For decades, the rabid Boston sports scene was purely the media province of the Globe, the Herald, and local television news. It wasn’t a bad model, considering the consistently high quality of reporting that streamed from the traditional sources. Still, as even the most casual observers have had to note in the last decade, the old model of coverage was completely incapable of satiating the region’s exponentially expanding thirst for sports coverage. Change has come to Boston’s sports media, pushed incessantly by a confluence of innovative factors.
The most basic force behind the process has come onto the field, so to speak. An unprecedented run of success across the board by Boston sports has enlarged the market. It’s a natural outcome, considering that every major team has either won a championship, or been in championship games. The expanded media coverage isn’t completely explained by team success, however. Emerging from the last decade have been more than a new generation of passionate fans consuming traditional coverage. The much-discussed social media boom has undoubtedly played a role, but Boston’s growth also involves a shift in basic strategy.
National powers get local
Previously, the national news powerhouses would dabble in Boston coverage, but hesitated to establish a consistent, local organization. Not anymore. Beginning in 2009, ESPN setup a Boston-specific site, jockeying for marketshare in a multi-prong movement. Not only challenging the traditional Boston media powers on the high level (poaching talented columnists like Jackie MacMullan and Gordon Edes), but also on a hyperlocal level, adding talented high school sports reporters like Brendan Hall and Scott Barboza.
ESPN has also hit Boston’s legacy sports media on a hyperlocal level, hiring talented high school sports reporters.
Other mediums have seen similar developments. Sports radio, for example, has witnessed one of the most stark transformations. Where once WEEI radio seemed an unassailable giant, CBS (through its Boston affiliate) has launched an incredible revolution. Their 98.5 The Sports Hub has completely usurped the hitherto all-conquering WEEI goliath. Recent ratings placed The Sports Hub first for the sixth straight three-month ratings period, while WEEI lagged to a distant seventh place.
“Blogs” gain legitimacy
In a recent Boston Business Journal article on the topic, writer Craig Douglas used the term “inverted funnel” to describe the local-to-nation
Part of the inevitable effect created by not merely social media’s rise, but also the rise of the Internet in general has been the burgeoning blogosphere. Initially the subject of skepticism and derision, some of the blogs have led to the creation of newer, professional websites that aren’t even to be considered blogs anymore.
Bleacher Report and SB Nation are the most prominent examples. Powered by an army of writers (many unpaid), they have progressed far beyond the outmoded term, “blog.” And components of these sites are specifically devoted to Boston teams.
Celtics Blog, as an example, is affiliated with SB Nation, yet operates autonomously, and has a twitter following of over 26,000. They focus on the local scene, yet retain the avenue to push their content onto a massive, national platform. It’s similar to ESPN and CBS’ approach in that regard.
Barstool Sports has embarked on the opposite route, but with the same result. They began as a local blog, expanding nationally with city-specific sites. They maintain a successful approach by connecting on an authentic level with the audience in their specific areas.
The end result (regardless of the approach) is that media sites have realized the importance of catering to specific regions, instead of merely pushing the same material on a national level.
The future
What will the sports media landscape look like in ten years? Given the chaotic developments and innovations of the last decade, it’s probably impossible to say with any certainty, though a few concepts are clear.
At a basic level, the crowding of Boston press boxes won’t disappear anytime soon. Given the success that ESPN has generated from their Boston-specific site, or CBS with it’s local radio breakthrough, it’s a formula that will only see greater investment. And so long as national sites like Bleacher Report and SB Nation attract major audiences onto their own localized sports blogs, their legion of underpaid/unpaid writers won’t dissipate either.
Harnessing multiple platforms (radio, TV, Internet) appears to be one of the largest ongoing innovations. Felger & Mazz, 98.5’s highest rated sports radio show, is shown on Comcast SportsNet in a simulcast. WEEI, desperate to regain their supremacy, now does the same with Dennis & Callahan (except they simulcast on NESN).
Diversifying platforms help media outlets reach more people, to put it simply, and it ensures that fans can consume coverage in a more complete way. Ultimately, there’s still a lot of room for the Boston sports media landscape to evolve and grow, considering that the ideal model, balancing financial success with quality content, remains mostly elusive.
Screenshot via Patriots.com
