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This was certainly true in the past, but I'm not sure it is true anymore. Athletes and their fans can now form direct connections through social media and othe

by slg 5y ago

This was certainly true in the past, but I'm not sure it is true anymore. Athletes and their fans can now form direct connections through social media and other platforms that were previously purely controlled by the media. I wouldn't say sports media is irrelevant or anything that extreme, but their role as a middleman between athletes and fans isn't needed as much anymore.

mongol 5y ago
Could be but you need to follow the money. Who pays the athletes and why should they pay the same when they don't get the same availability?
- slg 5y ago
  I'm not very familiar with the business of tennis specifically, but in sports in general a plurality or even a majority of the money comes from advertisers who pay to sponsor events or show ads on the TV broadcast. The rates for those ads depends on the ratings and popularity of the event. The next biggest chunk of money is directly from fans in the form of tickets, merchandise, and directly paying to watch through streaming or pay-per-view. Some of these journalists work for the TV networks that use those ad dollars to pay the league, organizers, and athletes. Some of those TV networks have contracts guaranteeing them access to the athletes for pre/post game/match interviews and other appearances, but the primary product they are purchasing is always the rights to broadcast the game/match itself because that is what gets the biggest ratings and the biggest ad dollars. Many of these journalists work for some other media company that is not paying anything beyond just the general promotion of the sport. So "the media pays the athletes for these interviews" is only true in a relatively lower dollar amount and in a rather indirect way. Nowadays these journalists need the athletes more than the athletes need the journalists (this shifting power dynamic comes with its own set of problems, but that is a different conversation).
- paxys 5y ago
  The majority of income for all top athletes comes from endorsements. Over the last year, Naomi Osaka made $5m from tournaments and $50m from advertisers. LeBron James has a lifetime contract with Nike worth over a billion dollars. It's pretty obvious why athletes don't care about engaging with traditional sports media anymore.
  - deanCommie 5y ago
    Right, but if by some hypothetical Osaka was banned from all tournaments, it's not like her income would drop from $55M to $50. I mean, yes, depending on the circumstances, maybe she would still be an icon and a role model a la Colin Kapernick, but broadly speaking she needs the first $5M to make the next $50M. Obviously the LeBrons and the Jordans of the world continue to get paid even after they retire for the rest of their lives, but they are extreme outliers and the number of athletes that remain "marketable" and can move merchandise based on their name/face alone once they are no longer competing athletically is probably <10 alive today worldwide.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- tqi 5y ago
  If you're referring to tv deals, those networks make money by selling ads against the events, not by covering the storylines. If the latter were the case, I think one would expect the sponsoring networks to negotiate exclusive post game press conference rights?
tibbydudeza 5y ago
I am an avid F1 fan and some drivers like Sebastian Vettel is intensely private and has no social media presence - except for media responsibilities for his team you don't really hear from him off the track. Netflix Drive To Survive has helped but his interviews during the race weekend gives the fans some insight - i.e he did a course in bee keeping last year.
rahimnathwani 5y ago
"Athletes and their fans can now form direct connections through social media and other platforms that were previously purely controlled by the media." Right, but do you think tennis players can replace prize money (funded by the media industry) with Patreon and Substack?
- atonse 5y ago
  Prize money has not been a primary source of income for a while in many sports. Sponsorships usually eclipse that.
odshoifsdhfs 5y ago
I find this funny. My father, my girlfriend's father (even I, but I don't care about sports) don't have social media at all. My father probably watches 3/4 hours a day of various sports on tv (my gf's father is even worse). They are the target of these interviews and media. Can we just agree that HN/Reddit isn't really a representation of society in general. Specially a slightly older population that isn't all in with the new fashions of the internet. Without the media coverage of the games, of his life and everything around, Ronaldo wouldn't have 1/1000th of the followers in social media. Pick a sport that isn't heavily broadcasted, and you can find a once in a lifetime star that will probably still be working a side job to make ends meet. It was actually the advent of live sports on tv that made sports go from 'oh it is a nice living' to 'best well played job in the world'. The current attitude of a lot of players (not all) is 'hey I got mine already so fuck the ones that come after' and do nothing to help. (Ronaldo has 289 million followers, Bernardo Silva has 2.1 million, other good players have probably less (sorry, I really only remember those two players from the national team, I searched current best goalkeeper in the world, gave me Oblak, with 1.5 million followers). because the media don't focus so much on them, not giving them the opportunity to get those followers)

by slg 5y ago

mongol 5y ago

Could be but you need to follow the money. Who pays the athletes and why should they pay the same when they don't get the same availability?

