Pro sports (including big college which is effectively pro) is at leadt half soap opera and story line. Pro rasslin’ realized this early on and went with it. Broadcasting also got on board with the sideline babes asking “how does this feel for you emotionally” and the frequent reaction shots to the moms in the stands, the profile pieces of the visits to the sick kids or the Christmas turkey giveaways. Basically it’s at least half about the narrative as it is x’s and o’s, maybe mote.
Now all of a sudden they change the narrative to BLM and the like.
And guess what? The audience doesn’t like THAT narrative. So they stay away in droves. It’s like the hit movie where the sequel stinks on ice and nobody goes to see it.
They’re in the story telling business but they haven’t figured that out any more than they’ve figured out the this sequel is a giant stinker.
Early in this COVID mess when ESPN was scrounging for any sports to show, they had a replay of a Super Bowl back in the twenties, so late 1980s or early 1990s. Although it was low resolution it was much better coverage without nearly so many replays, camera angles or mindless stats to display (and no referee reviews). And that was for a pretty lopsided game. They stayed on the field unless it was a really good play needing a replay.