The Battle of the Sexes was a landmark event for the culture
of female athletes. That single event changed the way we view females in the
world of sports today. I, myself, have never questioned the legitimacy of the
match itself, yet the media has recently reported that Bobby Riggs may have
purposely lost the match. ESPN was the first to break this story on their show,
“Outside the Lines”. The story was released as potential groundbreaking news,
yet it failed to gain very much traction from viewers of the show or online. This
raises two questions in my eyes. Are viewers shrugging this story off and
accepting that Billie Jean King won the match fair and square? Or are people
just not all that interested in the match that is now 40 years in the past? In
hopes of seeing women’s sports build and grow into a legitimate competitor to
male sports, I hope that the correct question is the former and not the latter.
The reporting of ESPN also brings their goals into question. We constantly see ESPN claiming to support and promote female athletics, yet all the while knowing that a story such as this one would cripple so much of the work put in by Billie Jean King and other female athletes. What is the end game for ESPN? Do they gain more viewers by releasing a story like this? The answer is no. Will they gain more credibility? Again, the answer is no. Therefore, I see no reason why ESPN should have released this story. The only effect that it could have had was a negative one on female sports. ESPN should realize that the growth of female athletics would be huge for them as an organization. Not only ESPN, but anyone in the sport field include current students, would greatly benefit from a growth in professional female sports. ESPN would have more to broadcast, more advertising money, and more endorsements with athletes. We, as future sport professionals, would see a new market to tap into. This field could become our future careers. While it is easy to see that women are making strides consistently, it is going to take a committed effort by many, including ESPN, to fully break women’s sports into a true competitor to the current male leagues.
Shaun,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you said about ESPN not gaining anything from promoting that Bobby Riggs through the tennis match. To play devil’s advocate however, the media thrives on controversy and the fight between male and female is a classic battle. As someone who believes full-heartedly in women’s rights, the “Outside the Lines” special was extremely unnecessary because it is not going to turn back time. Just because Riggs may have thrown the match does not mean that women who play sports are just going to give up fighting for their right to play. King just gave us the momentum to throw us in the right direction to fight for our rights. And as much as I disagree with ESPN on making that special, it makes sense that they would play it because there is an audience for it. Although it’s 2013, we still have a large population of men who are still looking for reasons to think that women are not capable of the same things as men are. I do not personally agree with ESPN on the special, however as a money making company, it makes sense to show this side.
Nicole Zawislan
Shaun,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the two questions that you purposed in your first paragraph about people accepting Billy Jean King won or do people just not care. However, another question about this aspect of the “Outside the Lines” documentary that I have is if Bobby Riggs would have won, would people then question if Billy Jean King threw the match. In today’s society, no one would question that if a male beat a female. Obviously, Billy Jean King was better on that day than Bobby Riggs; however if Billy Jean King lost, would not of crossed anyone’s mind that Billy Jean King threw the game and if that principle can change in today’s world then the equality for male and female sports would forever change.
Also, I think if ESPN took initiative to promote women’s sport by showing more female events even though they would lose money, more people would become interested and then more sports networks would “join the band wagon” per say. But, today is all about making money so I don’t see it happening anytime soon.
Billy Nowak
Shaun,
ReplyDeleteI agree that ESPN should not have released the story about the historic Battle of the Sexes match being fixed by The Mob. It is all pure speculation at this point and we will never truly know if that match was really fixed. Instead, people should honor and respect Billie Jean King by not acknowledging the story and spreading false rumors. Also, I agree with your opinion that ESPN should show more coverage with women's sports. In my opinion, they should take it a step further and create a new channel just for women's sports. There are many different sports channels on television today and this would be a fresh idea for ESPN. They could show collegiate and professional events, talk shows, documentaries, and classic events. ESPN is a very popular channel and has a huge following. I feel like an ESPN women’s channel would have success if it was done correctly. They could air a wide variety of women’s sports such as basketball, softball, tennis, track, volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, etc. It is at least worth an effort for ESPN to do this because of the popularity of various women’s sports today.
-Corey Krupa
Shaun,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post about ESPN & The Battle of the Sexes. Also, you raise two great questions about why the “Outside the Lines” story never received much attention. Although I cannot be positive as to why the report did not receive much attention, I feel as though the answer to both of your questions could be yes. There are surely people who believe Billie Jean King won the match fair and square, and I also believe that many people have since forgotten the match since it happened so long ago. I think ESPN’s goals in relation to the “Outside the Lines” report were simply to reveal some previously unknown aspects of the match, and that’s it. I think regardless of whether or not Riggs threw the match, the strides women have made in sport since the event have proved that women deserve a chance in sport.
Evan Sechler
People have this notion that media serves the people. People also tend to have this notion that media serves the content that it is reporting. The truth is the media is an entity of its own. ESPN isn't in business to promote women sports ESPN is in business to promote ESPN. I have ways been a believer that media manipulates the truth and what they want the people to believe. So the advantages of the releasing stories to garner controversy around the Battle of the Sexes only builds the reputation of ESPN "Outside the lines" and their ability to break out new stories. Women have gotten to a point in sports to be able to do whatever they need to do to promote their leagues and sports that's why I feel like ESPNW will provide a great opportunity to do so.
ReplyDeleteJude Adjei-barimah