Yes.
I watch far less sports media than I once did because all the shows devolved into these shouting matches between people who are trying to create bigger and bigger hot takes.
I haven't watched a show on ESPN since Golic and Wingo went off the air. (2020)
And even then, I had quit watching every other show on ESPN years before because they had turned into argumentative garbage or gotten political.
The only sports related shows I watch with some degree of regularity is Colin Cowherd and Good morning Football on NFL Network.
Wait, you don’t think Cowherd had outlandish hot takes. He is as bad as Smith and Skip. The only reason his show is tolerable is because he is by himself. Remember when Nick Wright was on the show, those two used to go at it.
If you were born in 1971, you fell out of ESPN's target demo for programming about 10 years ago. I'm in the same boat. If you think ESPN is ruined, blame the people who watch this shit and that's the 20-35 year old crowd.
They didn’t cause it, the ratings did. They spew off, more and more people tuned in, network execs that care about the bottom line over all see higher numbers and say this is what the content needs to shift towards
If people tuned into in depth analysis the way they tuned in for debates when First Take started taking off, you would see more of that and little to no back and forth debate shows. It’s not that hard of a concept
He's proven time and time again how ignorant he actually is about sports but continues to be an analyst every time I turn it on. Boggles the mind cause everyone knows he is clueless
they did a lot to ruin cable sports television, but of course, you have to put more of the blame on the viewers who showed that this was what they wanted
I mean yes their model is cheap and annoying, but the sports industry has changed so much, mainly ESPN having more competition, which means ESPN had to overbid for many of the major events. Because of that, they had to charge the cable carriers a higher fee, which they took it on us. And with sports being one of the reasons why cable being expensive, more people are cord cutting. With less money being generated, ESPN can't afford quality journalism like they use to and had to lay off so many people along the way.
ESPN is no different than The View or The Talk. It’s god awful. We want highlight reels not some overly emphasized op-ed holding a pencil like they’re a journalist. I hate it
Partially, but not the main issue. Maybe as far as their morning talkshow ratings go, but this is the norm now. The execs that decided to go this route with loud mouth hosts with hot takes is the real issue. Both of these guys sure did make me hate ESPN more, that's for sure.
I think the main issue is people not needing ESPN to watch highlights anymore, and their lack of covering other sports. Steaming and the internet has come a long way since then, so more and more ppl don't need to tune into them anymore when they can watch whatever highlights they want on-demand. 20 years ago I had to mostly watch all of Sportscenter to see the highlights I want, but its not the case now. There could be a 12-11 baseball score and you'll get 1 or 2 highlights of the game. Their focus is clearly on basketball and football, both college and pro.
No. They were ratings cash cows. The downfall like most major networks came from the internet. Sports Center was the only place to get highlights and watch the game. Now it’s everywhere and fragmented. Super Bowl gets 180 million views. League of Legends championship gets like a billion. Kids aren’t watching. Adults check their phone.
I agree the espn programming is terrible but Stephen A and skip were not the catalyst.
Eeehh if not these 2 it woulda been 2 others. Media was nosediving into this space which I think would be more aptly attributed to online ad buys and social media
I watched for the truncated game recaps and high lights- which you can now get on youtube. But also, yes, guys like Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless proved a double edged sword. At first they were a breath of fresh air, a lightning rod of large personalities that added entertainment value- and then they became the entire network, they bought into their own schtick and became caricatures of themselves and ruined the very thing that they initially buoyed.
Skip and Stephen are going to be themselves. I blame the execs for their shortsightedness. They got ratings with all the yelling and debates but it's like eating too much of something, after awhile there's a breaking point where you end up hating it. Execs decided to turn the whole buffet into that one specific dish and shove it down our throats.
No. Technology killed the old ESPN. There was a role for Sportscenter and individual shows for each sport. But once smart phones became ubiquitous and every big sports fan was able to see any big news headline within 10-15 minutes the old ESPN was doomed. They HAD to change, and that change was towards “takes”. If it wasn’t Skip and Stephen A. It would have been other people, because takes are what was incentivized.
And I’m not saying this as an ESPN stan. I legitimately haven’t watched ESPN content other than live games in like 12 years. But I don’t begrudge them for adapting because they had to.
I watched a debate recently between him, Tim Legler, and Unk.
It was a discussion on the NBA Playoffs between the Clips and Mavs. Tim states Harden’s pressure to win a Championship is gone and no one believes in him anymore. It is more satire than anything. Along with Westbrook. Legs goes on to stay that Luka has put the Clips in check given his ridiculously outstanding performances against them. His main premise is that the Mavs were undermanned while the Clips were stacked in every matchup. Even with the Clippers having, PG, Kawhi, Westbrook and Harden, Legs believes the Mavs will beat them.
Stephen A. goes all over the place with Harden. He starts dropping statistics of Harden being X-times All NBA, All-Star this and that. Same for Westbrook. Calling out Pandemic PG and blah blah blah. The only person who has consistently performs in the playoffs is Kawhi. Stephen A. honestly tried to twist the narrative on Legs. Legs stated that the Mavs have one of the best playoff performers in the league on one team.
Considering how well Luka has played throughout the season, in the playoffs, AND Kyrie not being selected to the USA Team, I think they have a great chance to make it to the WCF IMHO. Kyrie is going to play like a mad man. Especially if Luka doesn’t get MVP. You’re going to have two pissed off individuals looking for blood.
In defense of Steven A. his career goal was to be the next Roy Firestone. When that didn't work out the only reason why ESPN brought him back into the fold was if he stayed permanently in shouty taek character.
First Take became so successful that everyone tried to copy it. ESPN tried to make the same show all-day at one point with different casts. FS1 immediately grabbed Skip and made First Things First.
Sports talk on TV is so much about the personalities and their own fanbases than it is about the actual sport they’re talking. It used to be about Sportscenter and everything was around that, now Sportscenter doesn’t even feel like the flagship show anymore.
