Why ESPN isn't what it used to be: THEN vs. NOW 

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Nowadays ESPN exists just to get people hooked on sports betting.

I’m significantly OLDER than you. I remember when ESPN started back when I was in grad school at Syracuse University. It was one of the only ways to get scores late in the day without waiting for the local paper to be delivered.

Being 37, I feel like ESPN has forgotten their foundation and have made errors in programming. For instance, they got the contract to the NHL, which went to a Game 7 in the Finals, but you fill the morning with two shows like Get Up and First Take, that will start their shows with a topic like " Should the Cowboys pay Dak Prescott?" I mean like what are you doing? Morning shows should be about catching people up about what they missed if they couldn't stay up, not "hot take arguments". That seems like stuff reserved for late afternoon. They did a 30 for 30 on Mike and the Mad Dog, but failed to follow the recipe. Mike and the Mad Dog was on afternoon drive, and was about sports banter. That's where shows like First Take would probably be better served. It also doesn't help that their production of live events are hot garbage lately. When you accidentally go to a game that just started and cut from a game late in the 3rd with a team on a power play. That should NEVER happen. And with golf, when Scottie Scheffler got arrested, with all the other channels ESPN has, you play the whole interview on ESPN instead of ESPNNEWS or ESPN2 and don't show any live golf for about 15 minutes. ESPN priorities are just wrong, and it may be their undoing with the growing RU-vid personalities people flock to.

58 year old here. I remember ESPN from the early 1980s when it was Chris Berman and Tom Mees, back in the day when Australian Rules Football and Canadian Football League were staples of the channel.

Baseball tonight is still on ESPN but only on Sunday nights before the National game :(

Sunday Night Baseball with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan was the best. Hard to believe they've been gone since 2010.

30 For 30 is probably the only thing that is still worth watching on ESPN. The problem is the direction of forcing year round NFL programming. For me, I don't watch any NFL programs between the end of the Superbowl until summer camp.

When you have RU-vid personalities such as TheHockeyGuy, Jomboy, UrinatingTree, and yes, this channel too, covering sports similarly, and typically better, than ESPN these days WITHOUT the irritating personalities and WITHOUT going into politics/political agenda pushing, then SportsCenter is basically redundant if not obsolete.

Remember when Joe Namath was drunk and tried to kiss Suzy Kohlber on live tv?

As someone with 3+ decades in sports TV under my belt, appreciate the evenhanded way you approached this, Brodie. Well done.

I’m 41, to me sportscenter died when Stuart Scott passed away

ESPN may as well just be the NFL/NBA channel, and it has been that way since at least the early 2010s. I turned on ESPN this morning and it is still majority NFL and NBA coverage, despite being right in the heart of baseball season. The only way to get baseball coverage on cable is to pay extra to add MLB Network.

ESPN was much better when it stuck to sports. Once it fell victim to channel decay, it went to crap, like most other cable networks that deviated from their niche.

Real reason is because all they talk about is the Lakers, Cowboys, etc… it’s not about sports anymore, it’s about certain teams or players. There’s also no personalities that nobody finds funny or engaging. Every single person who’s come through that door fooking sucks.

I think the downfall of ESPN began when they started co-branding on ABC. ABC Sports used to be a powerhouse in the broadcast domain. ESPN did well on cable, but they still were a cable channel - second tier to broadcast. After the Disney acquisition and ABC Sports rebrand, ESPN started celebrating its identity more than its content. They rested on their laurels of being the self-proclaimed “Worldwide leader in sports” but did nothing to maintain that lead. ABC Sports broadcasts deteriorated from broadcast- to cable-tier coverage. Look even at the recent return of NHL to ESPN. They promoted the hell out of the return of the theme song. But there was no return of NHL 2night. The focus of broadcasts became more about the fancy (and hideous) on-screen graphics technologies and not about the best camera angles and commentaries. As a hockey fan more than that of any other sport, the return has been a big disappointment.

