abcsports Page 2 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The NBA has a Charles Barkley problem — again
TNT’s flagship show Inside The NBA is at its best this time of the year, as fans tune in multiple times per week to watch Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal do their thing. But what happens when the star of the NBA’s biggest and best studio show gets on TV to tell fans...
The NBA has a ratings problem — Exhibit A: The All-Star Game
There was a time during the midst of 2020 in which Adam Silver and the NBA owned the world. The combination of an amazing All-Star Game in Chicago with a new dramatic ending, the sad and tragic death of Kobe Bryant, and the league’s decision to shut things down — becoming the first warning that this...
The NBA is dominating the news cycle during Super Bowl Week
The NFL has hit an unexpected obstacle in its quest to make as much money as humanly — not humanely — possible. Since the league adopted a 17-game schedule and sports returned to non-COVID-altered schedules, the NBA trade deadline has fallen during the week of the Super Bowl. ...
Slow start or bad investment? NFL’s TNF ratings drop after move to Amazon
Is it at all surprising that a more difficult entry point for Thursday Night Football games led to a drop in ratings? With the news that Amazon had to compensate advertisers because it didn’t meet the expected viewership numbers, it might be time to ask: How suitable is the streaming model for live ...
Everything we know about the NFL's alleged 'five-minute warmup' decision
The severity of Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin’s injury was apparent quickly. The details of the 24-year-old needing to be resuscitated on the Paycor Stadium turf in Cincinnati weren’t widely known until about an hour later, around the same time the NFL officially decided to suspend Monday’s all-import...
The ManningCast sports media revolution should not have been televised
It would be interesting to see how much ESPN was responsible for of the $1.5 billion that Disney lost last quarter in the streaming section. What section of the Mothership do the contracts for Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and the Mannings fall under? After a year-plus, the nuance of the ManningCast has wo...
The only African-American participants in the World Series were Dusty Baker and the pregame entertainers — baseball is pathetic
When Nick Castellanos fouled out to right on Saturday night during the top of the ninth inning of Game 6 of the World Series in Houston, it meant that the Astros were once again world champions and that Dusty Baker had finally won one as a skipper....
TBS sets new standard for cringiest promo of all time during Game 1 of the ALDS
One of the less glamorous parts of being a professional play-by-play commentator is being handed a cringy script and being told to act enthusiastic about a show you don’t watch or a product you don’t use just so you can appeal to your boss and finally get back to calling the game. It’s such a forced...
The NBA and ESPN keep searching, but will never find their Roundball Rock
ESPN does an outstanding job with its NBA coverage. The network has an army of insiders, reporters, analysts, a daily midday show, as well a stellar game broadcast quality that has long satiated this one high schooler who was not happy to see his beloved NBA on NBC gone forever....
Newsflash ESPN: Don’t show Black people on TV with cotton stuck to them
Live event television moves quickly. Not only does the production team have to decide on the fly which camera angles of the main action are most appealing to the audience at the right time, they also need shots that give viewers the feeling that they are at the venue....
The NBA is still trying to polish turds
The NBA is trying its best, guys, give them a break. Schedule releases are only a big deal in the NFL, where teams have to play their best players every week, save for a possible late-season rest. So even though Roger Goodell and his cronies show up every year with pictures of presents like a twiste...
It’ll be the NBA vs. the NFL on Christmas Day
Roger Goodell is marking his territory on property that Adam Silver has the deed to....
Vin Scully was the connection to everyone
“It’s a business.” We’ve heard that a ton lately, because it was trade deadline time in MLB. Any fan of any sport has heard that a million times or more. At the end of the day, we’re told, it’s just a business, which is generally meant to excuse all sorts of shitassed behavior by owners and front of...
Vin Scully felt like family
Growing up in Los Angeles, my favorite Dodger was never anyone on the field. The guys on the field constantly changed. Injuries or slumps sometimes kept them out of the lineup. Trades and free agency changed the makeup of the team....
Vin Scully was the voice of baseball
When you think about baseball, who do you think of? Maybe a favorite pitcher or hitter, maybe your favorite team’s all-time greatest manager. For me, it’s Vin Scully. It has been for a long, long time. Growing up I always wanted to be a baseball announcer, and even before I knew what made great play...
MLS becomes the first to go full streaming
Well, someone was going to do it. ...
Stop comparing viewership numbers for the NFL and NBA
Viewership for the 2022 NBA Finals is up 37 percent from last year and its ratings are the highest they’ve been since the last time the Warriors were in the Finals in 2019. That said, there are some worrisome figures. For one, while viewership is up from 2020 and 2021, Game 1 of these Finals were th...