ESPN Is Getting Lazy
When once there was Sportscenter, now there is Netflix. Hours spent watching Baseball Tonight and NFL draft coverage are now devoted to binging HBO classics and Hulu retreads. 30 for 30 is replaced by the ability to watch unlimited movies with MoviePass. Streaming services and increased viewing options have drastically altered the content that I consume, but for a long time in my youth and teenage years, I tuned in to ESPN. It had the wide-ranging features and insightful analysis that appealed to an adolescent's burgeoning interests. I would obsessively record Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon's inane blabbering on PTI and jump over to Baseball Tonight shortly after Giants' games to make sure they received equal coverage (they never did!). Though I've since discovered that there are other interesting things going on in the world (and other places to find men sitting at desks yelling at each other), the legacy and imprint of ESPN, and Sportscenter in particular, linger on in my mind.
While I don't compile my daily blunders into a "Not Top 10" list, Sportscenter's gift for narrative and mythology were critical in my understanding of pop culture and media manipulation. Sportscenter latched onto a story or rumor and sent it into the stratosphere. The network has received a lot of flack for its perceived bias and favoritism towards players and teams that drive ratings, but no media platform had the same ability to supercharge a story like ESPN (a page that the mainstream media certainly stole in its coverage of Trump). Sportscenter famously turned the mundane into TMZ-worthy drama, plastered wall-to-wall coverage with field reporters and trivial chyrons, and championed our desire for routine updates during the early stages of our imminent social media addiction.
As the ESPN empire slowly crumbles, subtext has become text. The incremental decline is apparent not just in the ratings and disinterest, but in the structure that once supported its heft and influence as well. Yes, "The Decision" is considered ridiculous. Fans can now show their true colors as niche sports gain mainstream traction. Stephen A. Smith was always a buffoon, but is by-and-large a meme for bygone times (yet still has a show). But ESPN was built on more than just its shows and its personalities. People tuned in to ESPN because it was the source. It was the most trusted name in sports and it lived and breathed the game. It provided unprecedented access into the minds of the players, coaches, owners, and analysts, catered specifically for you: the fans. ESPN created an aura that leveled the playing field for fans, commentators, and athletes alike. Their proximity imbued familiarity, and by proxy, a deeper connection with our passion for sports. ESPN got sports.
That might sound like a lazy assessment for a channel dedicated to sports, but I'd argue that that was the defining feature of the network. ESPN understood that we wanted sports all the time, and no artifact communicates this better than their signature communiqués, the "This is Sportscenter" ad campaign. "This Is Sportscenter" stands as one of the longest running campaigns in the history of advertising, and one its most successful. Beginning in 1995, "This Is Sportscenter" was the anti-sports ad. Whereas Nike and Reebok focused on flashy highlights overly-produced montages, "This Is Sportscenter" brought athletes down to the everyman level. If ESPN's selling point was its obsession-fueled access, then an office filled with stars is the perfect representation of that ethos. Making brands human and relatable is one of marketing's greatest self-imposed challenges, and ESPN pioneered the art form with humanistic athletes and snappy copy.
With a dizzying array of talent and awkwardly relatable scenarios, "This Is Sportscenter" became a blockbuster event. I remember my excitement when I heard that Giants' catcher Buster Posey would have his own starring role. While his spot was somewhat of a dub, relatively speaking, "This Is Sportscenter" unlocked some of the most clever and insightful ads about stardom, office culture, the sporting world, and life as a sports fanatic. They were successful not just because they were funny, relevant, or star-studded, but because they were true.
The spots featured outside-the-box thinking and wackiness, with tidbits for sports fans and common tropes for laymen alike. Though they ranged in quality, for the most part, they had the necessary comedic setup and typically stuck the landing. Through it all, they presented Sportscenter as a bastion for the sports fan who eats, sleeps, and breathes sports. "We know you're drinking the Kool-Aid, because so are we," could be a flippant iteration of brand and audience insight. They were in constant communication with the game and the culture. As any sports fan would say: "So am I."
As the power structures shift and the media landscape becomes more and more fragmented, "This Is Sportscenter" is wrestling with the changes they wrought. ESPN has made numerous rounds of well-publicized layoffs and undergone dramatic restructuring in terms of talent, programming, and distribution. Part and parcel of these changes, ESPN shifted creative duties from Wieden+Kenedy (creators of the campaign) to in-city rival Droga5. They also briefly flirted with a short-lived, late-night campaign from 72andSunny. And while ESPN execs have postured that the campaign still has life, the undercurrents and creative output suggest something more may be needed to further stem the tide. Marketing isn't a cure-all, but the influence of "This Is Sportscenter" looms large over the mythology Sportscenter created for itself, and the health of the campaign may signify more drastic changes in the future. What was once Sportscenter's proximity to sports now comes off as aloof and monopolistic, and its latest spots illuminate that charge in bright, neon lights.
"This Is Sportscenter" is back in the headlines, for those who pay attention, because ESPN's in-house creative shop, CreativeWorks, just released the first set of new spots in what feels like a very long time. And to the non-judgmental eye, they looked relatively unchanged. They're still in their Bristol, Connecticut, headquarters. The stars are still working there. The anchors and other employees are still clumsily interacting with them. But the spots don't connect in the same way they have for the past 25 years. This isn't an indictment of the writers and strategists, but rather of the brand they are representing. Without Sportscenter's illustrious aura and unchallenged position, the spots jab at humor that feels rehashed and uses insights that feel underdeveloped.
The most painfully obvious example is the new Giannis Antentokounmpo spot, "Opa!" As anchors smash plates around the lanky Greek superstar, Giannis bemoans their lack of office etiquette and cultural awareness. It's funny because they're in the office! It's funny because he's Greek! Get it?! His nickname is the Greek Freak! "This Is Sportscenter" has always leaned into nicknames and birthplaces, cultural misunderstandings and office shenanigans, but this time it feels as clumsy as the anchors themselves. At least they didn't make a joke about his name (don't worry though, they did it in another spot)! While the jokes may be obvious, its the detachment that stands out. "This Is Sportscenter" may not be a shining beacon of cultural insight, but they were always rooted in something sports fans recognized. In the litany of commercials over the years, you got the sense that despite the ridiculousness of the situations, there was a camaraderie underlying it all. But with the importance of social media in these players' lives, we no longer need these glimpses into their day-to-day. We have it! Delivered straight to us! In our pockets! In this spot, ESPN may be inadvertently looking in the mirror. Yes, the anchors throwing plates are woefully out of touch, but might that also say something about the network as a whole?
There has been much fanfare and celebration about the downfall of ESPN. I have certainly changed my stance on the network since they parted ways with Bill Simmons, but I can't help marvel at all the talent and stories and drama that have passed through its doors. It had, and still does, have an outsized influence on sports media and sports itself. "This Is Sportscenter" is no different. It is symbolic of the network's rise, and the shaky ground upon which it rests is just as emblematic of ESPN's decline. I don't see them ditching the format anytime soon (two spots do not make a campaign), but as ESPN turns a corner, so too will its marketing, even one as symbolic and recognizable as "This Is Sportscenter." I don't know if ESPN has any content meritorious of such an expansive and expensive campaign, but when it decides it does, let's hope it draws back closer to what made it so great in the beginning: our collective passion for sports and the figures that make it so great.