Brodie, man...I can't tell you how much I hate ESPN these days. It's in stark contrast to how much I *loved* them in the early/mid 90s as a baseball-only fan. Were you watching in 1990? I'm 45 so only a couple years older than you so I'm guessing you were there. That was the 1st year of heavy baseball on ESPN. I will *never* forget - Sunday Night Baseball, Tuesday Night Doubleheader, Wednesday Night Baseball, and Friday Night Doubleheader. It was the greatest in a generation that didn't have internet or league networks. Watching those games got me SO into baseball back in the day. I think they started to pull it back a bit even in 1991, but still...game left, right, and center. Baseball Tonight. There was a baseball presence and focus that just isn't there anymore. I got to see Nolan Ryan no-hitters and his 5000th K. Robin Yount's 3000th. Dave Stewart's no-no in 1990...then Fernando on the same day! Rickey breaking the SB record. So, so good. Quick aside that is definitely related to you and your work...I grew up in So Cal. Not even close to being an A's fan, but I cannot tell you how much I liked seeing Friday Night Baseball games at the Colosseum. There was something about the excitement of the presentation, the field, the stupid foul territory making everything seem so HUGE, and just the guys calling the game. So good. It was pizza and baseball night on Friday's and I just liked A's home games for some reason. Always looked so good on TV. I hate that they became like sports talk radio because - let's be real - sports talk radio is a dumpster fire of nonsense. It's guys that sit around with their opinions that aren't even discussion points about the game. They are just thoughts about what MIGHT happen, all the while trying to make their hot takes as big if not bigger than the actual event of the game. Which, let's be real again, is a HUGE problem with programming in general (looking at you Super Bowl): the actual game isn't even the centerpiece of the event. It's the show. it's the advertising. It's the pregame show. Post game. I need absolutely ZERO of any of that. Sorry for the diatribe. ESPN was so meaningful to me as a kid. Man...Home Run Derby reruns after school going into Roy Firestone's Up Close. I'd watch Sports Reporters on Sunday Morning even when they weren't talking about baseball. You have reinvigorated my current hate for that network lol. It was SO good and now it's so NOT.

The cup final covered by ESPN was pretty brutal as a fan that grew up with Gary Thorne and Doc usually calling those big moments. That network is just... something else these days

A lot of people don’t know this, but Stuart Scott had s glass eye because an errant pass put his eye out in the NFL combine.

The biggest problem ESPN has is it’s always tried to wear a lot of hats. It’s kind of a news agency, and kind of a promoter, and kind of a sports broadcasting company, and kind of a documentary film company. On top of that, they attempt to cover all major sports. And in the end, their main revenue stream is advertising and contracts with TV providers. Go look at how ESPN and the NHL were at each other’s throats from 2000-2015. ESPN bought the TV rights to air national TV games for the NHL and give inconsistent effort to promoting the NHL, which hurt the image of hockey leading up to the lockout. Coming out of the lockout, ESPN seemed to actively want to destroy hockey in America when the NHL signed a deal with Versus. They would only talk about hockey to mock it. They ignored game 7s of the playoffs, ignored the Lokomotive plane crash that killed an entire professional hockey team and the staff, they ignored Olympic Games that had massive ratings and saw America go to OT in the gold medal game against Canada. But ESPN felt they had to in order to drive the point home to other leagues that ESPN will bury you if you don’t agree to their terms.

I miss the old ESPN. I was obsessed with the channel in the 90s and 2000s. Now I want it to go under. I hate it now!!

The thing I loved about 1990s ESPN, there really wasn't a "B-team" despite the presence of "The Big Show" with Patrick and Olbermann. Sure, each personality had their specialties and favorite sports but you also knew no matter who was on that screen, they were knowledgeable, authoritative, and yet entertaining. I still enjoy listening to Rich Eisen, Linda Cohn, and Dan Patrick.

This was before he wound up in Metropolitan Bristol, CT, but I became a fan of Keith Olbermann back in the 80s when on one sportcast at KTLA, he finished a story about a trade of a southpaw relief pitcher from the Dodgers to the A's, he came up with this classic line: "There is a shortage of good left-handed relief pitching in the American League -- and this trade adds to it." (They don't do sports commentary like that anymore. ;) ) The demise of ESPN came about the time Dick Schaap passed away, and Stephen A. showed up. Most of the good people there have since moved on to other places (and in the case of K.O. to MANY other places) or things or have just passed on. (RIP Tom Mees, Stuart Scott, John Saunders and Dick Schaap.) This, of course, is life, I suppose. But it doesn't mean we have to like it.

