Abstract
Vogan, assistant professor of journalism and mass communication and American studies at the University of Iowa, tries to show how the sports television channel that was launched September 7, 1979, has infiltrated the culture of American society. In an interview with the Washington Post shortly after the launch, ESPN president Chet Simmons joked that they would need a team of attorneys to defend men in divorce cases brought by women who have lost their husbands to the 24-hr all sports channel.
That quip sets the tone for this book, which seems to be a softball for ESPN. In the image of parent company Disney, which bought the channel in 1996, Vogan seems interested in only showing ESPN’s happier side as evident in chapter subtitles, such as “Opening the Gates of Sports Heaven” and “A Magic Name in the Magic Kingdom.”
Vogan also authored Keepers of the Flame: NFL Films and the Rise of Sports Media (2014).
In what Vogan highlights as the first academic book on ESPN, “This study does show how ESPN’s efforts to build refinement augment its global activities, events coverage, and news programming” (p. 9). The history of ESPN is neatly divided into chapters that highlight different divisions of the corporate organization. The first two chapters show the early struggles of the young sports cable channel as executives worked to convince cable companies to carry it.
Classroom application of ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire will likely expand as the academic field of sports journalism grows as an area of study. Currently, that application is limited. There would be little use for this text in most traditional journalism and broadcast courses. The best potential use for this text in coursework would likely be as part of a collection of texts used in a sports history, broadcast history, or a popular culture course. As sports becomes a more popular area of study and more universities offer a sports journalism sequence, new opportunities for texts such as this may emerge.
Vogan’s text does not only provide history of the ESPN sports channel, he also details other ESPN ventures: ESPN the Magazine, its original programming and films, and its 18-month multiple media program, Sports Century, which outlines its view of 20th centuries’ greatest North American sports figures and moments. What this sanitized overview of the ESPN empire is missing are the controversies, such as gender roles in sports broadcasts (Franks & O’Neill, 2014; Hardin & Shain, 2005).
Outside of coursework, Vogan’s text would be useful in the growing area of sports research. The strongest application may be as a background source because of its strong detail of ESPN history. In addition, this book would be good for any professors of sports-related courses or any ESPN fans to have in their personal libraries.