From Dan Patrick leaving ESPN to Joe Theismann being dumped from Monday Night Football, from the ongoing battle between the NFL Network and cable operators to Major League Baseball getting a record amount of subscribers for its upcoming network, from a new NBA television deal to rumors of the NHL returning to ESPN, the year in sports media was tumultuous.
Yet despite all of that tumult, despite record low ratings for major sporting events, controversial comments by radio hosts, and barbs being traded between various broadcasters, the sports media story of the year is less about sports media and more about the games themselves — which were threatened in 2007 by a spate of controversy.
The Big 3 American sports leagues, the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball, all suffered through multiple controversies this year, varying from relatively minor issues such as suspensions for leaving the bench and allegations of spying, to tragedies such as the murder of Sean Taylor.
Three controversies in particular gave pause to the most powerful men in sports. Roger Goodell had to deal with a star going to federal prison, Bud Selig saw countless stars outed as steroid users, and David Stern had a referee commit a cardinal sin.
The National Football League has gone through a nightmarish year. While the New England Patriots gave the league and its television partners something to smile about on a weekly basis, not even a perfect season could obscure the PR disaster that was Michael Vick‘s dogfighting controversy.
Once one of the preeminent stars in the NFL, Vick was indicted in a federal dogfighting probe, touching off a national firestorm. The indictment contained descriptions of gruesome methods of killing some of the dogs. The NFL suddenly found itself in the cross hairs of PETA, with one of its most recognizable faces plastered all over cable news as America’s enemy number one.
The league did its best to separate itself from Vick, suspending him indefinitely after he pleaded guilty to the charges. Still, no amount of separation could remove the bitter taste of having one of the league’s superstars sentenced to 23 months in prison.
Michael Vick was not the only superstar to face federal indictment in 2007. The steroid scandal in Major League Baseball reached a fever pitch this year. After breaking the career home run record under suspicion of having used steroids, Barry Bonds was indicted on federal perjury and obstruction of justice charges.
Bonds is accused of lying under oath during the BALCO investigation. The all-time home run king joins track and field star Marion Jones as the most high profile athletes indicted in the BALCO probe.
The Bonds’ case was not the biggest bombshell for baseball this year. The Mitchell Report, an investigation into performance enhancing drug abuse in baseball by former Senator George Mitchell, served as a devastating PR blow. The report cited legendary pitcher Roger Clemens as having used PEDs, in addition to other big name players such as Andy Pettitte and Miguel Tejada. In the wake of the report, several players have admitted use of performance enhancing drugs, including Pettitte.
While the integrity of baseball games was threatened by juiced players, the integrity of the NBA was nearly destroyed by one referee. In perhaps the most shocking controversy, the NBA was rocked when news of an FBI investigation into a referee gambling on games surfaced.
The referee, Tim Donaghy, pleaded guilty to gambling on games he officiated and giving confidential information to others who bet on NBA games. Donaghy was also accused of making calls to affect the point spread in games on which he had bets.
The allegations were some of the most damaging a sports league can possibly endure. In the wake of the scandal, the NBA started an investigation to make sure gambling was not widespread among referees. While the investigation found that all of the league’s referees had violated gambling rules in some fashion, the violations were relatively harmless. Commissioner David Stern decided the best remedy would be the change the rules, as opposed to punishing the referees.
Certainly, the controversies have not destroyed the leagues. Despite predictions that the NBA would never recover from the Donaghy scandal, ratings are up almost across the board, on ESPN, TNT and local channels. Major League Baseball had its most lucrative year ever, with over six billion dollars in revenue. The NFL continues to draw huge ratings every week; in fact, this season has seen the four most watched NFL games in the past eleven years.
Still, it is almost impossible to escape such controversies unscathed. Baseball was generally trashed after The Mitchell Report, gaining unwanted publicity. News of the report led all three nightly news broadcasts, and the general tone of the news coverage was that of acrimony towards MLB for allowing the ‘steroid era’ to occur. Half of the respondents in a USA Today/Gallup poll said the report makes them less enthusiastic about baseball, and a whopping 83% of fans said they were not surprised by the findings.
In the wake of the Tim Donaghy scandal, an ESPN.com poll found nearly half of respondents were not surprised that a referee was accused of betting on games, and almost 60% believed Donaghy was the tip of the iceberg. 55% of respondents said the scandal did not affect their interest in the league, however.
Widespread fan cynicism has not translated into fan apathy — yet. Baseball and the NBA set attendance records last year, though NBA attendance was down through the first month of the 2007-08 season. Perhaps because Bonds, and Clemens to a lesser extent, had always been suspected of using steroids, the accusations against them are less damaging to baseball than if Alex Rodriguez had been accused. And the NBA can breathe a slight sigh of relief that, for now, it appears as if no other referees were involved in the gambling scandal.
The NFL, meanwhile, can breathe a sigh of relief that it is virtually Teflon, and gets to skate both on steroids and on its image. While the NFL likely has a worse steroids problem than baseball, and more criminal behavior than the NBA, the league will always have a better image than its two closest competitors.
But even though the fans have not turned away yet, the NFL, MLB and NBA would be foolish to assume their status as the Big 3 American sports is permanent. 2007 was a warning to the three most powerful leagues in the country; while it may seem as if fans have infinite forgiveness, one need only consider the Tour de France — an event so burdened by yearly controversy and accusations of doping that it received a front page obituary on a major French newspaper.
How many more legal issues, steroid accusations and gambling scandals before the pillars of American sports are being pronounced dead on the front pages?