I miss the SportCenter days. I loved the personalities of Stuart Scott, Dan Patrick, Keith Olbermann, Craig Kilborn, and many others. Unfortunately, like MTV, TLC, the History Channel, and others, it stopped being about its core purpose and value. It became just about making money. Yes, I know all businesses need to make money. That being said, ESPN could still have journalistic integrity and make money. It’s just the way they do it now is easier. It’s lazy, simple programming that makes money for them. Just get people to argue. It’s sad what it’s become.

I’m 46 and started lamenting the loss of the ESPN I knew and loved as far back as 2010 or so. I grew up in what I consider to be the glory years of SportsCenter in the 90s. Back then it wasn’t just the go-to source for sports highlights. It was entertaining. You didn’t just tune in to see highlights of your favorite team. You tuned in to see what Dan Patrick had to say about it, or whoever your favorite anchor was. All of the anchors had personality and interesting catchphrases. The sports themselves also presented many interesting, storylines, and events, the majority of which was driven by action on the field. I began to lose interest when it felt like the only thing ESPN covered were the NBA and NFL at the expense of other sports, combined with their near monopoly over college bowl games . I haven’t had cable TV in my home in years and don’t subscribe to the ESPN streaming service so I’m sure I’m part of the problem, but I’m sure what I’m hearing about the current publication of ESPN programming and the talk show driven original programming probably doesn’t help attract viewers like me Who remember the good old days. I didn’t intend for this to be such a long comment, but sports themselves have also become less fun to watch which probably contributes to how different ESPN feels these days. Just a few thoughts from my perspective.

When Stuart Scott passed away so did espn. RIP

Before he was at ESPN . Steven A Smith was a reporter with an opinion. Now, he only reports on sports with his opinions!

50 minutes of commercials with 10 minutes of programming sprinkled in

As being 44 years old, I am old enough to remember the Berman/Mees Sportscenter from way back in the day with the other Shows you mentioned(My favorite Up Close with Roy Firestone) and I will be the first to admit that I have not watched ESPN regularly since the Mid 1990's....

As someone that has worked in sports media, journalism as a whole is NOT what it used to be! Even if you go through the local sports coverage that I deal with in the Fort Wayne area, it’s night and day different now compare to 10-20 years ago. I just want to say Thank you Brodie for your journalistic work over the years! I always enjoy these deep dive videos!

back in the day people on Sportscenter would say stuff like “Put the biscuit in the basket!” And “Don’t fake the funk on a nasty dunk!”

Yes, ESPN has changed. Charlie Steiner went on to do Color Commentary for the Dodgers. Brian Kenny moved to MLB Network. Chris Berman retired. Keith Olbermann had his issues and jumped around and even came back to ESPN briefly. SportsCenter was best in the early days. Baseball Tonight and Outside The Lines are highly missed. I hope they can fix what is missing before it is too late.

I think when the anchors became stars, it started the change of espn. After Berman, Patrick, olberman, etc. every anchor used the platform of sportscenter to try out their catchphrases and jokes.

People shouting at each other and spewing hot takes.... sports coverage and political commentary have both gone down the same ugly road.

Memories driving from work in Danville back to San Francisco in the late 80’ s just to see what’s happening on Baseball tonight

56 yo and used to watch ESPN all the time and love and lived by ESPN, havent watched in years, it is insufferable now.

I watched espn quite a bit in the early 2000’s. As a rams fan not living in Missouri, I clamored for any clips or highlights I could find of my team. I remember watching PTI during its first year, and I watched up until the first few years of sportsnation. I saw the creation of cold pizza, saw that morph into first and 10 and then first take. Those were great years. When I moved out and had roommates and eventually my own home, I never went through getting a paid television service. I was all right with free over the air television and internet. So at that point in my life I kinda moved on from espn and paid television service as a whole. I pay for the streaming services I like and I’m good. I suppose what I’m getting at is the entire industry of television is just so much different than it used to be, and there’s much less need for appointment viewing. I do miss the investigative reporting shows like real sports. I think there is still a need for something like that.

My favorite duo was Scott and Eisen.

SportsCenter was the model for Sport Night, the Aaron Sorkin show that ran for 2 years on ABC (I think) in the 90s. Even in Canada growing up, we knew who Chris Berman was and TSN has SportsCentre (Canadian spelling) as it was aligned with ESPN in many of its other broadcasts too. How it was built was virtually the same. I'm far removed from that, but I do get how it used to be and why it was successful. That also includes how it has changed over the years. I miss some of that interplay between the pairing that happened to be on the desk.

