The Role of Media on Sports: Positive? or Negative?
The people that argue that media has a negative effect on sports say that it is bias, there is a
lack of attendance to the games, too much attention and just or the money. They consider it bias because there is usually more coverage either on the league favorites or the team with the most money. People would defend their argument by saying that only the really popular sports get the attention for example men's basketball over women's which is not fair since they are both professional sports. With all the media people have access to they find it easier to watch the games at the comfort of their own home. They say why spend the money to go out to watch a game and pay for all the additional costs like parking and the expensive food when I can watch it at my own house with anything they want. The people that believe media is a negative effect look at this in a bad way because the stadiums don't fill up as much wasting money since there is all this high definition technology you can have in your own house. Not only do the fans thing there is a negative effect but the players themselves believe that the attention on them is a bit much. They don't have a private life anymore since they are a celebrity now. Anything a good athlete does is all over the news and internet right away whether its a rumor or not. The main thing people argue is that all the professional sports is just a way to make money. They argue that teams pick up players that will make them the most money and not based on the image they want to create for the team. They just use it as a profit and show commercials every chance they get to get the money from the sponsors. Some people just want to enjoy the game.
While some people see take away only the bad things other people view media as a positive effect in the sports world. People will back up the role of media by saying it educates people, creates role models, brings people together, and is a money maker. When talking about media in sports people look at it as a chance to educate people about the sports. They look at it as an opportunity to help people understand the different sports and its rules so they can follow the games better and get into them. Also it gives kids people to look up to and view as their role models. If the kids see these players on TV playing the same sports they do or even wear the same number, they tend look up to that player and create an image for that kid what they want to be like. This is also a to enjoy the games and bring people together. For example when its football Sunday people have parties to watch the games and creates friendships and possibly healthy competition. It tends to bring up a conversation topic too over what you either saw on TV or heard on the news. But the big positive effect media has on sports is the increase on money. When people watch sports on TV, listen to sports radio, and read the sports news its just increasing the money going towards the sports. The media helps pay for the sports and keep them around with all the sponsors and adds shown during a sporting event. Not only do people love the sports but they think its so cool that these athletes are getting paid to play the sport they love.
This is an argument that could go either way if you agree with these points or not. Media plays a huge role on the sports world whether you think it has a positive or negative effect is your opinion. But in the end the role it plays will stick around for a while with the world we live in.