slg 5y ago
I'm not very familiar with the business of tennis specifically, but in sports in general a plurality or even a majority of the money comes from advertisers who pay to sponsor events or show ads on the TV broadcast. The rates for those ads depends on the ratings and popularity of the event. The next biggest chunk of money is directly from fans in the form of tickets, merchandise, and directly paying to watch through streaming or pay-per-view. Some of these journalists work for the TV networks that use those ad dollars to pay the league, organizers, and athletes. Some of those TV networks have contracts guaranteeing them access to the athletes for pre/post game/match interviews and other appearances, but the primary product they are purchasing is always the rights to broadcast the game/match itself because that is what gets the biggest ratings and the biggest ad dollars. Many of these journalists work for some other media company that is not paying anything beyond just the general promotion of the sport. So "the media pays the athletes for these interviews" is only true in a relatively lower dollar amount and in a rather indirect way. Nowadays these journalists need the athletes more than the athletes need the journalists (this shifting power dynamic comes with its own set of problems, but that is a different conversation).
paxys 5y ago
The majority of income for all top athletes comes from endorsements. Over the last year, Naomi Osaka made $5m from tournaments and $50m from advertisers. LeBron James has a lifetime contract with Nike worth over a billion dollars. It's pretty obvious why athletes don't care about engaging with traditional sports media anymore.
- deanCommie 5y ago
  Right, but if by some hypothetical Osaka was banned from all tournaments, it's not like her income would drop from $55M to $50. I mean, yes, depending on the circumstances, maybe she would still be an icon and a role model a la Colin Kapernick, but broadly speaking she needs the first $5M to make the next $50M. Obviously the LeBrons and the Jordans of the world continue to get paid even after they retire for the rest of their lives, but they are extreme outliers and the number of athletes that remain "marketable" and can move merchandise based on their name/face alone once they are no longer competing athletically is probably <10 alive today worldwide.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
tqi 5y ago
If you're referring to tv deals, those networks make money by selling ads against the events, not by covering the storylines. If the latter were the case, I think one would expect the sponsoring networks to negotiate exclusive post game press conference rights?

tibbydudeza 5y ago

I am an avid F1 fan and some drivers like Sebastian Vettel is intensely private and has no social media presence - except for media responsibilities for his team you don't really hear from him off the track. Netflix Drive To Survive has helped but his interviews during the race weekend gives the fans some insight - i.e he did a course in bee keeping last year.

rahimnathwani 5y ago

"Athletes and their fans can now form direct connections through social media and other platforms that were previously purely controlled by the media." Right, but do you think tennis players can replace prize money (funded by the media industry) with Patreon and Substack?

atonse 5y ago
Prize money has not been a primary source of income for a while in many sports. Sponsorships usually eclipse that.

odshoifsdhfs 5y ago

I find this funny. My father, my girlfriend's father (even I, but I don't care about sports) don't have social media at all. My father probably watches 3/4 hours a day of various sports on tv (my gf's father is even worse). They are the target of these interviews and media. Can we just agree that HN/Reddit isn't really a representation of society in general. Specially a slightly older population that isn't all in with the new fashions of the internet. Without the media coverage of the games, of his life and everything around, Ronaldo wouldn't have 1/1000th of the followers in social media. Pick a sport that isn't heavily broadcasted, and you can find a once in a lifetime star that will probably still be working a side job to make ends meet. It was actually the advent of live sports on tv that made sports go from 'oh it is a nice living' to 'best well played job in the world'. The current attitude of a lot of players (not all) is 'hey I got mine already so fuck the ones that come after' and do nothing to help. (Ronaldo has 289 million followers, Bernardo Silva has 2.1 million, other good players have probably less (sorry, I really only remember those two players from the national team, I searched current best goalkeeper in the world, gave me Oblak, with 1.5 million followers). because the media don't focus so much on them, not giving them the opportunity to get those followers)