ESPN and B.E.T. are two channels i used to love, and now they are both unwatchable.

Dan and Keith, Stuart and Keith, Kenny Mayne, Charlie Steiner, Bob Ley, Linda Cohn, Steve Levy, Karl Ravich, ... You knew them all, and it felt intimate. Plus, none of them took themselves too seriously. Also, the This is Sportscenter commercials were stratospherically good. Holyfield looking to whoop Steiner, Dan and Keith changing outfits for different countries, or Kenny Mayne getting the hook for Trevor Hoffman to finish the show, or my personal all time favorite, SVP getting caught "juicing". 'UNHAND ME RAPSCALLION!' If you don't know, look them up. Basic 30 second commercials, but completely memorable 30 years later. Stephen A. Is a big, and memorable personality, but it feels like his focus is his "brand". I could never see him making fun of himself with an athlete just to market a show, and give people a laugh. So yeah, social media might have forced changes, but they should not have abandoned what built them at the same time.

Being 59, I remember when ESPN first started out. I watched ESPN a lot more than now. You nailed it on the head about personalities The only show that I will stop and watch is Pardon The Interruption because I want to hear Cornheiser’s and Wilson’s take on that days taking points. Also look forward to Wilbon calling the audience knuckleheads and Cornheiser waving the Canadian flag signifying the end of the show.

As a soccer fan, I grew up on & loved ESPN's soccer coverage from the early 2000's-2021 especially when it came to the World Cup, Euros, MLS, the Champions League & even the Premier League (before it went to NBC in 2013). Bob Ley in addition to his Outside the Lines role was also an excellent soccer host for those tournaments & ESPN losing both the Euros & World Cup to Fox was a key factor in him retiring in 2019. ESPN still covers soccer, however most of the games are behind a paywall via ESPN+ (if you are a La Liga or Bundesliga fan it is the only way to watch games from those leagues). As a result, ESPN is no longer the go to network for soccer coverage with CBS & NBC clearly taking over that mantle. However despite this, I do think that ESPN has a good shot at regaining the World Cup & the Euros when the rights expire & would do a better job of covering them than Fox currently is. It is up to the executives at ESPN to decide if they want to make a commitment towards regaining those rights & investing in their soccer coverage because if they don't, the World Cup & Euros rights will be decided between CBS & NBC.

I think there's a convergence of issues, one really is the lack of access from teams/leagues/and athletes. I remember when Derek Jeters started the Player's Tribune where athletes would speak directly to fans without going through the media and now ex-athletes are probably in their prime era in terms of podcasts and commentary. Teams do their own PR/documentary, many papers and broadcast partners don't even send reporters (or even commentators) on the road anymore. That hurts reporting and only leaves room for commentary. Also, now everything is a la carte and with drying advertising dollars, clicks and views matter more than quality of content. Back in the day, you had to watch other leagues/sports/teams/athletes highlights/stories on Sportscentre to get to the information of your favourite league/sport/team/athlete. Now, you don't need to.

ESPN has become an agent for mediocrity and banality. It used to be the gold standard. The early day roster of ESPN presenters read like a Sports Broadcasters' HoF listing...I'm waaay older than most of you guys. I was in my early teens when ESPN signed on. It was one of the early cable channel offerings. The first few broadcasts, I was thinking, "What in the hell is this?" They weren't into the major sports yet, other than reporting on them. I don't even remember all that many highlights in the beginning. Between billiard tournaments, cricket, and whatever else they were showing then, Chris Berman worked on a set that made some of my work in cable access television look fancy - Wayne and Garth type stuff. But they grew up. The network developed character. Watching Olbermann and Patrick was like waiting for a comedy bomb to explode. Wit and sarcasm applied to subjects screaming out for that kind of attention. Stuart Scott. Rich Eisen. SVP. Linda Cohn. Gayle Gardner. John Saunders. Trey Wingo. They got good, and they seemed to have a lot of fun doing it. Even the promos were funny and interesting...Then the inevitable happened. Atrophy destroys everything over time. The Bob Leys were phased out by the SASs, they hired a ton of Alpha dog athletes all clamoring for attention, the quality of the product started to denegrate, and we were left with what you see now - a cult of personaility driven network that acts even goofier than those early cable access days trying to promote this or that hot take, this or that political issue, this or that contract detail, gambling prompts, with everything delivered with nonstop critcism and vile. They don't really cover football. They cover the Jets, Giants, and Patriots. They don't really cover baseball. They cover the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, and (sometimes) the Cubs. They don't cover basketball. They cover the Lakers and whatever icon is being promoted at any given time. And hockey?... 🤣...It's like listening to 8 year-olds argue about who's dad can beat up who else's dad. It's pathetic, and management doesn't care...I don't have an opinion on whether Pat McAfee has been a good addition or not. That's because I don't watch the network. I don't care. And ESPN had a large instrumental part in making me not care...If Bob Ley were still running Outside the Lines, and Bryant Gumbel were still running Real Sports, the entire Oakland A's BS stream would've been blown up at the outset. I truly believe that. But now, you have way overextended networks that have put themselves into a subserviant position to the leagues whereby real sports journalism is a complete nonstarter. I keep saying Brodie, you have a large void that you could fill if you have the desire to... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-31L5Mi3EAoQ.html

