For decades, ESPN built its reputation on one simple idea: report the biggest stories surrounding authentic athletic competition. Viewers tuned in for highlights, scores, standings, injuries, trades, and thoughtful analysis of games whose outcomes were determined by the athletes competing on the field. Today, however, the definition of “sports news” appears to be changing. Professional wrestling story lines are now regularly covered alongside legitimate athletic competition, while social media arguments, celebrity exhibitions, and athlete podcasts often receive the same attention once reserved for championship games. This raises an important question: What exactly qualifies as sports news today?
Distinguishing between sport competition & entertainment
To be clear, the analysis of ESPN and its recent programming changes isn’t an argument against professional wrestling.
Professional wrestling has entertained millions of fans for decades. The athleticism required is remarkable, and the performers are incredibly talented. But wrestling itself openly acknowledges that it is sports entertainment. The winners are predetermined, the story lines are scripted, and the performances are carefully choreographed to entertain an audience rather than determine the better competitor.
That distinction matters, and used to differentiate and legitimize ESPN from less authentic sports.
Traditionally, sports journalism has focused on uncertainty. Who won? Who lost? What strategy worked? Which athlete rose to the occasion under pressure? The drama of sports has always come from the fact that nobody knows the outcome until the competition is over.
Entertainment follows a different model. The outcome already exists. The story is created before the performance begins.
Perhaps the larger issue isn’t professional wrestling at all. Maybe it is that sports media has gradually shifted from reporting sports to reporting whatever attracts sports fans. If enough people click, watch, or engage with a story, it increasingly becomes “sports news” regardless of whether it involves legitimate athletic competition.
Maybe it is that sports media has gradually shifted from reporting sports to reporting whatever attracts sports fans.
This trend extends well beyond wrestling. Today, sports networks devote significant coverage to athlete social media feuds, podcast comments, fashion choices, celebrity boxing matches, and reality-style documentaries. None of these topics are inherently bad, but they represent a noticeable shift from journalism centered on athletic competition to content centered on entertainment and engagement.
Why has this happened? The answer is probably simple. Attention has become one of the most valuable commodities in modern media, and every click, every view, and every minute watched translates into advertising revenue. If audiences consume entertainment alongside traditional sports coverage, networks have every financial incentive to provide more of it.
The question is whether something is lost in the process.
Final thoughts
There is nothing wrong with enjoying professional wrestling, celebrity events, or athlete personalities. They all have a place in our culture. But should they occupy the same journalistic space as authentic athletic competition? If sports journalism gradually abandons the distinction between competition and entertainment, we shouldn’t be surprised if viewers begin to blur that line as well. Assuming sports media continues to chase clicks over authentic sport competition, what will the future look like when theater and entertainment begin replacing sports as we know them today?
drstankovich.com