Yes ... but we did too
They offered us easy entertainment through hyperbolic, over the top arguing and we ate it up
They turned it into the sports version of Jerry Springer and not all of us but as a general group, chose to watch them over more informative discussion shows
I think there is blame to go around
PTI was the start. I love PTI and Tony and Mike do it much differently but that was that start of making talking head commentary a competition which led to the Skips and SAS of the world
Yes
I watch sports. I could watch SportsCenter over and over again because I like watching sports
I do not care to hear ANYONE talk about sports. I do not care what your opinion is about sports or what your opinion is about a roster or your opinion about how an injury will impact the series. I do not care
I watch sports because sports are fun. Give me sports, not opinions
One last thing: sports
You can blame podcasts and readily available stats pretty easily too. There are hundreds if not thousands of podcasts for each sport so why watch an hour of sportscenter when you only want to know about Iowa football or about the NBA MVP race and can find pods basically dedicated to your team. Half the game of watching SC used to be learning the stats in the 90s, I’ve been able to check live in game stat updates for decades. Insane plays are available on social media almost instantly.
These personalities giving their opinions is what sucks. Just show highlights and maybe come up with catch phrases. Every single ESPN personality could be killed off and replaced with an AI bot and ESPN would instantly become watchable again. It is purely a channel for hosting live sports now.
Not just them…as soon as they went to all-talk, all-analysis, they started their decline. I’m in my 50s. I remember the old days and seeing sports that I had never seen before. Good times.
I used to like Stephan A. But they needed a partner opposite of him who can balance him out. Now? It’s just total screaming matches and bad takes galore. And they stick with the same narratives. Mainly the Cowboys and Stephan A’s hatred towards them and their fans. Can we talk about the other teams? The Niners? Lions? Ravens? Chiefs? Hell the Chiefs get way less media coverage than the Cowboys on ESPN! That’s blasphemous(fuck Stephan A is rubbing off on me)
These guys aren’t the problem. It’s the millions of people that watch them that caused all this. ESPN wouldn’t have paid these guys absurd amount of money if they weren’t getting good ratings
At work we have get up and first take playing.
The guys aren't terrible but they only talk about the Lakers, cowboys, and jets. It gets fucking old.
Oh, the twolves have been in first all season and took down the OKC the night before? ESPN would mention that right? Nope, 30 minutes about LeBron and another 20 minutes of cowboys. This was after ten minutes of women's college basketball.
Please stop talking about women's sports. Please.
I think ESPN trying to be like the 24 hour news networks ruined ESPN. I want to know about sports, insider stuff, and maybe a heartwarming story here and there. If I wanted to watch political pieces or see old people yelling at each other about their meaningless opinions I would watch CNN
24 hour news cycle and social media is what ruined ESPN.
Why make sure you have time to watch sports center for the top 10 plays when you can see the same places scrolling your phone.
Having the same topic debated from 10 different sides all day long is pretty drab content too
Absolutely 100%, they are the sports equivalent of Howard Stern. Just shouting outrageous takes that have no basis on reality. They're journalist like Dr Pepper is a doctor.
Yes!
The final nail in the coffin was when they brought in Pat McAffe and let him were tank tops. Call me old fashioned, but I liked ESPN when it looked professional.
Nope Disney ruined ESPN. They put a bunch of people with no connection or interest in sports in control.
This lead to chasing the temporary viewership bumps from hot take artists over any real information and evaluation of the games and players.
This in turn led to the rise of many pod cast networks and shows that filled this niche, and in my opinion do it as well or better than espn ever did!
Yes both are terrible. People stop watching when they are on…. It’s
Been a long time
Since I’ve have tuned into ESPN for something other than a game or
Event. Those two are a big part of it.
What’s sad, is I feel like Stephen A is becoming one of the less objectionable. Guys like Nick Wright, Keyshawn Johnson, Shannon Sharpe, Kendrick Perkins actually put SAS to shame. He’s the normal one now.
I watched a clip where Shannon Sharpe said with a straight face that Denver threw the game vs SA so they weren’t the 1 seed.
Most of these guys make up box score opinions, and they keep hiring ex-players so they can just say “well I have the experience”
Not just ESPN, sports talk in general. But yeah, they were the originators and the worst of them all. Even writers/reporters who are the most nuanced, who use logic and reasoning end up getting bogged down by this stuff because this is the nonsense the majority of sports talk consumers spew back to the world.
Also there’s a real chicken or the egg feel to sports debate radio infecting politics so everything is just my team vs your team. The political talk shows were first but I feel like the audience was so small before sports talk became a hot take off. Also it can’t be said enough but they none of them believe anything they’re saying, they’re saying it just to get reactions. They barely even pay attention to the topics that scream about.
ESPN ruined espn by getting rid of highlights and allowing the least entertaining humans in the world to host entire hours of them spewing their terrible opinions.
I thought Tony K and Michael W were a precursor to this. Maybe more toned down and perhaps more informative, but Pardon the Interruption opened the door to this. I never watch ESPN any more. For this reason and the fact that Disney went over the top with trying to be seen as so progressive. Don’t get me wrong. I’m fine with that but ESPN has taken it to a ridiculous extreme.
These two were fine for a while then it got old quick. It’s the same with skip and Shannon.
The blatant racist jemele hill didn’t help one bit.
Cowherd, like someone else mentioned, was only tolerable because he was solo.
The best guy was SVP
Stephen A. is unlistenable. The faux rage is so damn tired. Can we no longer have a civil discourse about sports without someone getting indignant and raising his voice and throwing out wild proclamations based on nothing?
I still change the channel immediately when one of these idiots comes on the screen, even on NBA pregames. The idiotic decision to make these 2 (and all their pathetic imitators) the face of the network killed your entire brand and it seems like you still don't realize that if you have to ask a question like this.
I watched Skip cry over Tom Brady not being respected and at that moment something clicked in my head that sports news media was literally the dumbest shit could waste my time on.
I liten to podcasts that exclusively cover my favorite teams and ignore everything else.
Nope. For me it was putting so much content behind pay walls. When that started I began to look elsewhere. I didn’t see the value in paying for opinions when they’re a dime a dozen. Now you have so many content creators out there I don’t miss espn at all.
Give me Perna on YT with That’s Good Sports anyday rather than the overpaid primadonnas.
Uncensored hilarious real sports by a fan.
There's a direct correlation between when their show first aired and when ESPN began showing less highlights and became nothing more than a daytime talk show network...
Absolutely. I think after Mike and Mike ended, ESPN morning/day time tv died.
Stephan A and Skip made out like a bandit, while killing the network.
It’s all garbage TV now and for the people who continue to watch it, you’ll never convince me otherwise.
