Why do sports more obscure than Lax get more coverage on ESPN?

[Wooks]

Having just seen a commercial for the "Lake County PBA Classic", I got to thinking. Why do sports that are more obscure than lax get so much more airtime? Is there REALLY a bigger audience for this stuff? Is ESPN REALLY making more money off of this stuff? Think of some of the things that have gotten coverage on ESPN.

Bowling
Poker - Sport?
Arm Wrestling
Scrabble - Seriously?
Arena Football (aka AFL)
Dog Shows - Again, seriously?
Fishing

Edit:
Others mentioned in thread:
Cup-stacking
Dominoes - For reals?
Spelling Bee - I hope you're joking ESPN.

I can understand a couple of these though. A large audience of people (guys at least) understand bowling, poker, arm wrestling, fishing, etc. I guess Arena Football is kindof an exciting alternative.

But Scrabble? Dog Shows? Are these REALLY attracting a larger audience. (Granted, these aren't on often, but I'd say I've seen them more than lax.) There HAS to be a bigger audience for lax than this.

Also, does Poker really need that much prime airtime? It's on pretty much all evening.

[MDUBlax]

Pro lacrosse isnt that fun to watch man.

[WAC_Shoremen]

The sports that are very obscure (speed stacking, etc.) are new to people. They think "Eh, I guess this is cool" and watch it for a bit. Lacrosse is more mainstream, so people think that it's "just lacrosse." As MDUBlax said, the MLL isn't super interesting. College, however, has gotten more interesting this year. Look at the teams that got far in the NCAA tournament. Delaware, Albany, UMBC. Who would've thought they'd be at the quarter-finals or farther before the season started? ESPN caught onto that and showed some awesome Final Four coverage and some quarter-finals. I believe they showed the Albany-Cornell game. Give them some credit.

[Wooks]

Pro lacrosse isnt that fun to watch man.

Less fun than dog shows? Poker? Scrabble? Cup-stacking?

[GoBucks]

Well, probably the biggest reason why lacrosse gets less airtime now is because it's not even lacrosse season. Box lacrosse is coming soon, but Versus owns the rights to broadcast NLL games, and not everyone has Versus. During the spring, most college games are on ESPNU and CSTV, except for the final four, but unfortunately not everyone has those stations either. One more thing, the MLL is still in its infancy. It doesn't have the fanbase and years of financial backing that the PBA or other things do to be able to showcase itself on ESPN.

Also, look at this in relativity. When was the last time you've ever seen an NHL game on ESPN? Not for a long time, because now the only stations that show NHL games are Versus and FSN. I can't even remember the last time I saw an NHL game on ESPN, but I don't see any hockey players on TLF complaining.

[MadCowDisease]

Also, look at this in relativity. When was the last time you've ever seen an NHL game on ESPN? Not for a long time, because now the only stations that show NHL games are Versus and FSN. I can't even remember the last time I saw an NHL game on ESPN, but I don't see any hockey players on TLF complaining.
Well, hockey is regularly on TV on various stations, attracting many viewers.
Lacrosse games are almost never on TV.
Just a little observation of mine.

[greenshoelaces]

I think one of the main reasons for this is because all of these obscure sports, such as cup stacking, bowling, scrabble, dog shows, fishing, etc. provide a nice alternative from the everyday sports on these channels, and lacrosse is just another average, original team sport, for the people who do not play it. Viewers will watch these obscure sports for a few minutes, because it caught their eye while flipping through the channels. I know from experience this does happen, the other day i was flipping through the channels, and i saw "championship cup stacking" Who would pass that up the first time you see it on television. I just watched it for a few minutes to laugh about this exact concept, why do they even broadcast this stupid sport, but deny us lacrosse players more coverage? And it really did catch my attention for a few minutes.

[Lax4life528]

Pro lacrosse isnt that fun to watch man.

its more fun than watching golf on tv. Tennis? yet they r still on all the time because all the golf and tennis players r trying watching it to learn like technique, strategy, and stuff like that.

[westlakelax17]

These weird and obscure sports get on ESPN because they are like quick one time shows that they can put on for cheap and are usually a one time event or an annual event , unlike the MLL or NLL which has a whole season and would cost them a lot of money. Once Lacrosse becomes mainstream like the NFL, NCAA basketball and Baseball, we probably will see more of it.

[HawkletLax]

more college lax on regular cable (not just cstv and those random fox channels)

[THALAX]

There are probably more dog freaks in America world who watch dog shows than there are lacrosse players.

[m2daRizzle]

its more fun than watching golf on tv. Tennis? yet they r still on all the time because all the golf and tennis players r trying watching it to learn like technique, strategy, and stuff like that.

I can gurantee you there are tons more golf and tennis freaks in America than lacrosse fans. those are two of the most popular/money drawing sports in the world.

[laxray14]

They all so have the spelling bee which i dont get?

[jofc]

Have you seen the crowds at MLL games that are not in Denver?

No network is jumping into that hole.


What no one here seems to understand is that IT DOES NOT MATTER. You will still be able to play lacrosse regardless of the state of lacrosse on TV. Besides, playing lacrosse is a hell of a lot funner than watching it.

