Introduction

Most Americans have either played, watched, or attended a sporting event at some point in their lifetime. Sports today are so mainstream that you can easily catch a game on network television at anytime or highlights on social media. However,  people often neglect the technology that goes into broadcasting and producing these games. Sports have been a part of human culture for millennia, and as technology advances, so too does the way we interact and engage with sports.

The Radio

The early days of sporting events were limited to those attending or participating, until the invention of the radio. Football became one of the first sports to utilize this new invention with the first radio broadcast of a University of Minnesota game [1]. As radios became more popular and accessible, other sports joined in. The first ever voice broadcast of a boxing match occurred in 1921 with a boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee. Major League Baseball soon adopted radio broadcasts only months after the Ray vs Dundee fight [2]. With these sporting events made available to a wider audience, the sports themselves were able to grow in popularity. Radio broadcasts are still used to this day and remain one of the most popular forms media for sports. A study conducted by a marketing data firm called Statist found that 15.07% of Americans between 18 and 29 reported they had listened to a sports broadcast on the radio in 2019 [3]. This shows that there is still a large radio audience, even though the technology was created over 100 years ago. 

The Television

The next major advancement in sports broadcasting technology was the rise of the television. This allowed the audience to see what was happening in the games rather than just hearing about it. The first televised sporting event was the Summer olympics of 1939 [2]. With the ability to watch the events, television quickly became the most popular form of broadcasting media. National television networks soon formed such as NBC, CBS, and ABC. These networks regularly broadcast sporting events like football and baseball and further increased the sports popularity. The first NFL game was televised on NBC in 1939 to only around 1,000 television sets [4]. However, as television technology improved, so did its popularity. Colored sports broadcasts were available; it even allowed close-up shots, replays, and voice commentary to enhance the viewing experience for the audience [2]. Today, the NFL reports 16 million viewers for a regular season game [4]. As technology improved, the popularity and accessibility of sports broadcasts dramatically increased, becoming one of the most popular pass times in America.

Streaming

The main drawback to television is that they are not easily portable. With the rise of the internet and smartphone, this allowed the next innovation for sports broadcasting, streaming. Today, most sports are streamed one way or another allowing viewers to watch their favorite teams play at anytime on almost any device. On-demand access to previous games allows people to watch any old game they want as well. With these added features, streaming has quickly become the most popular way to watch sports today. This has prompted many broadcasting networks to create their own streaming services and social media platforms to allow more people to interact with their sports content. Probably the most prominent cause to streamings rise to fame in the sports world is due to COVID. With no live fan attendance and limited media attendance, many sports leagues were streamed to allow fans to still enjoy watching their favorite teams. The most prominent example was the 2020 NBA playoffs dubbed “The Bubble” hosted in Disney World. While these were the least watched NBA playoffs, it still attracted just under 8 million viewers [5]. After the pandemic, streaming continued its rise in popularity. In 2023, digital sports viewership passed traditional TV viewership with 95.5 million viewers compared to TV’s 90.7 million [6]. As this trend continues, media companies are looking for the next best thing. Recently with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are being developed to allow greater fan immersion at home. This will allow viewers to feel like they are a part of the action while being provided game-time statistics. This is the next level of sports broadcasting and as technology improves, so too will the viewer’s experience.

Conclusion and Connection to STS

As scientist and engineers continue to develop new ways to broadcast information, the applications will continue to increase. In the case for sports broadcasting, the new ways fans can watch their teams play without being in the stadium continue to provide better and better viewing experiences. These improved experiences help make the viewer feel as if they are watching live. With sports being such a large industry, improving technology will continue to enhance this part of of our culture. 

References

[1]  Milewski, K. (2024, May 14). How did sports radio broadcasting begin? (live365 history of radio). Live365 Blog. https://live365.com/blog/how-did-sports-radio-broadcasting-begin

[2] Mahbub. (2024a, August 19). A comprehensive look at the history of sports broadcasting. Castr’s Blog. https://castr.com/blog/history-of-sports-broadcasting/

[3] Wintergreen, B. (2021a, September 14). Exploring the popularity of Sport on the Radio. Phoenix FM. https://www.phoenixfm.com/2021/09/14/exploring-popularity-sport-radio/

[4] How television has changed the NFL. NFL Football Operations. (n.d.). https://operations.nfl.com/gameday/technology/impact-of-television/#:~:text=Popularity%2C%20Profitability%20and%20Competitiveness,and%20moved%20to%20prime%20time.

[5] Adgate, B. (2024, June 24). With several lopsided games, ratings for the 2024 NBA Finals dropped. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2024/06/20/with-several-lopsided-scores-viewing-to-the-2024-nba-finals-dropped/

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