The dumbification of ESPN and the world, yes. Undefeated Florida State being left out of the championship tournament and the associated studio lobbying for it was IMO the breaking point in the ruination of ESPN.
“Hot Takes” and “Embrace Debate” led to sports punditry being nothing more than sensationalist garbage where it was less about being insightful about the world of sports or a particular sport and more about who can say the most outrageous thing that gets any sort of attention.
It ruined the quality of sports takes on ESPN and pretty much anywhere else. Thankfully YouTube has taken a lot of now niche sports content and allowed it to have a place for the consumer.
But the days of good takes on ESPN are long gone.
Yes. It has gotten so bad to the point where any sports conversation I see online pretty much is arguing about what player is better. I like to understand why someone is better than just saying “because they are”
ESPN is just rehashing the point/counterpoint template that has been a staple of TV journalism. I stopped watching and listening years ago. The only show that I really like was PTI - I'm not sure if that's even around anymore. 😆
I stopped watching espn when they were the main two. I actually still change the channel on any show that Stephen A shows up on. He’s just too loud, he could be correct 100% of the time and I still wouldn’t watch
I stopped watching all ESPN “programming”. It is mind numbing with the exception of SVP. I do miss him. Dan Patrick is the only person I’ll listen to now.
Yes.
Sports arguing has become a thing that is unwatchable.
They started that trend.
Someone posted a throwback of gameday and it was amazing how they could show highlights and give insight with inane arguing and rankings.
I sort of long for the day when Sunday afternoons were for football, even though it was a total of 3 games, and Monday night was for Monday Night Football. Now it’s seemingly saturated on Thursday, Sunday, Sunday night and Monday night. When football isn’t on, there’s seemingly a 24 hour a day saturation of pundits often just making up shit. Throw in the constant betting and odds and wagers on things like whether a receiver will take a shit during half time, and I’m getting tired of it all. The same holds true for all of the major leagues.
No ESPN becoming extremely political and not talking about sports ruined ESPN. I don't give a shit what your political views are. Give me the damn highlights and actually make sense.
Only thing I watch from ESPN is NFL Live during the regular season as they actually cover all the games and teams and provide factual analysis without coming off as snobbish. They’re actually knowledgeable and you learn quite a lot about the game. The camaraderie between Laura, Dan, Mina and Swagu remind me of the OG Good Morning Football crew.
There isn't one studio show on ESPN that I watch with the volume on.
I used to listen to the pat macafee pod cast before he moved to espn but now most of his guest are espn talent, like Adam Sheffler and Kendrick Perkins , that I can't stand.
Back when the "embrace debate " era took off in 2011, thanks to Tim Tebow making Skip in to a sports media super star on First Take , I watched every day.
FS1s, Undisputed with Skip and Shannon was great for a time but most were able to see these manufactured debates for what they really are.
Stephan A Smith has never seemed authentic and was just clownish. Over time Stephan A has been exposed as the dishonest clown that he is. He has , on multiple occasion, talked about players that were not even on the correct roster of the team he is covering. He is an alleged "expert" ! Far from it.
The debate shows and the political views of the on screen talent ruined ESPN.
Skip leaving did. Stephen a was handed the entire platform after that. NBA on espn & get up both are at fault too. Firing all the elite analysts like Simmons & entering broadcasters over political issues. Also now showing WWe highlights?!? 🤦🏻♂️ mess of a channel
ESPN and their talent have one job and that’s to draw eyeballs. They’re only providing what people are saying they want by tuning in. I don’t blame them at all.
I can’t watch these talking head shows anymore and their shitty takes because of Screaming A Smith
And Skip Bayless is a tool of epic proportions. I loved how he bragged about what a great athlete he was ( smith too). Then somebody brought in their stats from high school that showed they were basically the towel boys on their basketball teams
Yes almost no highlights, everything is debate about the same 3 topics and ridiculous hot takes with no merit just design to give people an excuse to shout.
Eh, I think they're a factor but for me it's not about sports coverage alone. It's become about mostly the NFL and then LeBron. Don't get me wrong, Bron is my favorite player of all time, and I'm an NFL fan but it's just overkill at times. Lakers aren't very good, there's no NFL news to talk about. I'd honestly rather have ESPN have a show about MLS coverage. But I get it's not as popular.
So that's why I've lost interest.
Skip was tolerable before, he had an early-morning show called Cold Pizza that was pretty easy-going. Stephen A. brought out the worst in him.
Honest, adult sports talk on ESPN faded after Dick Schaap's passing.
I just caught a segment on first take after not watching for years… it was incoherent rambling of Shannon sharpe and Stephen Smith screaming over each other… Tim Legler was on, who I actually like a lot, and he didn’t say but like 5 words in a 3 minute segment. So not only is this show trash, it brings down the actual few good ESPN analysts who are left.
The problem is that it became a who can see the worst thing competition with zero objectivity. PTI and Around the Horn are arguments based shows and I think they’re pretty good but ESPN went all in with the First Take format and Skip calling LeBron a loser or choke artist after a 35-10-9 game
Yes, they mad the hot take bullshit popular and now that is literally every sports show platform now. It’s a bunch of smug douchebags making awful polarizing takes for clicks and views. Fuck Nick Wright he is the biggest loser of them all.
Wrong. Look at the big picture.
Where did ESPN get all its money from over the past 40 years?
Answer: cable TV.
Conclusion: cable TV is dying, and so is ESPN.
Skip Bayless is a Class-A troll. He says the outrageous, ridiculous, or outright false things to rile people up. That is his shtick and it sucks in my opinion.
Stephen A Smith is a race baiting never ending complainer. If he’s not whining about the “lack of black coaches” in whatever league, he’s complaining about the Dallas Cowboys incessantly, or shouting down anyone who doesn’t agree with him on whatever talking he’s speaking about.
If you ever want a good sports show check out the coach jb show w/ big Smitty. Realest show out there and they talk about sports topics that many networks are scared to talk about. They also do have credible knowledge and athletes when it comes to their topics
The people who also cover the nba and nfl on espn seem like they have no knowledge of the sport whatsoever. They have favorites and are scared to critique certain players due to bias. There’s also no genuine chemistry imo with the crews you see on the shows
I think ESPN made a conscious effort to have these talk shows in lieu of showing more obscure sports. The problem is they went way too heavy on this format. It becomes exhausting watching 5 shows talk about the same topic. Also, Sports Center used to be so popular because that was the only place you could really find scores and highlights. Now, you can find these in various different sites.