I remember when ESPN had to hire freelancers to work at the sporting events they covered. My first job out of college was working freelance for ESPN at their coverage of the 1986 Senior Open Golf Tournament at the Canterbury County Club in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

As a 56 year old, I can attest ESPN is less than a shadow of its former self. It used to be about ACTUAL sports instead of fantasy sports, sports betting and Jerry Springer style "reality" TV. I haven't watched 1 single minute of ESPN in 8 years now because it became so distasteful to me.

Rich Eisen was smart to leave when he left for the NFL Network when they got there start. And now him and his Wife Susie Shuster have built a mini media empire.

I remember when ESPN introduced Cold Pizza, which was ironically a hot take show. That was the beginning of the end for me.

I remember in the 90s watching either nhl2night and or sports center to see highlights of games but around 98 or 99, I definitely remember seeing when college football was going on, more coverage and time allotted for them and the games I wanted to see were discarded. Soon after they started cheerleading case in point, the Yankees Mets WS that they were extremely hyped about which iirc was at the time one of the lowest rated series. Then there were 3 topics that they just beat into the ground. When is Favre retiring? When is Clemens retiring? And the worst, the Terrell Owens sharpie TD and all the crying about it. ESPN also started dictating what is news and what isn't under the guise of we're just dedicating more coverage to what people care about. It stopped being about the games a very long time ago

The last decent show on ESPN was Mike and Mike.

In my dorm, ESPN would be on in most people's rooms. Sunday Night Sports Center was practically must see tv. I think Sports Center became a victim of its own success. The anchors began trying too hard to come up with their own catchphrase. Watching Chris Berman do the NFL highlights became more about Berman than the actual highlights. How many Berman catchphrases could he throw-in in one highlight? It turned me off well before all the changes.

Watched ESPN everyday. It's not worth it anymore. You hit it on the head again. Da. Da. Da. Da. Da. Da.!

Just adding a point on the way the NFL has taken over (which actually does bother me. I don't have a problem with NFL news in October, when actual games are being played. I should not have to wade through NFL news in June, when all I want is Baseball scores, the Stanley Cup Finals and the NBA Finals-you know, the sports that are actually being played). Back in the early 2000's, ESPN decided to take a stab at an original drama series and released a show called "The League." I wasn't sure how I felt about ESPN doing original drama-kinda gets away from being a sports network, and remembered this was the first sign of MTV no longer being about music. But it also aired in summer, which was typically a dead moment in sports (only so many baseball games you can talk about). And as it turns out, it was a critical and commercial success. It was about a fictional football league, and it delved into the dark side of sports. But despite being a critical and commercial success, it only lasted one season, and ESPN couldn't even sell the show to another network to continue. And everyone suspected why: the NFL was threatened by a TV show about a fictional football league that dared to show the dark side of the game, and they made ESPN ditch the show. And then there's the postscript: not sure if this is being paranoid, but I'm a little suspicious about the fact that a sitcom about a fantasy football league also called "The League" came out years later. Was it so that if you looked up "The League"+TV Show in either Google or imdb, the first thing that pops up is the sitcom and not the drama, effectively burying the drama?

Lisa Cohn and John Anderson. 😂every morning before school in early 00s

ESPN’s Canadian cousin, TSN, is like that too.

