If you attempted to view PTI last week as I did, your life and smile was undoubetdly turned upside down in disappointment.  Same thing with SportsCenter — although that program doesn’t produce nearly as many smiles for me.  Something took over the week’s worth of coverage.  Something new has become a steady presence on ESPN recently, something unfamiliar.

Endless NASCAR coverage.

Reality is that ESPN is an integral part of any serious sports fan’s life.  And for people who work in the business, it’s your only stop for 24/7 sports coverage (although dog contests and poker tourneys disagree).  That being the case, it didn’t take long to notice the new “Pit Lane” segment of SportsCenter, and the endless promotional mentions of ESPN’s coverage of the Busch Series all season long.

I’m not complaining — I’m just pointing out the fact that the result of Friday night’s truck series race, and Saturday’s Busch Series winner all of a sudden matter.  Why you ask?  Because ESPN says so. 

If ESPN aired NHL games, hockey would all of a sudden become relevant.  If they ventured to lead SportsCenter off with Sidney Crosby and Martin St. Louis goals, those players would immediately matter.   

ESPN might not determine what sports are important for YOU, but they determine what sports are relevant — they set the agenda.  That is a fact. 

Keeping that in mind, let me be the first to warn you, get prepared to join your first ever fantasy Arena Football League, no joke.      

This entry was posted on Friday, February 23rd, 2007 and is filed under Sports Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.