History and Growth of Sport Communication: Early Eras of Sport Journalism and the Golden Age

1. Chapter 3: History and Growth of Sport CommunicationLecture 4{Date}

2. Early eras of sport journalism Golden age of sport Perspective period Transition years Influence of Rozelle and Arledge Today’s SC Lecture Outline

3. Background Set the agenda of culture Typical career versus Rice’s Famous lead Captivated a weary public Contributed to ascent of sport’s popularity and journalist’s coverage Similar impact on sport coverage…50 years later? Profile of a Sport Communicator: Grantland Rice

4. Key Events in the Development of Sport Communication

5. Has always been sport participation: Mainly recreational Colonial pioneer era (←1830) Leisure activities: Fishing, hunting, cricket, boat and horse racing, cockfighting, gardening, swimming, skating, billiards, wrestling Limited coverage Early Eras of Sport Journalism

6. Publications and articles on leisure life in 19th century: Increased literacy rates and technology Sporting journals First is American Turf Register (1829), which covered horse racing Popular sport journals in the mid-century covered cricket, baseball, rowing, yachting Newspapers When reporting sports, was racing, boxing, wrestling Penny newspapers initiated coverage of sport in 1830s Made news more accessible Exuded partisan and sensational tone First front-page coverage of sport (racing and boxing) in 1840s Electric telegraph (1840s) quick dissemination of news and games Sport’s popularity further developed after the Civil War, propelled by the popularity of baseball: Henry Chadwick, first rule book, box score, key writer, HOF Coverage of Leisure Activities Begins

7. Sports journalism propelled by phone (1876), upgraded typewriter (1869), printing press (1865) 1870s Baseball and sports became regular feature Press realizes value of recurrent and innovative sports reporting 1880s: Sports pages Football, boxing, baseball, racing, cricket, croquet, lacrosse Style Wordy, leisurely, chronological narrative Too much secondary detail Papers Recognize Importance of Sport

8. Sport reflects cultural values in late 19th and early 20th centuries Turning to sport for sense of cohesion Military legitimizes interest in sport People seeking to assimilate into modern society while escaping postwar struggleseither through participation or through spectatorship; its popularity increased especially from 1920 to 1930 Golden age affected sportswriting and culture Golden Age of Sport

9. Athletes given celebrity status; sportswriters (Rice, Runyon, Gallico) Became nearly as famous and rewarded as the heroes Propelled growth of sport’s popularity Marked start of mediated hero worship and celebrity treatment Sportswriters develop unique prose Restructuring of sport’s ideology in 1920s Popularity of sport depended on sports section, key part of papers: 1.7% (1875) to 20%+ (1927) “Gee whiz” (hope, heroes), “aw-nuts” (skeptic, sarcasm) Used descriptive and sentimental words to set scene Feeling excitement through writings Few fans saw their heroes Athletes became bigger than life No longer just reported from fields: strategy, background, character Two Characteristics of Golden Age

10. Significant events graced front-page headlines Embellished prose with literary devices (metaphors, analogies) Hero worship of athletes Emotional and gripping language and imagery Meticulous detail in describing events Leads were high in drama and description and low in factual content Writers used few quotes Conversational tone Columns reflected frivolity of sport Writers used war and mythology references and employed rags-to riches story Writers used humor, slang, romance, and drama Storytelling was paramount Stories relied on expert description and commentary for pre-TV Writers extensively used nicknames (e.g., Sultan of Swat) Key Characteristics of Golden Age

11. 1930 to 1950 Giddiness changed dramatically after the Depression and during pre-World War II America Four trends alter coverage of sports Nation’s mood influences coverage The Perspective Period

12. Questioning of writers’ professionalism, objectivity, ethics Laudatory coverage of athletes Liaisons between journalists, promoters, and owners Depression affected paper revenues, salaries Owners and promoters paying road expenses and gifts for positive coverage Mutually beneficial (stories and rewards) Emotional graft: Friendships and ties between sources and journalists Trend 1: Change in Public Perception

13. Reorganized Sports departments began to edit their own copy (free from the bounds of papers’ editorial structures) Trend 2:Reorganization of Newspaper Structure

14. Shift in popularity from college to pro sports during the 1930s Baseball, boxing, horse racing dominated “golden age” papers (now branching out to cover football and basketball) The one major exception was Seabiscuit (1938) Trend 3: Expansion of Coverage

15. Papers had to compete with new medium Radio led to realism and objectivity in reporting and a flair for verbal commentary in covering sport Boxing and baseball in the early ’20s Universities, teams, conferences Feared radio would affect attendance Banned or limited broadcasts (lifted by 1936) Trend 4: Development of Radio

16. Gravity of era influences sportswriting: More serious, simple writing; international (1936) and political Impact of Depression 1929 crash: Papers lost ad revenue and reduced stories, narrower columns, diminished style, more pictures Magazines gained prominence: Market for niche writing emerged in ’40s Impact of alternative press: Black and communist press Offered opposing viewpoints from mainstream Social activism: race, gender, class Nation’s Mood Influences Coverage

