganization of newspaper structure
o Sports departments began to edit their own copy and were thus
freed from their paper’s general editorial structures
- Expansion of coverage
o Today interscholastic sporting events are often given plenty of
space in the newspaper sports sections, this was not always the
case
- Development of radio
o Increased realism and objectively in reporting, as well as fair for
verbal commentary
- Coverage influenced by the national mood
o Impact of the depression
10% of US pop’n unemployed
Newspaper revenue fell – leading to substantial reductions
in stories, narrower columns, and larger fonts
Pictures took the forefront – up to 38% of the space
Specialized magazines
o Impact of the Alternative Press
Black press
Communist press
Both fought for equality and integration regardless of race,
sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background
Transition years
- Sort coverage increased by network television
o Television helped sport become a national and global
phenomenon by transporting viewers to events instantly
o Used sport as a vehicle for network exposure and rose to the top
of the rankings by 1970
- Women’s entry into the field
- Launch of sports illustrated
o Influenced expansion
Pioneering visions: Pete Rozelle and Roone Arledge
- Contributed to the development of both sport and television
o Sport marketing
o Communication
o Broadcasting
- Rozelle saw the importance of combining the team’s broadcast rights
into one bidding package for the television networks
- Rozelle merged the NFL and AFL in 1970 for the Super Bowl
o Remains the most-watched program
- Arledge introduction of technological innovations, such as instant
replay, slow motion, handheld cameras, split screen coverage, and end
zone cameras
Contemporary sports communication and digital sports communication
- The influence of sport increased by cable television
o ESPN
71 countries
Leading multinational multimedia sports entertainment
company
Tv networks
Websites
Radio
Print
Mobile
Consumer products
- Communication strategies altered by technology
o Technology and media increasingly influenced interactions,
communication experiences, and global perspectives
- Expansion of sport in the digital age
o In the golden age of sport, journalists focused tightly on the
games and athletes on field heroics
o New digital platforms not only are changing the industry, they’re
redefining how journalists work and report news