Interrogating inequalities in Sports Media: Examining gender/race representation in ESPN

I watch ESPN every single day. SportsCenter, which is an hour-long segment on ESPN that showcases the main sporting highlights of that day, is one of the more popular segments on their program. The majority of that hour is spent covering male athletes and male sports, while coverage of female athletes seem to be minuscule. Though ESPN has made steps towards attracting the female sports fans, such as with the introduction of ESPNW, gender inequality still thrives within sports media.

In the past year alone, ESPN Magazine featured only four women on the front covers of their magazines. Out of the four women, two of them were not athletes, and the two athletes who were featured posed in the nude for ESPN's "Body Issue." Many of the covers showcase the male athletes posing in their uniforms or in an action shot, while many of the female athletes seem to just be posing and showcasing their figure rather than their athletic abilities. Within the pages of the magazine, it's much of the same; plenty of pictures of male athletes showing off their athletic talents, while pages dedicated to female athletes focus more on their physique, with the occasional action shot of a female athlete. When visiting ESPN's website, it is much of the same. Their top tabs to click on do not feature one female sport. You have to go into the "More Sports" Section if you wanted to find anything that had to do with female sports. Most of their top stories feature male athletes.

While I feel gender inequality in sports media is an issue, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that their is not a large amount of women sports fans who care to watch ESPN anyway. I feel that if there was a greater female audience that regularly viewed ESPN and its contents, the issue would be much easier to solve. But because ESPN is so dominant amongst the male population, many male viewers don't really care for updates on female sports, therefore, ESPN does not show it. As stated earlier, ESPN has taken steps towards reaching the female audience by creating ESPNW, which is specifically dedicated to female sports and athletes, and hiring more female sportscasters for their SportsCenter segments. While these may be good attempts at attracting more female sports fans, a better attempt needs to be made at showcasing the athletes abilities and their performance rather than on their physique.

References

"ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Sports." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

"ESPN Cover Store." ESPN Cover Store. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2015

Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports

     The NCAA, through its member institutions, conferences, and national office staff share a belief in and commitment to the collegiate model of athletics in which students participate as an avocation, balancing their academic, social, and athletic experiences; the highest level of integrity and sportsmanship; the pursuit of excellence in both academics and athletics; the supporting role that intercollegiate athletics play in the higher education mission and in enhancing the sense of community and strengthening the identity of member institutions; an inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation for student-athletes and career opportunities for coaches and administrators from different backgrounds; respect for institutional autonomy and philosophical differences; presidential leadership of intercollegiate athletics at the campus, conference, and national levels.
     For the most part, the NCAA does an exceptional job of controlling the system. New rules and regulations are constantly implemented that keeps the student-athletes from being compensated for the time put in and gives those in charge more power. These institutions are profiting off of the athletes by putting the athletes on display to boost the school's image. The athletes are compensated through scholarships, but even then, the scholarships do not cover everyday expenses, only tuition, education, and housing, and also, not every athlete receives a scholarship. Playing a college sport is a full-time job; I would assume that it would be extremely difficult for a student-athlete to find a job in the offseason, due to the fact that playing a college sport is a year-round commitment.
     Because of this, I believe that the NCAA needs to find a way to support their players financially since these players have committed full-time to improving the image of their respective institutions. There are ways to where the institutions can still make a profit AND pay their players, whether it be through individual sponsorships, or a cut of the money through TV contracts.


References:

"NCAA Core Values." NCAA Home Page. N.p., 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.

Schooled: The Price of College Sports. Dir. Trevor Martin and Ross Finkel. Perf. Taylor Branch and Jay Bilas and Kevin Anderson. 2013.