Dan Patrick & Chris Berman had so many catchphrases Stuart Scott was as cool as the other side of the pillow Craig KIlborn: release, rotation, splash (basketball) Rich Eisen was so underrated as an SC anchor Robin Roberts was so smooth in her delivery Keith Olbermann: and they're not gonna get him (football) Bill Pidto was great on NFL Primetime & We have a developing... situation. Kenny Mayne was great with his dry delivery Back when I watched ESPN every morning.

Evidently, I'm breaking your demo as I'm 73. Brodie, here be the bigger picture. Think information and its delivery. ESPN thrived for NO other reason than it was a monopoly. If you wanted sports info with some video attached, this was the only game in town. Television is no longer about video but what was known in the old days of television as one shots or two shots of people YAPPING called talking heads. ESPN has become talk television for MORONS. It's really sports talk radio for those who need some pictures to go with the YAPPING. Problem is folk are discovering podcasts where they can listen or listen and watch at their convenience. Competition is KILLING ESPN. ESPN, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News still exist because of the tyranny of the cable bundle. Who on planet Earth would ever pay to watch the drivel on ESPN if they didn't broadcast LIVE sporting events people wanted to see. Imagine putting Stephen A behind a paywall without the LIVE events?The media marketplace offers MORE choices than ever. I'm not even subscribed to ESPN in the summer as I put my You Tube TV on pause. I have the MLB package and therefore I miss some Sunday Night Baseball but no big deal. Brodie, I'm going to offer some free advice. I don't watch all that much on You Tube, but I do click on your channel because it is diverse and I find that interesting. The sweet spot for me are uploads between five and ten minutes. This video was a little long for my liking.

I miss Berman. In fact, I just said "off the schneid" last night!

I remember when I first saw Sports Reporters when I was around 13. I loved hearing sports opinion so much, I would tape it since it aired so early on the West Coast. I loved it when they started PTI and ATH. I'd try to watch every show. It's like I had to know what they had to say about last night's game. Now, if I need that quick take from one of those shows or Stephen A, I'll just find a clip on RU-vid. Now, there's just so much content beyond TV and radio. The great part of it is I can get to hear about other stories about Bay Area sports beyond what KNBR and 95.7 The Game talk about, which is typically 49ers, Warriors, Giants. If I want to hear discussion about the Sharks, I can turn to your channel or any of the Sharks podcasts out there. I don't need to worry about the stations refusing to cover them because it "doesn't move the needle". If you don't discuss what I'm interested in, I'll go to someone who will.

ESPN is a victim of its own success, it was the only game in town, then all these other networks have popped up.

ESPN is just like any other media outlet, regardless of what they cover. Their goal is to keep people from changing the channel. ESPN can’t peddle fear and anxiety the way cable news does, so they just throw out ridiculous opinions all day to keep viewers.

I’m a year younger than you Brodie and you’re spot on! ESPN used to be great and touched on a bit of all sports with some great talent with actual good content. Now it’s just become the NBA/college NCAAB/NFL/NCAAF network with a little MLB.

You pretty much nailed it, but I think you missed something as well: Teams outside LA and NY stopped getting talked about as much, especially baseball. You asked why "Baseball Tonight" got canceled and my immediate response was "Because they refused to talk about anyone other than Boston and NY!" Here's an example. I'm a Seattle Mariners fan. On Sept.30 2022, the Mariners had a chance to end a 21 year playoff drought, the longest such active drought in North American sports at the time. The Mariners fanbase is very large and VERY passionate, and the previous 21 years had been HELLISH, fraught with incompetent owners, idiotic GM's and bad players on bloated contracts. Secret Base did a PHENOMENAL breakdown of the history of our franchise and I highly recommend it. In front of a soldout crowd of 45,000+, tied 1-1 against the Oakland A's in the Bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and no one on base, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hit a walkoff home run to send the Mariners to the postseason for the first time since 2001! The city celebrated like we had when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, we had FINALLY cleansed ourselves of a massive demon and were poised to push for our first World Series appearance in our history! You know how much airtime we got on Sportscenter that night? How many segments we led on First Take or PTI? Zero. Not a damn word from ESPN. Even the nightly baseball recap basically went "Seattle defeats Oakland 2-1 on a walkoff by Cal Raleigh. This clinches the final Wild Card spot for the Mariners. Now, on to the Yankees..." It was insulting and demoralizing.

