The Fourth Quarter of Sports Media, Part I — Kosner Media

Original Article: John Wall Street, by Ed Desser and John Kosner, January 8th, 2021

The advent of electronic sports media’s “first quarter” started a century ago, first as radio game recreations from press reports in 1920, and then as live on-site play-by-play (boxing and Pirates-Phillies baseball) in 1921 on KDKA in Pittsburgh. In the second quarter, broadcast TV ascended, with live sports becoming national weekend daytime and local primetime TV staples in the 1960s and ’70s. The third quarter came via cable TV, adding huge programming volume and bringing to fruition in 1979 the previously unthinkable notion of a 24/7 sports network: ESPN.

Today, as platforms like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon lead entertainment, and now have higher penetration of broadband than pay TV, we are entering the sports media’s “fourth quarter” and its impending inclusion into the new mainstream-emphasis on stream.

With the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) taking place virtually next week for the first time, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to look out into the digital future and project what the next phase will look like. First, let’s recap the scores….

• ESPN+ is the highest-profile sports streamer today. Amazon has invested in top brands like NFL and EPL rights. New…