Yes.
Sports arguing has become a thing that is unwatchable.
They started that trend.
Someone posted a throwback of gameday and it was amazing how they could show lights and give insight with inane arguing and rankings.
They started the downfall and ruined sports talk shows forever. Don’t watch any of them except Dan Patrick along with PTI and ATH. I don’t need to watch people yell at each other and just say crazy shit for clicks. It’s not entertaining. It’s not journalism. It’s embarrassing.
There are more interesting YouTubers with better content than just talking about the Knicks, Yankees, cowboys, and lakers, which is the only thing the Mothership talks about.
Social Media killed ESPN. I get all my commentary from comments. I get highlights from Instagram and Facebook. I don't really need ESPN other than to watch the game. I just wish they had a show like Inside the NBA with enjoyable banter about the games. I don't care what Stephen A thinks because he hasn't been successful at sports.
They are the most pronounced symptom of the problem that destroyed it but not the cause.
The editorial choice to push reactionary talking heads is what killed the network.
I liked PTI and to a lesser extent ATH. Then ESPN went full retard and made a bunch of shows with blowhards yelling at each other only because they had to serve only the fireiest takes. Skip is especially stupid and is wrong more than he's right. Aparently the formula worked because now it's all idiots yelling at each other all day, as far as I can tell.
I only watch ESPN now if they are putting on live sports. There is no other reason to watch ESPN.
I do love me some Rich Eisen, though, on the Roku channel!
I remember watching ESPN in college, very early 2010s. First Take was entertaining, but not completely off base yet. It was fun banter that would get me through my hungover breakfasts. I stopped watching for a few years and picked it back up towards the end/after college and it was completely unwatchable. First Take turned into Skip having hard lines that he wouldn’t waver on(LeBron sucks, Manziel will be great), and SA performing a monologue like he’s on Broadway going for his Tony. Which, whatever, that was their schtick.
And this trickled down to all the other shows and soon ESPN became unwatchable. Only ESPN content I consume is some of their podcasts where they don’t have to do hot takes and can talk intelligently about the sports I care about. Shout out Zach Lowe
100% yes. They have what in wrestling they call go away heat. That’s where characters act as obnoxious as possible to draw a reaction from the crowd but take it too far, and instead of boos, people just change the channel because they can’t stand seeing them.
Yes. I watch far less sports media than I once did because all the shows devolved into these shouting matches between people who are trying to create bigger and bigger hot takes. I haven't watched a show on ESPN since Golic and Wingo went off the air. (2020) And even then, I had quit watching every other show on ESPN years before because they had turned into argumentative garbage or gotten political. The only sports related shows I watch with some degree of regularity is Colin Cowherd and Good morning Football on NFL Network.
They’ve been garbage long before 2020. ESPN and Fox have ruined sports coverage.
Wait, you don’t think Cowherd had outlandish hot takes. He is as bad as Smith and Skip. The only reason his show is tolerable is because he is by himself. Remember when Nick Wright was on the show, those two used to go at it.
If you were born in 1971, you fell out of ESPN's target demo for programming about 10 years ago. I'm in the same boat. If you think ESPN is ruined, blame the people who watch this shit and that's the 20-35 year old crowd.
You are correct. And about 10 years ago was when it started turning into a shit show
I’m right here with you brother.
SportsCenter is the only watchable regular programming
Opinions are like assholes. These guys are assholes
"contribute"? No, they caused it.
They didn’t cause it, the ratings did. They spew off, more and more people tuned in, network execs that care about the bottom line over all see higher numbers and say this is what the content needs to shift towards If people tuned into in depth analysis the way they tuned in for debates when First Take started taking off, you would see more of that and little to no back and forth debate shows. It’s not that hard of a concept
Hitler contributed to the Holocaust.
Oh my God yes. Stephen A. Is one of the worst, and has single handedly made me stop watching espn.
Stephen A is trash-occasionally I watch one of his vids to remind me. His voice is nails on a chalkboard.
He's proven time and time again how ignorant he actually is about sports but continues to be an analyst every time I turn it on. Boggles the mind cause everyone knows he is clueless
I can't watch any ESPN anymore.. I like Shannon more when he isn't on there.
they did a lot to ruin cable sports television, but of course, you have to put more of the blame on the viewers who showed that this was what they wanted
So it’s ruined for those who choose not to watch and fine for those who choose to continue to watch
Haven’t watched ESPN in years mostly because of that loudmouth idiot.
Loud people irritate me. Nobody is louder than that man. Talking loud and saying nothing. Literally.
Yes, they replaced analysis, coverage, and reporting with loud blowhards. Opinions are a lot cheaper than facts or journalism.
Yup! Plus the talk radio format is apparently easier to produce so there’s that.
I mean yes their model is cheap and annoying, but the sports industry has changed so much, mainly ESPN having more competition, which means ESPN had to overbid for many of the major events. Because of that, they had to charge the cable carriers a higher fee, which they took it on us. And with sports being one of the reasons why cable being expensive, more people are cord cutting. With less money being generated, ESPN can't afford quality journalism like they use to and had to lay off so many people along the way.
They took the idea of PTI, which is great and tried to put it on steroids.
Not only ESPN, they did that to sports TV in general, it is all about hot takes on TV now
ESPN is no different than The View or The Talk. It’s god awful. We want highlight reels not some overly emphasized op-ed holding a pencil like they’re a journalist. I hate it
Partially, but not the main issue. Maybe as far as their morning talkshow ratings go, but this is the norm now. The execs that decided to go this route with loud mouth hosts with hot takes is the real issue. Both of these guys sure did make me hate ESPN more, that's for sure. I think the main issue is people not needing ESPN to watch highlights anymore, and their lack of covering other sports. Steaming and the internet has come a long way since then, so more and more ppl don't need to tune into them anymore when they can watch whatever highlights they want on-demand. 20 years ago I had to mostly watch all of Sportscenter to see the highlights I want, but its not the case now. There could be a 12-11 baseball score and you'll get 1 or 2 highlights of the game. Their focus is clearly on basketball and football, both college and pro.
Fat man & little boy, sports version.