I remember turning on sportscenter in the mornings before school and just letting it replay over and over haha.... started watching it late 90s.. im a decade younger than you

Great Video. Dead on. My theory as to why they ended Baseball Tonight is that they couldn't work in Lebron or the Cowboys enough to meet their daily quota of references. The debate shows are pointless since the topics are just Lebron, Dak, and Caitlin Clark in different orders. Man, it used to be so amazing.

I don't watch Football and I don't like opinion shows. ESPN is like reality TV and it's trashy and boring. I'm perfectly happy getting my recaps from RU-vid I suppose but I member.

One of my favorite things about ESPN was Tom Rinaldi and Tim Kirchen doing there investigative reports. I remember when they did a bit on the Red Sox come from behind win in the ALCS to beat the Yankees. Not only was it interesting, but used to love the Interesting facts and information and stuff like “this is the first time in 30 years….” Or “so and so is the first person to do this since Babe Ruth”. It was just crazy interesting listening to the different facts and tidbits. I also use to get hype for the Top plays of the week and really liked the Worst plays of the week as well. Used to actually love the highlights of games. The deep highlighted where they would talk about the more important contests for a little longer and break down the significant plays and penalties.

Im a lil bit older than you Brodie. ESPN is awful now, it's full of commercials, race baiting, top 10 highlights, and rumors. I miss sportscaster when it showed highlights of every game and ended with the score with stats, baseball tonight was on every late night in baseball season with highlights and stats, NFL prime time with Berman wasn't behind a pay wall, and all the espn articles are behind espn+ pay walls. Outside the lines being on more, baseball tonight being nightly, NFL matchup at a decent time slot and NFL films highlights I grew up on made me love the NFL and it's history. Now that's all changed for these lame talk shows like Mina Kime. I find myself watching more FSN sports programming and if CBS sports wasn't an added price I'd watch that too over espn. Especially since Jim Rome is there.

If he was still alive, the great Stuart Scott, as iconic as he was, probably would’ve been gone from ESPN doing his own thing right now, just like Dan Patrick, Rich Eisen and others have. A lot of them didn’t want to be part of the corporate structure run by Disney and rightfully so.

Before video: They had highlight shows, short talk shows like Baseball tonight, NHL tonight, etc. It was great.

So, I'm 29 - Born in 1995. Growing up, I would turn on SportsCenter everymorning before going to school from grade 1 through part of high school. We had ESPN on constantly in the late 90's and Early 2000's. I firmly believe that it changed after they moved many of their studios to Los Angeles in 2009 - the graphics changed, most of the presentors were gone, the shows changed formats, the "this is sportscenter" commercials ended, and even the coveraged changed. In 2014, the shows began to even put focus on politics and social commentary over sports - by 2020, it became more about betting than about enjoying sports. On the whole, the character had left.

As a baseball fan first, the NFL-ization of ESPN makes it unwatchable unless there’s a live game on. It was in the mid-2000s that I realized most of ESPN’s year-round football coverage is a waste of time. I miss the old Baseball Tonight as much as anyone, but around the same time as ESPN became a house network for the NFL, its baseball coverage started to decline. BBTN would get pre-empted all the time for crap like the X-Games. By the time MLB Network launched in 2009 a lot of baseball fans were ready for an alternative. As a kid in the 90s there was nothing like being home sick and watching Sportcenter all morning. In that era it was usually Craig Kilborn or Stu Scott/Rich Eisen. The show wasn’t live, it was a rebroadcast of the 2AM eastern/11PM Pacific show.

I feel like this is emblimatic of ESPN/Disney's unwillingness to be innovative with their media properties. I feel like a show like Sportscenter could fit well into the landscape of social media given how it's already largely clip based, but I think that by the time ESPN realized that they should adapt to social media it was already too late for them to jump in.

I still like the on field interviews because there's a lot of potential there. I remember the reason I got back into baseball was the munenori kawasaki "2 banana" interview.

Back then, I used to turn on SportsCenter right when I woke up and would let it run over and over until the last airing ended at 11 or 12, whatever it was.

I remember sports center being about highlights. Sports center lost traction to me when it became about sports talk shows. I got tired of the Lebron Jordan debate years ago. I could care less for 15 minutes of every hour being dedicated to Lebron vs Jordan. Clickbate entertainment turned ESPN into a sports politics network. I was there for the entertainment.

