Sport media and communications timeline 1850-present

Early television sports struggled with larger cameras that could not zoom in or out and they were immobile. Between the 1950s-1970s cameras came with more functions, worldwide satellite transmissions, and color television.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications notes that in 1970:
- networks paid $50 million for the right to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games, $18 million for Major League Baseball (MLB), and $2 million for National Basketball Association (NBA) broadcast rights.
- By 1985 these numbers reached $450 million for football, $160 million for baseball, and $45 million for basketball.

Improvements increased the number of TV channels due to cable and satellite television made it possible in 1979 to start the first network in the USA specializing in sports, ESPN (Entertainment and Sports
Programming Network).

Reporters such as George Veesly began using portable word processors and computers to write sports stories.

ABC owned exclusive rights to televise almost all college football games in the 80s, the NCAA limited teams to six appearances over two years. Some of the large programs filed a lawsuit and in 1984 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that such a
plan violated anti-trust laws. Today, there are literally dozens of national and regional networks that televise college football, increasing the viewing
options for the sports audience.

USA Today, the national print newspaper for the U.S. began to give sports content 25% of available space in comparison to 12-20% during the precious years and other newspapers.

The Walt Disney Company bought ABC for 19 billion along with the world sports T.V. network ESPN.

ESPN The Magazine was launched and become a serious competitor to Time, Inc.’s Sports Illustrated who had 2 million subscribers at the time.

In 2002, ESPN and ABC acquired television broadcasting rights for National Basketball Association (NBA) games.
-2003 and 2006 it won National Magazine Awards for general excellence.
-Broadcasters and media became the most efficient way of connecting to sports content

People are now able to communicate directly with athletes, journalists, and each other. New broadcast technologies such as the Internet and social media outlets such as facebook and Twitter have changed the nature of athlete-media interaction, allowing athletes to bypass the traditional media such as newspapers and television
and take their message directly to fans.
-Broadcasters and networks have a direct instantaneous connection to fans and spectators
-Sports media and communications is more mobile than ever with easy access to any sports content depending on the network used