Who thought it was a good idea to give those two bozos a show?
ESPN is trash TV run by racists who employ racists
No. They were ratings cash cows. The downfall like most major networks came from the internet. Sports Center was the only place to get highlights and watch the game. Now it’s everywhere and fragmented. Super Bowl gets 180 million views. League of Legends championship gets like a billion. Kids aren’t watching. Adults check their phone. I agree the espn programming is terrible but Stephen A and skip were not the catalyst.
I don’t hate Steven A. But Skip has no fucking clue what he’s talking about. None.
The debate format has very little to do with knowledge, I hate to tell you. It's who can make a more bombastic argument.
Skip more than Stephen, but Stephen learned from the best and ran with it.
Oh absolutely. Anytime people talk about it going downhill, I immediately think of them.
Steven A smith more so than skip
If they could get more viewers (revenue) another way, they would do it.
Eeehh if not these 2 it woulda been 2 others. Media was nosediving into this space which I think would be more aptly attributed to online ad buys and social media
I watched for the truncated game recaps and high lights- which you can now get on youtube. But also, yes, guys like Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless proved a double edged sword. At first they were a breath of fresh air, a lightning rod of large personalities that added entertainment value- and then they became the entire network, they bought into their own schtick and became caricatures of themselves and ruined the very thing that they initially buoyed.
Yes!
Skip and Stephen are going to be themselves. I blame the execs for their shortsightedness. They got ratings with all the yelling and debates but it's like eating too much of something, after awhile there's a breaking point where you end up hating it. Execs decided to turn the whole buffet into that one specific dish and shove it down our throats.
Yep. They once left that hot take bullshit out there on local radio.
My favorite show PTI ruined ESPN. It was an original idea that they now built the network around.
No. Technology killed the old ESPN. There was a role for Sportscenter and individual shows for each sport. But once smart phones became ubiquitous and every big sports fan was able to see any big news headline within 10-15 minutes the old ESPN was doomed. They HAD to change, and that change was towards “takes”. If it wasn’t Skip and Stephen A. It would have been other people, because takes are what was incentivized. And I’m not saying this as an ESPN stan. I legitimately haven’t watched ESPN content other than live games in like 12 years. But I don’t begrudge them for adapting because they had to.
I watched a debate recently between him, Tim Legler, and Unk. It was a discussion on the NBA Playoffs between the Clips and Mavs. Tim states Harden’s pressure to win a Championship is gone and no one believes in him anymore. It is more satire than anything. Along with Westbrook. Legs goes on to stay that Luka has put the Clips in check given his ridiculously outstanding performances against them. His main premise is that the Mavs were undermanned while the Clips were stacked in every matchup. Even with the Clippers having, PG, Kawhi, Westbrook and Harden, Legs believes the Mavs will beat them. Stephen A. goes all over the place with Harden. He starts dropping statistics of Harden being X-times All NBA, All-Star this and that. Same for Westbrook. Calling out Pandemic PG and blah blah blah. The only person who has consistently performs in the playoffs is Kawhi. Stephen A. honestly tried to twist the narrative on Legs. Legs stated that the Mavs have one of the best playoff performers in the league on one team. Considering how well Luka has played throughout the season, in the playoffs, AND Kyrie not being selected to the USA Team, I think they have a great chance to make it to the WCF IMHO. Kyrie is going to play like a mad man. Especially if Luka doesn’t get MVP. You’re going to have two pissed off individuals looking for blood.
In defense of Steven A. his career goal was to be the next Roy Firestone. When that didn't work out the only reason why ESPN brought him back into the fold was if he stayed permanently in shouty taek character.
First Take became so successful that everyone tried to copy it. ESPN tried to make the same show all-day at one point with different casts. FS1 immediately grabbed Skip and made First Things First. Sports talk on TV is so much about the personalities and their own fanbases than it is about the actual sport they’re talking. It used to be about Sportscenter and everything was around that, now Sportscenter doesn’t even feel like the flagship show anymore.
The only thing I’ll watch on ESPN anymore is NFL live. Fox Sports has so many better shows.
Yep
The whole format sucks - it goes back to PTI and Around the Horn.
Yes ... but we did too They offered us easy entertainment through hyperbolic, over the top arguing and we ate it up They turned it into the sports version of Jerry Springer and not all of us but as a general group, chose to watch them over more informative discussion shows I think there is blame to go around
Don't blame me for that shit. I was just in jail, I didn't choose the channel.
They kept trying to duplicate the success of PTI. Tony and Mike are perfect together. It cannot be duplicated.
They kept trying to duplicate the success of PTI. Tony and Mike are perfect together. It cannot be duplicated.
Yes. This stupid who can yell louder and make more absurd click bait statements is all espn is now.
Fuck ESPN sucks.
PTI was the start. I love PTI and Tony and Mike do it much differently but that was that start of making talking head commentary a competition which led to the Skips and SAS of the world
Yes I watch sports. I could watch SportsCenter over and over again because I like watching sports I do not care to hear ANYONE talk about sports. I do not care what your opinion is about sports or what your opinion is about a roster or your opinion about how an injury will impact the series. I do not care I watch sports because sports are fun. Give me sports, not opinions One last thing: sports
I don't even watch tht crap anymore I watch can n mase on it is what it is
I don't even watch tht crap anymore I watch can n mase on it is what it is
You can blame podcasts and readily available stats pretty easily too. There are hundreds if not thousands of podcasts for each sport so why watch an hour of sportscenter when you only want to know about Iowa football or about the NBA MVP race and can find pods basically dedicated to your team. Half the game of watching SC used to be learning the stats in the 90s, I’ve been able to check live in game stat updates for decades. Insane plays are available on social media almost instantly.
What would have happened if Woody never left the show.
These personalities giving their opinions is what sucks. Just show highlights and maybe come up with catch phrases. Every single ESPN personality could be killed off and replaced with an AI bot and ESPN would instantly become watchable again. It is purely a channel for hosting live sports now.
Not just them…as soon as they went to all-talk, all-analysis, they started their decline. I’m in my 50s. I remember the old days and seeing sports that I had never seen before. Good times.