This was a pretty spot on take. You hit just about every point! There's also many conflicts of interest they have, so their journalistic integrity takes a hit. Nobody wants to be a critical journalist anymore. All journalists are buddy buddy with everyone and just want to be liked. They're a mini cheering section. You don't have guys like John Clayton doing Inside the Huddle who had real integrity. Before ESPN he was the beat writer for the Steelers and wrote about illegal practices they were having. No way that happens in this day and age where journalism is dead (it's dead in all other areas of news too).

The broadcasters/sportscasters “of old” seemed like genuine fans of the games who appreciated being paid for doing what they love. Today’s talking heads don’t give off that vibe anymore.

Stuart & Rich had the best rapport and chemistry…as did Dan and Keith….

No Brodie, nothing about Stephen A. Smith is "fine."

Sir - you hit on some fine points and you did it well. This is one of the better sports journalism videos I have seen in quite some time. And ... you just got yourself one more subscriber.

Dan Patrick “The Whiff” god I miss that.

This was a fair assessment. I’m pushing 60, so I’ve watched a lot of their programming. Interesting take on all the personalities and “where are they now.” SVP along with Stanford Steve and their Bad Beats segment is the best watch, and I don’t even gamble. Today, Around the Horn and PTI are a daily watch.

ESPN obviously isn't the same today as it used to be in the 1980's and 1990's, but the sports landscape has changed drastically in the past decade between the rise of Fox Sports One and two plus the rise of,streaming services encroaching on sports programming (Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock). In addition ESPN delved into sports talk radio type programming but got caught flat-footed by the rise of specialized sports podcasts that took away a lot of interest and viewers. That's why they paif so much to hire Pat McAfee last summer while also ditching a ton of high priced personalities. Another reason they dialed back significantly on baseball programming was because ratings were going down significantly among younger aged demos while ratings for other sports outside of thd NFL weren't going down as much or even rising for some sports like international soccer and Formula One. And now with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese lighting up the WNBA they're more likely to show those games instead of baseball.

I was in Junior High when we first subscribed to cable. I remember that ESPN shared air time with a business channel. being a huge Carolina Hoops fan I thought ESPN was great. I was able to watch just about every Heels game. this was the beginning of college basketball on Cable. all the major conference had their own night of the week.this was also the beginning of the Carolina and Duke rivalry as we know it today.

I was never a huge baseball fan but man, Chris Berman made baseball exciting when it came to highlights. I just love when they use to break down contest and talk about scoring plays, but also talk about other things that happened during the contests.

Baseball Tonight was my favorite show as a kid in the 90s. I cant remember the last time I watched ESPN it’s been years

We just witnessed ESPNs lowest point as a serious sports channel recently when all ESPN / Sportscenter social media outlets posted Stephen A Smith arriving at several NBA playoff games like he was a player. That’s absolute cringe.

ESPN treats hockey as an afterthought, and always has. So if you're asking me if I feel sorry for a cable channel that stunted the growth of an entire sport in the 90s and 00s? No. Not at all.

Such great programing back in the day. ESPN was swimming in money for so long from cable TV, satellite, etc. in both the basic and sports packages.

I’m 32. In my early years-late teens, I could watch sportcenter 5 times in a row. Same highlights and commentary. Loved it. I remember waking up in the morning for school and my dad would be watching the Mike and Mike broadcast. After school, it was PTI, Around the Horn, Sports Nation. It was Stephen A and Skip Bayless who changed it. It became about the takes. I may be becoming an old man, but I miss those days.

Great video Brodie, I think this is another thing social media killed. Sportscenter was fantastic and must see but now with social media we dont have to wait until 11pm or even the next morning to see highlights from games. That left SC useless pretty much.

Whenever I see a good defensive play in baseball I reflexively say,”Web Gem”

The only thing bad about “then” was Chris Bermans haircut. 🖖😎

"cooler than the other side kf the pillow " stuart scott

Canadian here, reminds me of how the old TheScore channel would always be pumping out highlights from the night before. Once TSN or SportsNet ended highlights they kept them going. And the when SportsNet bought TheScore I knew the old days were gone

Used to watch SportsCenter every morning before school

Glad we got folks like Jomboy, et al, to fill the voids

Genie is out of the bottle, DIS drove ESPN into a politicized mess, its personalities got too big for their brand and soapboxed their way out of most peoples reason for watching sports....TO ESCAPE THE REAL WORLD.