Sports aren’t sports anymore — they are entertainment.
Sports have progressed beyond by just buying a cheap ticket to see your favorite team or sport. Now it is about taking a picture for social media, having your favorite athlete follow you back, or Shaq selling you oreos between timeouts. This transformation is caused by the one and only, media. 
With this comes higher standards.
In an interview with ESPN, Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt stated, “Look at every Instagram post about 95 times before you send it. A reputation takes years and years and years to build, and it takes one press of a button to ruin. So don’t let that happen to you. Just be very smart about it.”
These athletes have transformed from your day to day people to being in the spotlight at the grammy’s. Media has set higher expectations for the things they are allowed to do now versus before the expansion of media. These men and women’s Saturday nights used to consist of hanging out with friends at a local restaurant or bar. Before media was expanded to sports, these athletes were known by their names not their faces. Media has given them an identity. Now their Saturday night is spent like a celebrity– confined or mobbed by millions.
Positives
Social media sets the standards for what is deemed right and wrong, but has also has serves as a platform of connection.
It is a way for…
- Athletes to connect one on one with fans
- Athletes to promote games, tournaments, and more
- Fans to keep up with the latest news
In the words of ESPN, “social media is a double-edged sword in sports world.” With social media comes many responsibilities, but when it’s used in an appropriate manner, it can enhance the experience for both the athlete and the viewer.
Cha-Ching
With these celebrity-athletes, most of their income now comes from advertising due to the rise of media. According to Forbes, revenue from $60.5 billion in 2014 to $73.5 billion in 2019 consequent of these mega media right deals.
Unfortunately, many athletes hardly ever see any of this money or only a small fraction of it because of the gender pay gap and the lack of income for student athletes.
All around the world.
Even though all of our sports are so different in terms of how they are played and the audiences they reach, one thing they have in common is their ability to reach people all over the world. Internationalism or “the principle of cooperation among nations for the promotion of their common good” is something that all of our sports do but in different ways.
Soccer is hugely popular in Europe and South American countries and the popularity has spread to the United States. Tennis is known all over the world nowadays and there tends to be a foreigner on each professional circuit. People have argued that football is not a global sport but in reality that is what it’s becoming. Football teams from America travel abroad to play for fans all across the world. Volleyball and swimming are very similar in that the Olympics bring a lot of attention to our sports on a global scale.
Sports have evolved beyond just a fun past time and have become a much more interactive source of entertainment.
Sources
How has media affected sports? 