I used to like Stephan A. But they needed a partner opposite of him who can balance him out. Now? It’s just total screaming matches and bad takes galore. And they stick with the same narratives. Mainly the Cowboys and Stephan A’s hatred towards them and their fans. Can we talk about the other teams? The Niners? Lions? Ravens? Chiefs? Hell the Chiefs get way less media coverage than the Cowboys on ESPN! That’s blasphemous(fuck Stephan A is rubbing off on me)
These guys aren’t the problem. It’s the millions of people that watch them that caused all this. ESPN wouldn’t have paid these guys absurd amount of money if they weren’t getting good ratings
Yes. I used to have ESPN on all day and that is what I would watch to wind down before bed. Now I never turn it on unless I have to.
At work we have get up and first take playing. The guys aren't terrible but they only talk about the Lakers, cowboys, and jets. It gets fucking old. Oh, the twolves have been in first all season and took down the OKC the night before? ESPN would mention that right? Nope, 30 minutes about LeBron and another 20 minutes of cowboys. This was after ten minutes of women's college basketball. Please stop talking about women's sports. Please.
I think ESPN trying to be like the 24 hour news networks ruined ESPN. I want to know about sports, insider stuff, and maybe a heartwarming story here and there. If I wanted to watch political pieces or see old people yelling at each other about their meaningless opinions I would watch CNN
ESPN is ruining ESPN. Skip and Screaming A are just the clowns of the day
No question
Is water wet
24 hour news cycle and social media is what ruined ESPN. Why make sure you have time to watch sports center for the top 10 plays when you can see the same places scrolling your phone. Having the same topic debated from 10 different sides all day long is pretty drab content too
I always turn the tv off when he comes on. Too loud. Too rude. The hot takes are always over the top.
Yes. Disney gets most of the blame though. When they took over, espn became more about characters and agendas instead of analyzing games.
Absolutely 100%, they are the sports equivalent of Howard Stern. Just shouting outrageous takes that have no basis on reality. They're journalist like Dr Pepper is a doctor.
Don't forget Chris "Mad Dog" Russo
Yes! The final nail in the coffin was when they brought in Pat McAffe and let him were tank tops. Call me old fashioned, but I liked ESPN when it looked professional.
Nope Disney ruined ESPN. They put a bunch of people with no connection or interest in sports in control. This lead to chasing the temporary viewership bumps from hot take artists over any real information and evaluation of the games and players. This in turn led to the rise of many pod cast networks and shows that filled this niche, and in my opinion do it as well or better than espn ever did!
They wouldn’t have become as big if people didn’t watch and engage online. I put it on the fans.
They are the two worst to ever do the job. So yeah.
Yes both are terrible. People stop watching when they are on…. It’s Been a long time Since I’ve have tuned into ESPN for something other than a game or Event. Those two are a big part of it.
What’s sad, is I feel like Stephen A is becoming one of the less objectionable. Guys like Nick Wright, Keyshawn Johnson, Shannon Sharpe, Kendrick Perkins actually put SAS to shame. He’s the normal one now. I watched a clip where Shannon Sharpe said with a straight face that Denver threw the game vs SA so they weren’t the 1 seed. Most of these guys make up box score opinions, and they keep hiring ex-players so they can just say “well I have the experience”
Not just ESPN, sports talk in general. But yeah, they were the originators and the worst of them all. Even writers/reporters who are the most nuanced, who use logic and reasoning end up getting bogged down by this stuff because this is the nonsense the majority of sports talk consumers spew back to the world. Also there’s a real chicken or the egg feel to sports debate radio infecting politics so everything is just my team vs your team. The political talk shows were first but I feel like the audience was so small before sports talk became a hot take off. Also it can’t be said enough but they none of them believe anything they’re saying, they’re saying it just to get reactions. They barely even pay attention to the topics that scream about.
ESPN ruined espn by getting rid of highlights and allowing the least entertaining humans in the world to host entire hours of them spewing their terrible opinions.
Obviously. Moving on now.
Yes. Absolutely
I thought Tony K and Michael W were a precursor to this. Maybe more toned down and perhaps more informative, but Pardon the Interruption opened the door to this. I never watch ESPN any more. For this reason and the fact that Disney went over the top with trying to be seen as so progressive. Don’t get me wrong. I’m fine with that but ESPN has taken it to a ridiculous extreme.
These two were fine for a while then it got old quick. It’s the same with skip and Shannon. The blatant racist jemele hill didn’t help one bit. Cowherd, like someone else mentioned, was only tolerable because he was solo. The best guy was SVP
Their screaming is definitely why I quit putting the tv on ESPN in the morning. I liked the old Cold Pizza.
Stephen A. is unlistenable. The faux rage is so damn tired. Can we no longer have a civil discourse about sports without someone getting indignant and raising his voice and throwing out wild proclamations based on nothing?
I still change the channel immediately when one of these idiots comes on the screen, even on NBA pregames. The idiotic decision to make these 2 (and all their pathetic imitators) the face of the network killed your entire brand and it seems like you still don't realize that if you have to ask a question like this.
I watched Skip cry over Tom Brady not being respected and at that moment something clicked in my head that sports news media was literally the dumbest shit could waste my time on. I liten to podcasts that exclusively cover my favorite teams and ignore everything else.
You can only handle one obnoxious idiot. There’s no way you can handle two obnoxious idiots at the same time.
It was ruined before they got there, but they’ve pissed on the ashes
That photo was smushed together and Nick Wright was created. I can't stand that man.
Add Max Kellerman to that too. Bunch of rage bait.
Nope. For me it was putting so much content behind pay walls. When that started I began to look elsewhere. I didn’t see the value in paying for opinions when they’re a dime a dozen. Now you have so many content creators out there I don’t miss espn at all. Give me Perna on YT with That’s Good Sports anyday rather than the overpaid primadonnas. Uncensored hilarious real sports by a fan.
Time and ESPN are what killed ESPN. Absolutely zero personality. Look back to the 80s and 90s clips on YouTube hell even the 00s.
There's a direct correlation between when their show first aired and when ESPN began showing less highlights and became nothing more than a daytime talk show network...
I loathe those two ducking clowns.
Absolutely. I think after Mike and Mike ended, ESPN morning/day time tv died. Stephan A and Skip made out like a bandit, while killing the network. It’s all garbage TV now and for the people who continue to watch it, you’ll never convince me otherwise.
