This isn’t your daddy’s sports coverage anymore. The major professional leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) are starting to come around in adjusting to today’s viewer and how they watch their favorite sports. Technology and innovation are now more important than some of the storylines in a particular game or event. Sports television broadcasts are supposed inform the viewer, keep their attention and be a marketing arm for the leagues. By that I mean, introduce us to the players, show the different personalities and grow the sport.
As I’ve written before, in game interviews are now becoming the rule, rather than the exception. We saw it in the NCAA Tournament, NBA and NHL with coaches and in baseball during the postseason. It’s a great way to introduce players to the audience. These interviews help us to find out what they were thinking in certain game situations and what the feeling is on the field at any particular moment. It’s the access that today’s viewer is looking for.
Some sports have even employed the ‘alternate’ screen, like the ManningCast for a more personality-driven flavor. These screens also allow viewers inside the numbers, and give them access to gambling information, which is a huge part of the industry these days.
Major League Baseball is making strides, but is usually the dinosaur in the group, resisting changes to ‘how it’s always been done’ in the previous 100 years. They’re streaming services have only recently caught up to others. But, as mentioned, they’ve started to become innovative in the way the game is broadcast. K-Zone and animated replays of pitches coming into the hitter are really interesting things to see. You absolutely CAN teach an “Old dog, new tricks.” MLB is living proof.
The PGA Tour is kind of an outlier when it comes to the major sports on television. I love to golf and am one of those people that will sit down and watch a round or two of a big tournament. Golf has always been broadcast in a certain way, pretty old school, with minimal interaction with the players.
The sport has a reputation for being very resistant to change and being a bit stodgy. I’d like to welcome the sport of golf to 2023. Incredibly, The Masters, of all tournaments, allowed players to be interviewed in between shots and on the range. This was limited to the first two rounds, which actually bled over to Saturday due to rain.
Players like Rory McIlroy, Max Homa and Justin Thomas took part, when they donned an “airpod” for the ‘Walk and Talk’, with various broadcasters. 3 pretty big names on the tour these days all agreed to take part, even after McIlroy balked at being mic’d up at the Waste Management/Phoenix Open a few weeks ago. The players seemed to enjoy the interaction and the audience benefitted by being taken ‘inside the ropes’ so to speak.
McIlroy discussed his approach shot on the ninth, on which he made par. “Yeah I just eased off on it a little bit,” McIlroy told the audience. “I think just in the back of my mind — obviously you don’t want to go long on this pin. So, yeah, I just eased off of it — probably pitched it five or six yards shorter than I wanted to. So, I at least got that putt up the hill, hopefully, have a decent look at it. If I don’t hole it, then get it around the hole, you know start the back nine afresh.”
These interviews were a nice way to fill the gaps between the action with interesting visuals and sounds. McIlroy got on board with the idea after wearing the earpiece in Austin at the Match Play event.
“So, the club reached out to us last week and just inquired if I would be interested in doing it,” said McIlroy. “It definitely feels a little less intrusive with the ear piece rather than someone right up next to you with the microphone like they’ve been doing it in Europe for a couple of years. I thought it would be a cool thing to do. I did it in Austin and didn’t feel like it took me out of my rhythm in any way or made me think about things too much. So, it’s nice to provide the audience at home a little bit more insight into what’s going on out here.”
McIlroy added that it was important to keep up with the times, even though Augusta has been known more for its history and tradition. Max Homa also indicated that importance after he was mic’d up during his round.
“It’s like being on a phone call for ten minutes,” Homa added. “It’s not the end of the world. It might be a shade distracting, but I think if it’s 5 percent distracting and it’s 95 percent something positive for golf, I can get past that.”
When two higher profile players have the right attitude about an innovation, it will likely make it easier to approach others in the future about taking a shot at it. If golfers, baseball players and basketball stars want to continue being able to pull in huge money deals, it’s in their best interests to help the cause. This is sports today, it’s part of the deal, figuratively and literally.
Sports television should be in a state of constant evolution. It benefits the viewer and the network to be at the forefront of new ideas and ways to improve the telecast. But, don’t
innovate just to do it, make it mean something.
Take some chances. Give the viewer something that is going to enhance his or her experience. Old dogs are reliable and faithful, but there’s something about that puppy. It’s new and unpredictable, just begging to be molded. Be the puppy, sports television.
