As the American sports model becomes increasingly favourable to the European market, the European sports media is changing to match, and not in a good way. 

American professional sports operate in an extremely specific way—the franchise model. The NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL are made up of around 30 teams, each owned and operated by an independent entity who oversees the team operations, staffing, and funding.

However, unlike the Premier League, which is owned entirely by the 20 teams that comprise it, owners of American franchises have no stake in the leagues they play in, which operate as separate entities themselves. 

Franchise leagues are also closed, offering no form of promotion or relegation, unlike the league model which sees teams move up and down at the conclusion of each season. 

Some say this makes franchise leagues less competitive, some say it gives smaller teams a bigger chance for success.

But what does it matter?

Alongside its sports leagues, America has an extremely large and dedicated sports media. Companies such as ESPN, TNT, and Fox run a huge array of dedicated programs and hire a huge number of writers and journalists to produce consistent content based on every aspect of sports in the country.

This comes at a cost, however.

Views equal money, and media companies love money.

Rather than produce accurate and honest content, sports writers and television personalities in North America often seek to rile up their audience. Anger generates attention, and attention is exactly what they want. 

Poor opinions, harsh criticisms on beloved superstars, and skewed team rankings. Anything to drive up viewership. 

This, of course, also means a stark dip in quality, and the increasing unreliability of sporting news sources.

In 2021, the first edition of the Hundred cricket tournament was held to mixed reviews. However, the relevance stands in the fact that it was England’s first franchise cricket tournament.

Cricket is a game of tradition. The Hundred stamped on that idea in a multitude of ways, breaking away from the county model and allowing players to be bought and sold regardless of who they represent in first-class cricket.

It also introduced the media tendencies that seem to follow the franchise model so often.

Edward Denton, a cricketer who represented England’s deaf team on the international stage, made it clear that the Hundred was poorly run, but much of the criticism it received was unfair.

“…the ECB isn’t giving enough funding to the counties, but it’s giving more people a chance to watch cricket as well as play it.”

Cricket media, headlined by ex-England Test captains Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain, has been perennially sound and trustworthy. Sky Sports has produced engaging and factual cricket content alongside its live cricket for decades, and BT tries to do the same. 

However, this is gradually slipping, particularly in print media such as the Cricketer magazine where the opinions of its writers are becoming obviously desperate for clicks at an increasingly alarming rate. 

This all accumulates in one point—sports journalists need to be honest. 

Sports are brilliant, and the drama associated with them breeds dramatic writing. However, there can still be truth in the thrill, and the rising dishonesty that is beginning to show due to American influence is shocking.

The American market is a model long set-in stone. It thrives on the fearmongering and exaggeration of its most-loved sports journalists, accumulating in angry fans and insane viewership numbers.

The British market doesn’t need that. For so long its journalists have been passionate and opinionated, but lying for attention and clicks wasn’t the norm. Their words were mostly genuine, and they served as the bridge between the fans and the game. 

For the good of the sports themselves, journalism must make its way back to honest reporting that uses the excitement of the sports themselves to generate hype, rather than trying to fabricate it with exaggeration and dishonesty.