New Era in TV Sports

Report Outline
Expanding Sports Menu
College Football Changes
Baseball and Pay Tv
Special Focus

Expanding Sports Menu

Multiple Outlets Serving Armchair Fans

Games enlist skill and intelligence, the utmost concentration of purpose, on behalf of activities utterly useless, which make no contribution to the struggle of man against nature, to the wealth or comfort of the community, or to its physical survival. —Christopher Lasch

Chances are, most sports fans would agree with Lasch's observation about the wider implications of sports in society. Yet games of sport are immensely popular throughout the world—even if they have nothing to do with the physical survival of the species. The United States is as sports-crazy as any other nation. Witness the idolatrous treatment of the nation's athletes in the Summer Olympics; they were hailed as heroes by everyone from the president to flag-waving citizens on the street. Or the fervor with which people in Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio towns follow the fortunes of their high school football teams. Or the fact that normal activity comes to a virtual standstill in places such as Indiana and North Carolina when the state university plays for the national collegiate basketball championship. Or the wild public parades for Super Bowl-winning football teams.

Every year tens of millions of Americans show up in person to cheer the home teams. Yet their number is dwarfed by those who stay home and follow sports on television. There is a wider menu of sports events on TV today than ever before. Network television, cable TV stations, regional pay cable networks and local independent stations are giving over unprecedented amounts of air time to sports. Take college football, for just one example. A recent Supreme Court ruling “deregulated” the televising of games, which had been controlled by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. As a result, the number of college football games on TV this season will at least double 1983's 89 telecasts.