hog wild man wrote:
Paywalls are not the problem, nor are they the solution. They are an effect of the problem. The sports problems cause most people to not be interested and coverage gets relegated to the corners of the internet. I'm a 30 year fan of track and field, rarely miss a televised meet, but I'm not wasting my money on this morning's event while I get ready for an afternoon of NFL football. Seriously, paying to watch this marathon is the equivalent of pony'ing up to watch a live NBA G-league exhibition game on a Sunday morning. Maybe thats a bad comparison, the G-league exhibition game would feature more elite athletes and be wildly more entertaining than this marathon.
If the marathon were free today, I'm not sure how makes the sport any better. You'd just be broadcasting a sport/product that the general population has widely rejected. It would be like a network tv should would continually broadcast some sitcom that is crap and NOBODY watches, with the belief as long as its being broadcasted, people will be drawn to it. NO. Repackage the product and come to the table with something better.
"I'm a 30 year fan of track and field". Sorry, but I don't think so.