[NBCLAX23]

well we dont see it offten on espn because to fully tape a game it takes cranes and cables and hundreds of thounsands of dollars of filming equipment and then they have to pay people to set it up and to use it then to edit it. And if you were going to invest that much would you do it if the stadium wasnt garenteed to be at least 75% full?

[atacklax]

I've seen dominoes on ESPN. I remember cracking up as the commentators analyzed the strategy of the 4 60+ year old men sitting around a table sliding pieces around.
Lacrosse is fun to watch, but only if you play lacrosse. Everybody loves football, regardless of whether or not they've played it or not. But lacrosse is confusing to those who've never learned the rules, and really isn't that exciting when its broadcast on tv. The camera is constantly showing the entire offensive zone. If it zoomed in more to highlight individual players, the broadcasts might be more exciting.

[jofc]

Are you actually saying that football is easier to understand then lacrosse?

Football is more popular because it's slower and easier to comprehend when the announcer decribes each play during the two minutes of nothing between each play.

Look at popularity in American sports; the more slow it is and the more time the announcers have to talk, the more popular the game is. That's why sports like hockey and basketball are less popular than sports like football and baseball.

[Rizzle]

I'm surprised nobody said that the only reason lacrosse isn't on television more often is because the networks often have trouble finding cameramen fast enough to cover the game.:chuckle:

[atacklax]

Are you actually saying that football is easier to understand then lacrosse?

Football is more popular because it's slower and easier to comprehend when the announcer decribes each play during the two minutes of nothing between each play.

Look at popularity in American sports; the more slow it is and the more time the announcers have to talk, the more popular the game is. That's why sports like hockey and basketball are less popular than sports like football and baseball.

Exactly. Football has a relatively basic structure. The plays are usually set up in the same way, and its pretty hard to lose track of the ball. In lacrosse, the offense can use countless different formations, as can the defense. In football, once the quarterback has gotten rid of the ball, there are not that many important things to worry about more than 20 yards from the ball. At any point in a lacrosse game, a player 50 yards from the ball carrier could be the most important player to watch. Its hard to film such a broad scene while still focusing in on the intricacies of what the ball carrier is doing.

As for your theory about slower=more popular, I have to disagree. Soccer is often slow paced (in terms of significant plays), but the MLS isn't exactly booming, even with Beckham. Curling is unbeleivably slow, but you'll be hard pressed to find that on television outside of the Olympics.

Here's my opinion: American's like to watch games that follow a pattern. They like each game to work in a predictable way. In football, you wait for the snap, watch the action, and wait again in a consistent cycle. In baseball, you always know when the pitch is coming and stealing is the only thing you cannot predict. That's just a thought, and it can probably be disproven fairly easily.

[Wooks]

Have you seen the crowds at MLL games that are not in Denver?

No network is jumping into that hole.


I think some of you are forget what we're comparing it to.

Arm wrestling? Cup-stacking? I doubt those have larger crowds.


Also, I think the title of these thread should be "Why do sports more obscure, and less fun to watch, get more coverage" after looking at the responses.

[spenny]

dont discount that many of those "sports" are far easier to put on TV than lacrosse. you need nearly as big an operation to put lax on TV as you do football.

Bowling, Poker, Arm Wrestling, Scrabble, Cup-stacking, Dominoes and Spelling Bee are probably even cheaper to produce than an infomercial. (and about as interesting)

[gctales]

I think people are also forgetting that most of those "obscure" sports are:


pre-recorded and not broadcast live (so they can be broadcast weeks after the event) when ESPN has an otherwise empty spot
cost ESPN (or whoever) very little to produce and broadcast
potentially represent a higher profit margin for the network


In addition, many of these organizations are subsidizing the production and may have to arrange for / guarantee the advertisement being sold (which both the NLL and MLL have had to do). In this way, they represent almost ZERO risk and guaranteed profit to the network.

[WHEELAX2]

1. There isn't a large amount of support from the lacrosse fan base/player base as it is
2. not a whole lot of people know what lacrosse is (99.9% of people know what bowling is)
3. There isn't a strong centralized push to get lacrosse on TV (the only push comes from traditionalists organizations such as US Lacrosse)
4. lack of advertising support
5. and so on, and so on...

perhaps someone should make a thread listing the reasons why lacrosse should be on tv more. maybe I will

[greenshoelaces]

Are you actually saying that football is easier to understand then lacrosse?

Football is more popular because it's slower and easier to comprehend when the announcer decribes each play during the two minutes of nothing between each play.

Look at popularity in American sports; the more slow it is and the more time the announcers have to talk, the more popular the game is. That's why sports like hockey and basketball are less popular than sports like football and baseball.

Give this man a hand. :clap:

All of the lazy couch potatoes, sitting at home in their stretched out recliner, while drinking beer, with some pizza in their lap, and if i might add, haven't participated in any athletics in over 20 years; watch football because they can get up every two minutes to take a bathroom break in between plays. And everything he mentioned as well.