Tending the Growth of Achievement Sport: High School Sport & Me

     From a very young age, the bar was set very high for Demetrius Walker. He had much to live up to, being compared to big time NBA names such as Tyson Chandler, at such a young age. Because of this, if Demetrius didn't meet the expectations, he would be deemed a failure. That would be a lot for any 12 year-old to handle. At 12 years old, I was also playing on a traveling basketball team, but it never got to the point where we were being followed or watched by analysts. It was just a bunch of kids playing basketball. But for Demetrius Walker, it was much more than just a game. Because basketball was such a big part of his life, he had to prove himself worthy.
     In high school, it was much of the same, but unlike he was as an eighth grader, he became less dominant. While he was in eighth grade, he was able to get the ball over everyone because he was so much taller than the other kids. He would play down in the post and look to work the block. But when he reached high school, he wasn't as tall as the other players, so instead of playing in the post, which is what he was most comfortable with, he was forced to play the wing, completely changing the way he was used to playing.
     From elementary school through high school, Demetrius Walker seemed to live his younger life constantly trying to prove himself; proving that he was ranked the best player in the country for a reason. His sport was put before anything else because he always had people talking about him and how he played his sport. Other people made basketball a priority for him. This model of sport can be very harmful to the typical high school athlete. I don't think that many high school athletes would be able to deal with the pressure that Demetrius has had to endure throughout his youth, and by putting basketball as a top priority before anything else, it doesn't help set him up for his future after basketball. In my high school years, basketball was always a second priority behind school. Basketball didn't mean anything unless I was doing well in school, and I think the focus should be more on helping these athletes set themselves up for their futures rather than having them try to live up to a certain expectation.
     Probably the greatest consequence that can come from prioritizing basketball over academics would be not setting yourself properly for your next step in life. Let's just say that Demetrius Walker ended up making it to the NBA, chances are he would only be able to play into his mid-late 30's, he would still have another 50-60+ years to try and do something else. So the strategy for high school athletes shouldn't be focused on trying to get these athletes to the next big stage in basketball, but more on setting them up for life after basketball.

References

Dohrmann, G. (2010). The Education of Demetrius Walker. Sports Illustrated. pp. 62-74.

Cherrr-Ching: Super Bowl XLIX Financial Report

     The amount of money that goes into the Super Bowl is staggering. With well over 100+ million viewers watching the amount of money generated during the game is mind-boggling. To give somewhat of a picture as to what I mean, there are more people who watch the super bowl in the US than those who voted for their president. With the following figures, we will be able to see where the money is generated from and what the money is used for.

• $600,000,000 - the estimated financial impact on the host city's local economy
• $4,500,000 - the amount necessary for a 30 second commercial spot during Super bowl airing
• $8,000,000,000 - the amount of money LEGALLY wagered during the Super Bowl (that's not even counting the illegal gambling)
• $3,950 - the average amount it would cost for one super bowl ticket (some tickets cost as much as $25,000
• $165,000 - the amount paid to each player on the winning team. This amount does not include incentives the players may have in their contracts.  

     Over time, these numbers have continued to rise, and with the potential spread to an international market, I can only see these numbers getting bigger as the NFL continues to expand to other markets. 

For the host city, it would seem that the amount necessary for one game would put many cities into a financial bind. It almost reminds me of how the World Cup is set up: once the host city is chosen, it is up to the city/country in which the city is located to come up with the money necessary to build venues for the players and the fans. In Brazil during the last World Cup, there was much controversy over the amount of money being used to build these huge stadiums that were only going to be used once.  The people living in the areas where the stadiums were being built felt short changed, leading to danger and violence. Granted, the super bowl is much different in the fact that the stadiums are already built and are used on a daily basis, but similar in the amount of money necessary to provide such a big sporting event.  

References

Erb, Kelly P. "Salaries, Ads & Security: What's The Real Cost Of Super Bowl XLIX?" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2015.

Sports, Politics, and the Olympics

     The XX Olympic Games were held in Munich, Germany in 1972. Many were grew concerned at these games, because they were the first games held in Germany since the Nazis hosted them in 1936.  Israeli athletes and trainers were especially nervous, since most of them had family members and friends who were killed during the Holocaust. On the evening of September 4th, the Israeli team went out to see a play and, after, went back to the Olympic Village to sleep. As the athletes slept, eight members of the Palestinian terrorist organization, Black September, jumped over the fence that surrounded the village, took the Israeli athletes hostage, and in the end, killed 11 of the athletes.
     According to Eitzen and Sages 5 political uses of sports, I believe the 1972 Olympics is directly correlated with the use of sport as a vehicle of change in society. Initially, the Palestinians seemed to relish the attention. They felt the world had ignored them for decades. The assault and the nature of the Israeli response, thrust the Israeli-Palestinian crisis into the world spotlight, and set the tone for decades of conflict in the middle east, and launched a new era of international terrorism.
     Based on my research I would have to say that I do not fully agree with the statement, "Sport is pure and devoid of political interference." Though I don't believe this is the case when it comes to domestic sports, I think that when sports are brought to an international stage, such as the Olympics, or the World Cup, it gives political or terrorist figures the opportunity to spread their agenda and to let people know of their strength. Since these events are watched by many throughout the world, it gives those who look to make change to society the perfect opportunity to do so.







References
 Eitzen, D.S & Sage, G.H. (2009). Sociology of North American Sport.
"Olympics Massacre - Munich: The Real Story." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.