VDG Sports: All Personality, All The Time

Social media made sports news faster, more interactive and more direct. Fans no longer wait for the evening news, and coverage is now a two-way street.

Newsrooms have shrunk, click-bait is cheap, and readers are being asked to pay for what they value. Where does sports journalism go from here?

When did a sports debate show last change your understanding of the game? If the answer is never, that is no coincidence. The hot take industrial complex is a business.

VDG Sports made a video about it. The more sports shows and pundits were watched, the more modern sports coverage looked like reality TV.

Your team loses on a controversial call and you are certain the ref was wrong. Why your unbiased takes are actually emotional reactions, and the myth of objective analysis.

It is not the opinions that bother you, it is the performance. You tune in for analysis and get theater. The real reason sports debates have become unwatchable.

Realizing you were spoon-fed sports opinions disguised as facts is both liberating and infuriating. Why one fan stopped trusting sports media and started thinking independently.

The 24-hour sports news cycle trains fans to mistake loud argument for analysis. You did not lose your edge as a fan, the machine was designed to make you feel that way.

Your friends post twice as many comments about yesterday’s contest as they watched of it. Why sports debates have become more important than the games themselves.

Corporate-safe opinions, recycled talking points and nine-figure analyst deals. Why so many fans reach for the mute button, and what the ManningCast proved about what they really want.