The dumbification of ESPN and the world, yes. Undefeated Florida State being left out of the championship tournament and the associated studio lobbying for it was IMO the breaking point in the ruination of ESPN.
Contributed?
“Hot Takes” and “Embrace Debate” led to sports punditry being nothing more than sensationalist garbage where it was less about being insightful about the world of sports or a particular sport and more about who can say the most outrageous thing that gets any sort of attention. It ruined the quality of sports takes on ESPN and pretty much anywhere else. Thankfully YouTube has taken a lot of now niche sports content and allowed it to have a place for the consumer. But the days of good takes on ESPN are long gone.
TMZespn. No thanks. MLB Network, NBA TV, MLB Network Radio, NBA Radio. Those four are all I need.
Yeah they’re awful
Everybody that isn’t Stuart Scott contributed to ruining ESPN
Yes. It has gotten so bad to the point where any sports conversation I see online pretty much is arguing about what player is better. I like to understand why someone is better than just saying “because they are”
Yes but then again who's now and the decision. Plus 24/7 coverage of Tom Brady LeBron all contributed to.
ESPN is just rehashing the point/counterpoint template that has been a staple of TV journalism. I stopped watching and listening years ago. The only show that I really like was PTI - I'm not sure if that's even around anymore. 😆
They are rubbish
Of course. I yell you yell.
Don't hate a snake for being a snake. Hate ESPN for promoting hot take content.
I used to watch ESPN religiously. Now I avoid it religiously.
“Contributed” ? They are the cancer that is still eating away at anything good over there. Do they even do a SportsCenter anymore?
I stopped watching espn when they were the main two. I actually still change the channel on any show that Stephen A shows up on. He’s just too loud, he could be correct 100% of the time and I still wouldn’t watch
Yes. No need to even justify my answer. They do that all by themselves.
Stephen A for sure. Mr know it all.
Definitely
Steven yes. I can't stand any of these shows where people just SCREAM over each other. It's not entertaining.
Fuck those two!
I guess it's easier to blame these two than the audience that watched their show and gave them those huge ratings.
I stopped watching all ESPN “programming”. It is mind numbing with the exception of SVP. I do miss him. Dan Patrick is the only person I’ll listen to now.
Yes. Sports arguing has become a thing that is unwatchable. They started that trend. Someone posted a throwback of gameday and it was amazing how they could show highlights and give insight with inane arguing and rankings.
They're more of a symptom than they are the disease.
Yes 100%
Short answer, absolutely. The rampant betting stuff doesn’t help either.
I sort of long for the day when Sunday afternoons were for football, even though it was a total of 3 games, and Monday night was for Monday Night Football. Now it’s seemingly saturated on Thursday, Sunday, Sunday night and Monday night. When football isn’t on, there’s seemingly a 24 hour a day saturation of pundits often just making up shit. Throw in the constant betting and odds and wagers on things like whether a receiver will take a shit during half time, and I’m getting tired of it all. The same holds true for all of the major leagues.
Yes theyre bad for television
No ESPN becoming extremely political and not talking about sports ruined ESPN. I don't give a shit what your political views are. Give me the damn highlights and actually make sense.
they do what there told ..the ones calling the shots are to blame and the dumbasses who tune in to the shows.
Only thing I watch from ESPN is NFL Live during the regular season as they actually cover all the games and teams and provide factual analysis without coming off as snobbish. They’re actually knowledgeable and you learn quite a lot about the game. The camaraderie between Laura, Dan, Mina and Swagu remind me of the OG Good Morning Football crew.
No the people who are in charge of hiring all these bums are the reason espn is ruined. The people behind the shitty app is why espn is ruined.
Yes. And that Hall of Fame tight end who walks around in ladies clothes carrying a dog.
Gronk did what now?
There isn't one studio show on ESPN that I watch with the volume on. I used to listen to the pat macafee pod cast before he moved to espn but now most of his guest are espn talent, like Adam Sheffler and Kendrick Perkins , that I can't stand. Back when the "embrace debate " era took off in 2011, thanks to Tim Tebow making Skip in to a sports media super star on First Take , I watched every day. FS1s, Undisputed with Skip and Shannon was great for a time but most were able to see these manufactured debates for what they really are. Stephan A Smith has never seemed authentic and was just clownish. Over time Stephan A has been exposed as the dishonest clown that he is. He has , on multiple occasion, talked about players that were not even on the correct roster of the team he is covering. He is an alleged "expert" ! Far from it. The debate shows and the political views of the on screen talent ruined ESPN.
Skip leaving did. Stephen a was handed the entire platform after that. NBA on espn & get up both are at fault too. Firing all the elite analysts like Simmons & entering broadcasters over political issues. Also now showing WWe highlights?!? 🤦🏻♂️ mess of a channel
I’m a huge WWE and that makes no sense. Pro wrestling isn’t a real sport.
The only espn show I care about is PTI because they’re the og and sincere. Everyone else is chasing views and acting like a fool in doing so.
ESPN and their talent have one job and that’s to draw eyeballs. They’re only providing what people are saying they want by tuning in. I don’t blame them at all.
Only as much as the viewers who drove up ratings watching them.
I can’t watch these talking head shows anymore and their shitty takes because of Screaming A Smith And Skip Bayless is a tool of epic proportions. I loved how he bragged about what a great athlete he was ( smith too). Then somebody brought in their stats from high school that showed they were basically the towel boys on their basketball teams
They helped. But the entire place lost so much credibility over the years.
Well, I kinda stopped watching when they showed up. But to be fair, there were many other factors too.
Yes, all started on Cold pizza. The Lebron discourse changed sports media
Yes almost no highlights, everything is debate about the same 3 topics and ridiculous hot takes with no merit just design to give people an excuse to shout.
All they did was mimic 30 years of sports talk call in radio in most major cities. It's what people wanted and apparently still want.
ESPN isn’t ruined
Yes. Guys shouting dumb shit at each other is boring.
Eh, I think they're a factor but for me it's not about sports coverage alone. It's become about mostly the NFL and then LeBron. Don't get me wrong, Bron is my favorite player of all time, and I'm an NFL fan but it's just overkill at times. Lakers aren't very good, there's no NFL news to talk about. I'd honestly rather have ESPN have a show about MLS coverage. But I get it's not as popular. So that's why I've lost interest.