17. 1950 to 1970 Network TV increases sports coverage Women enter field Sports Illustrated is launched The Transition Years

18. Enabled fans to experience sport instantly and visually: Propelling sport as national and global phenomenon Print journalists modified style and content to compete: Searched for different angles to maintain fresh approach Features and human interest stories increased Basketball, bowling, baseball gained attention in 1950s Networks realized fans were a commodity to lure advertisers NFL first to maximize TV technology ABC was first to recognize and implement power of sport Network TV Increases Sports Coverage

19. Female reporters entered the scene: Dorothy Lindsay, Janet Valborg Owen, Maribel Vinson, Mary Garber Locker rooms Press box Women Enter the Field

20. Satisfied fans’ fascination with spectator sports Popular among middle-class subscribers Influenced growth of sport in the 1950s and ’60s Made the games more important to more people Set agenda of just what sports were important Counterbalanced persistent hype of TV Put sport into meaningful context Legitimized sport with sophisticated, colorful writing Made an art out of in-depth reporting Sports Illustrated (1954) Is Launched

21. Technological inventions and advancements for TV sport coverage especially influenced sport’s development within the social fabric Key to this: NFL commissioner and ABC president Pioneers, visions shaped TV sport coverage Contributed to the development of sport marketing, SC, broadcasting Used sport as powerful, lucrative business vehicle in TV and culture Influence of Pete Rozelle and Roone Arledge

22. Commissioner in 1960 for fledgling NFL: 12 teams competing against each other Imagined role TV could play in sport’s popularity and growth “League think,” NFL’s welfare and brand Importance of pooling broadcast rights together into one bidding package for networks Persuaded Congress to legalize single-network contracts, forcing networks to compete for pooled rights; 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act NFL Properties: League’s independent marketer in 1963 Merged NFL and AFL in 1970 Pete Rozelle

23. Technological innovations to sports broadcasts: Instant replay, slow motion, and handheld, end zone, and underwater cameras MNF (with Rozelle) Epic Olympic coverage Breaking spot news on terrorism Wide World of Sports Recognized that stars sell Focused on storytelling, drama, action, characters Captured the entertainment element in sport Roone Arledge

24. Cable TV increases influence of sport Technology alters communication strategies Sport arena expands “MediaSport,” the “mediation of sport” within culture and the broader public sphere Today’s Sport Communication

25. Advanced sport’s reach exponentially in the late 1970s and 1980s and contributed to its monumental place in society ESPN Bill Rasmussen Charismatic and compelling broadcasters First broadcast September 7, 1979 Shows offer provocative commentary, wit, keen writing and reporting Largest cable network in the U.S. 40 business entities Cable TV Increases Influence of Sport

26. Fragmented media environment Media fight to reach and retain at home, in office, in car Sports fans consume 9+ hours of media daily Technologies transforming way fans consume Video on demand, digital asset management Optical tracking systems, HDTV Personalized sports tickers Online video gaming, satellite Technology Alters Communication Strategies

27. Increasingly diverse, fragmented, competitive Sports journalists Cover games, legal, political, economic, cultural Unique styles to spark interest More in-depth analyses, interviews, opinions, less celebratory The journalist–source relationship has changed: Often detached and contentious Need to delve deeper because of TV and Internet Watchdogs? Storytellers? Lenient? Critical? Media companies active in bidding wars for media rights: Use as centerpiece of programming Sports Arena Expands

28. 1914 to 1918: WWI and its attention to sport 1900 to 1920: Cultural changes (mass society, technology, need for connection) 1920s: “Golden age” writers who satiated fans’ sport obsession 1920s: Focus on sport celebrity, which began in golden age 1920s: Radio and sound bring fans closer to action and enable sharing of sport’s varied experiences in homes, halls, saloons 1940s: Network TV increases sport’s reach and recognizes value of sport in ratings and advertising Rozelle and Arledge: MNF (1970), Super Bowl (1964), Wide World of Sports (1961) 1960s: NFL and its ability to spark passion for the league, teams, Super Bowl 1979: ESPN: Intro to 24-hour sports cycle and extensive markets 1990s: Arrival of all-sports radio programming 1990s: Internet extends sport’s reach and increases consumption 1990s: Wireless technology to acquire/disseminate sports info Late 1990s: Major sports events broadcast in HDTV Key events in SC’s Development

29. How has sports coverage evolved from the 19th century? Types of sports covered? Treatment of athletes and events? Why is “MediaSport” an important term today? How does it relate to the media choices and options you have when watching games, obtaining scores, and gaining insider info? What elements of the Super Bowl make it a “mythic spectacle,” in the words of Michael Real? How did TV change sport and sport coverage? How is today’s media environment fragmented, and what are the implications on SC? Discussion Questions