THE FUTURE OF SPORTS MEDIA:

Abstract

There is probably no better place to examine the media landscape in the next decades than the sports arena, especially the first big players in this highly lucrative, multibilliondollar worldwide industry. We are now seeing a massive readjustment in what has historically been a synergistic relationship between the sports leagues and teams and the media. In this transformation, new alliances will be formed, media giants will be sorely pressed to operate, and viewers—i.e., fans or customers—will have unprecedented access to information on numerous and yet-to-be-determined distribution channels. In the United States, today’s sports-media model was pioneered on television by ABC’s Wide World of Spor ts , NBC’s coverage of the Olympics, and CBS’s Sunday afternoon football. This relationship was clear: The sports properties sold their rights to the media, who then