<p>The problem with being the sun is that it’s awful hard to look in the mirror. Bad for the eyes.</p>
<p>And as the center of the sporting solar system, ESPN is unequivocally, and deservedly, the central light that illuminates the stories that shape what we see in the way of sports. And yet while they are sports’ greatest ambassadors, they are also its greatest profiteers.</p>
<p>So when ESPN The Magazine unveiled a lengthy exposition on the history of the steroids era -- and its still mounting fallout -- earlier today, I had to wonder, at what point of the steroids era (or saga) did ESPN not profit?</p>
<p>Surely, they profited from the rise of home run totals in the game brought on by the influx of steroids during this era. They will continue to broadcast many of the games and the era saw the show Baseball Tonight become a staple. The broadcast rights contracts for which ESPN pays MLB baseball hundreds of millions of dollars are capitalized on by the network with ad campaign sales that make billions.</p>
<p>On which network do we watch the home run derby, in all its majesty, after all?</p>
<p>And yet we counter that by noting that surely ESPN has been an integral part of digging through the mess of this investigation. It was they who added national light to the questioning of Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi surrounding the BALCO scandal, and they did a service to fans everywhere by highlighting the rumors that were surfacing around the game.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/chicago/chicagoview.asp?c=169678">http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/chicago/chicagoview.asp?c=169678</a></p>
Wed, 09 Nov 2005 19:19:39 -0600
<p>And as the center of the sporting solar system, ESPN is unequivocally, and deservedly, the central light that illuminates the stories that shape what we see in the way of sports. And yet while they are sports’ greatest ambassadors, they are also its greatest profiteers.</p>
<p>So when ESPN The Magazine unveiled a lengthy exposition on the history of the steroids era -- and its still mounting fallout -- earlier today, I had to wonder, at what point of the steroids era (or saga) did ESPN not profit?</p>
<p>Surely, they profited from the rise of home run totals in the game brought on by the influx of steroids during this era. They will continue to broadcast many of the games and the era saw the show Baseball Tonight become a staple. The broadcast rights contracts for which ESPN pays MLB baseball hundreds of millions of dollars are capitalized on by the network with ad campaign sales that make billions.</p>
<p>On which network do we watch the home run derby, in all its majesty, after all?</p>
<p>And yet we counter that by noting that surely ESPN has been an integral part of digging through the mess of this investigation. It was they who added national light to the questioning of Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi surrounding the BALCO scandal, and they did a service to fans everywhere by highlighting the rumors that were surfacing around the game.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/chicago/chicagoview.asp?c=169678">http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/chicago/chicagoview.asp?c=169678</a></p>
Wed, 09 Nov 2005 19:19:39 -0600
