Broadcasting of sports events
The
broadcasting of sports events is the coverage of
sports on
television,
radio and other
broadcasting mediums. It usually involves one or more
commentators describing the events as they happen.
In The Beginning
The first radio broadcast of a baseball game was on
August 5,
1921 over Westinghouse station
KDKA from
Forbes Field in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Harold Arlin announced a game between the
Pittsburgh Pirates and the
Philadelphia Phillies. In September of 1939, the first
american football game, a college contest between
Fordham and
Waynesburg College was broadcast on television [
1].
NBC can be accredited to the first television broadcast of a pro football game, when they covered a
National Football League matchup on
October 22,
1939 between the
Philadelphia Eagles and the
Brooklyn Dodgers. The
broadcast rights of the NFL soon became an important property after the
1958 NFL Championship.
Hockey Night In Canada
In 1933, Foster Hewitt called a Canada-wide radio broadcast of a National Hockey League battle between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Always starting the broadcast with "Hello, Canada!", this phrase stuck around all the way to
CBC's first national television broadcast (the first actual broadcast was on
closed-circuit in
Maple Leaf Gardens in Spring 1952) in October of 1952. Today it is consistently among the highest rated programs in Canada.
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football practically invented the nighttime football setting. The brainchild of
Pete Rozelle and put into motion by
Roone Arledge MNF changed the landscape of football broadcasts forever, including the scheduling of the
Super Bowl, transforming it into a primetime specatcle from an afternoon broadcast.
Commentary
As sports were first broadcast on radio, there was no option outside of explaining what went on during a sporting event. This carried over rather easily once games were on television, and based on an idea by
Don Ohlmeyer in 1980, it's probably not a good idea to try otherwise.It's arguable that some of the greatest moments in sports, while great to watch, are nothing without accompanying commentary. One example is
Dick Stockon's call in Game 6 of the
1975 World Series of
Carlton Fisk's walk-off home run to tie the series.
Broadcasting rights and contracts limit who can show footage of the event.
In the
United Kingdom BSkyB based its early marketing largely on its acquisition of the broadcast rights of the top division of the
English league football, which as part of the deal with the
Football Association broke away from the
Football League to become the
FA Premier League. This prevented the footage of any major Premiership football game being shown on free-to-air television until much later that evening (as highlights), something the
European Commission were very unhappy about. Following warnings of legal action to stop the monopoly, an announcement was made that an alternative structure would be in place when the current contracts end in 2007. [
2]
In the
United States, sports are broadcast by
networks usually only in "game of the week" or championship situations, except for the
NFL. Other sports are broadcast by
sports channels, and are limited by who can view them based on various rules set by the leagues themselves, resulting in
blackouts. These limitations can be legally overlooked by purchasing out-of-market packages, such as MLB Extra Innings or
NFL Sunday Ticket. Regular season games involving local teams (except the NFL) may also be viewed on those local stations or regional sports channels that have a contract to broadcast that team's games.
Protected events
In the UK, the regulations set out in the
ITC Code on Sports and Other Listed Events dictate that some sporting events must have coverage made available to free-to-air channels. "Category A" events, including the
Olympic Games and the
FIFA World Cup, should be available live, while "Category B" events such as all
test cricket played in England and the
Commonwealth Games should be available as highlights or with a short delay.
The sporting event with the largest worldwide audience is the World Cup. An estimated cumulative audience of 28.8 billion viewers watched the 2002 World Cup on television, and 1.3 billion viewers watched the final match.
United Kingdom
The British media is dominated by national outlets, with local media playing a much smaller role. Traditionally the
BBC played a dominant role in televising sport, providing extensive high-quality advertisement free coverage and free publicity, in exchange for been granted broadcast rights for low fees.
ITV broadcast a smaller portfolio of events. In the early 1990s this arrangement was shaken up by the arrival of
pay-TV in the form of BSkyB. Their dedicated sports channels have since become the only place for some major sports to be seen. As of 2006 the Irish company
Setanta Sports is emerging as a challenger to Sky Sports' dominance of the British pay-TV sports market.
Radio sports coverage is also important. The BBC's
Radio Five Live broadcasts almost all major sports events. It now has a commercial rival called
talkSPORT, but this has not acquired anywhere near as many exclusive contracts as
Sky Sports and dedicates much of its airtime to sports discussions and phone-ins.
BBC Local Radio also provides extensive coverage of sport, giving more exposure to second-tier clubs which get limited national coverage.
United States
Sports are broadcast on
networks NBC,
ABC,
CBS, and
FOX usually during the weekends, with
sports channels like
ESPN and
FSN broadcasting during the week. General entertainment channels like
TNT,
TBS, and
USA show certain events (major golf and tennis, dog shows) occasionally.
There are
sports channels that show sporting events and sports news.