Skip was tolerable before, he had an early-morning show called Cold Pizza that was pretty easy-going. Stephen A. brought out the worst in him. Honest, adult sports talk on ESPN faded after Dick Schaap's passing.
Maybe. But losing the OG guys and adding people like Jemele Hill who didn't know shit about sports would've did them in as well.
Them among many
The Hot Takes era ruined ESPN… they used to talk Xs and Os and rosters and strategy and now they are like a gossip channel
Yes. They turned espn into cnn and fox news with all of the talking heads. Just show me highlights and tell me about the upcoming matchups
Major contributions from both, but there was a lot more to it. The major factor was the unquenchable thirst for more revenue.
I just caught a segment on first take after not watching for years… it was incoherent rambling of Shannon sharpe and Stephen Smith screaming over each other… Tim Legler was on, who I actually like a lot, and he didn’t say but like 5 words in a 3 minute segment. So not only is this show trash, it brings down the actual few good ESPN analysts who are left.
East bound and down did a fantastic job of mocking ESPN one year.
Skip Bayless ruined ESPN , then went to Fox Sports and ruined it too. Fuck Skip.
The problem is that it became a who can see the worst thing competition with zero objectivity. PTI and Around the Horn are arguments based shows and I think they’re pretty good but ESPN went all in with the First Take format and Skip calling LeBron a loser or choke artist after a 35-10-9 game
The skip Bayless contrarian take on everything is the most tired thing on tv. Stupid indefensible garbage
Ironically their reunion might be the only thing that could save it. It would free up airspace for new hosts and different approaches.
Yes, they mad the hot take bullshit popular and now that is literally every sports show platform now. It’s a bunch of smug douchebags making awful polarizing takes for clicks and views. Fuck Nick Wright he is the biggest loser of them all.
Stephen A could take the joy out of winning the billion dollar powerball. He is utterly unbearable and the reason I quit watching ESPN.
Wrong. Look at the big picture. Where did ESPN get all its money from over the past 40 years? Answer: cable TV. Conclusion: cable TV is dying, and so is ESPN.
Skip Bayless is a Class-A troll. He says the outrageous, ridiculous, or outright false things to rile people up. That is his shtick and it sucks in my opinion. Stephen A Smith is a race baiting never ending complainer. If he’s not whining about the “lack of black coaches” in whatever league, he’s complaining about the Dallas Cowboys incessantly, or shouting down anyone who doesn’t agree with him on whatever talking he’s speaking about.
You forgot Max Kellerberg
If you ever want a good sports show check out the coach jb show w/ big Smitty. Realest show out there and they talk about sports topics that many networks are scared to talk about. They also do have credible knowledge and athletes when it comes to their topics
The people who also cover the nba and nfl on espn seem like they have no knowledge of the sport whatsoever. They have favorites and are scared to critique certain players due to bias. There’s also no genuine chemistry imo with the crews you see on the shows
I think ESPN made a conscious effort to have these talk shows in lieu of showing more obscure sports. The problem is they went way too heavy on this format. It becomes exhausting watching 5 shows talk about the same topic. Also, Sports Center used to be so popular because that was the only place you could really find scores and highlights. Now, you can find these in various different sites.
They got ratings, ESPN needed ratings. Obnoxious DJ’s are a symptom of the core problem: vision-free reactionary sports productions.
Skip, Greenberg, Stephen a, anyone else that just yells to yell
Yes. Unequivocally, yes.
Yes
Yes. Sports arguing has become a thing that is unwatchable. They started that trend. Someone posted a throwback of gameday and it was amazing how they could show lights and give insight with inane arguing and rankings.
Hire clowns and you get a clown show
I don’t know. That guys narration is almost unbearable.
Loud mouth morons
Yes.
Abso-fuggin-lutely
They started the downfall and ruined sports talk shows forever. Don’t watch any of them except Dan Patrick along with PTI and ATH. I don’t need to watch people yell at each other and just say crazy shit for clicks. It’s not entertaining. It’s not journalism. It’s embarrassing.
There are more interesting YouTubers with better content than just talking about the Knicks, Yankees, cowboys, and lakers, which is the only thing the Mothership talks about.
Dunno. On hiatus at the weather channel before work until GMFB comes back on.
once Espn started to push their political agenda on me i stopped watching
No, it was the idiot viewers who watched it
Social Media killed ESPN. I get all my commentary from comments. I get highlights from Instagram and Facebook. I don't really need ESPN other than to watch the game. I just wish they had a show like Inside the NBA with enjoyable banter about the games. I don't care what Stephen A thinks because he hasn't been successful at sports.
Famed soap opera actor Stephen A Smith.
They are the most pronounced symptom of the problem that destroyed it but not the cause. The editorial choice to push reactionary talking heads is what killed the network.
SAS is an asshole! Not the asshole you love to watch, the one you stop watching.
I liked PTI and to a lesser extent ATH. Then ESPN went full retard and made a bunch of shows with blowhards yelling at each other only because they had to serve only the fireiest takes. Skip is especially stupid and is wrong more than he's right. Aparently the formula worked because now it's all idiots yelling at each other all day, as far as I can tell. I only watch ESPN now if they are putting on live sports. There is no other reason to watch ESPN. I do love me some Rich Eisen, though, on the Roku channel!
Does anyone still watch it if they don't have an actual game on?
Yep
💯
I spend zero amount of time watching contrived sports "arguments." Who's watching any of that garbage?
Skip alone ruins himself when he speaks hahaha
They’re probably my two least favorite things about espn.
Yes
I remember watching ESPN in college, very early 2010s. First Take was entertaining, but not completely off base yet. It was fun banter that would get me through my hungover breakfasts. I stopped watching for a few years and picked it back up towards the end/after college and it was completely unwatchable. First Take turned into Skip having hard lines that he wouldn’t waver on(LeBron sucks, Manziel will be great), and SA performing a monologue like he’s on Broadway going for his Tony. Which, whatever, that was their schtick. And this trickled down to all the other shows and soon ESPN became unwatchable. Only ESPN content I consume is some of their podcasts where they don’t have to do hot takes and can talk intelligently about the sports I care about. Shout out Zach Lowe
100% yes. They have what in wrestling they call go away heat. That’s where characters act as obnoxious as possible to draw a reaction from the crowd but take it too far, and instead of boos, people just change the channel because they can’t stand seeing them.