Essay On SEC Bias In Sports

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According to Webster’s dictionary (1), a bias is “a tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc., are better than others that usually results in treating some people unfairly”. Many have argued as to whether the major sports conglomerate, Entertainment and Sports Network, places a higher value on the South Eastern Conference over all other National Collegiate Athletic Association conferences. ESPN prides itself on being ‘the worldwide leader in sports’, but could a network that prides itself on representing all of North America’s favorite sports be compelled to push one college conference over all others? The argument is often made that ESPN has an SEC bias, most notably in college football. Facts and passion provide compelling data from …show more content…

How can a major media outlet not have a bias while running a network exclusively for the South Eastern Conference? Well, it’s quite simple. It is not as if this type of scenario is unprecedented in sports media. SEC Network is a source of much outrage among people who claim an SEC bias. SEC Network is nothing more than a way for fans of SEC schools to watch news on their favorite schools, and sports that aren’t usually televised. What’s interesting is that the SEC Network is not alone in the ESPN family. Longhorns Network is an ESPN run network that deals strictly with the University of Texas Longhorns. It is very rare that you hear a complaint about ESPN being bias towards the University of Texas. ESPN is not the only offender. Fox Sports 1 appears to have the rights to the of the BIG XII and PAC XII conferences. Even so, nobody claims that Fox Sports 1 is biased. SEC network and Longhorn Network aren’t the only specialized college networks. The Big Ten and PAC XII each have their own network, as well as single schools such as BYU having their own networks. As big as ESPN is it’s expected that they would have relationships with all kinds of sports and leagues. According to Kevin Scarbinsky of al.com, ESPN has agreements with many major sports. Scarbinsky says, “ESPN has business relationships with every other Power 5 conference, too, as well as the NFL, the NBA, Major League Baseball, etc., etc., etc. The network …show more content…

They are many things, but bias isn’t one of them. Covering great teams is their job. ESPN does not decide what teams are going to be successful any given year. Covering great players is their job. The SEC has won more national championships and more Heisman trophies than any other conference in college football. The SEC network is not a sign of bias. The SEC Network is a tremendous business opportunity. Why would ESPN turn down the possibility of representing the most profitable conference in college football? ESPN has no reason to be bias. ESPN does not employ many SEC alumni. They have no reason to prefer the SEC over the rest of the college football landscape. In order to be bias wouldn’t one have to have an existing relationship for what they are going out of their way to support? Saying ESPN has an SEC bias is like saying any sports media company has an SEC bias. ESPN doesn’t decide who plays in the national championship. ESPN doesn’t decide who wins the Heisman trophy every year. ESPN doesn’t decide who is ranked in the top twenty-five each week. ESPN has no power on the college football landscape. All they do is report what they see and do their jobs. The SEC is covered because they win more often and more spectacularly than any other conference in college football. It is difficult to persecute the worldwide leader in sports for calling it how it is. ESPN is not biased toward SEC college

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