Many of us have made the joke: “ESPN, Eastern Seaboard Programming Network.”
Or we’ve at least discussed the famous “east coast bias” at not just ESPN, but within the entire mainstream media.
In May, when The Sports Bank first visited Bristol, we had a frank and honest discussion with both Steve Levy and the late great Stu Scott about the Tim Tebow/Lebron James/Johnny Manziel over-coverage.
This past week we had an exclusive with Baseball Tonight anchor Adnan Virk (@AdnanESPN) Virk was gracious enough to sit down with me when I returned to The Mothership, and we covered a whole host of topics, including the infamous ESPN east coast bias.
“People say, oh you’re too east coast centric, well yeah, we have these two overbearing fan bases that are in your face all the time,” said Virk.
“We’re right in the teeth of it, you have executives here that are Red Sox and Yankees fans. If they’re going to tell me hey, you need to talk about this, well alright, great. That’s what I’m into.”
“If ESPN was in Chicago, we’d talk more about the Bears, more about the Cubs, it would be awesome.”
The podcast is below. The ESPN east coast centric talk begins around the 10:45-11:00 mark.
Virk is no stranger to making self-referential humor about ESPN and ESPN over-coverage in public. While filling in for Keith Olbermann he once said:
“If this company would let me talk about tennis for five minutes, rather than the NFL, as we’re mandated to do so, trust me, I would wax poetic about the greatness of [Roger Federer].’
Video of this below:
The Connecticut towns of Bristol, Farmington, New Britain and the immediate area surrounding it is the Yankees vs. Red Sox DMZ (or DeMilitarized Zone). These cities reside in a 20-30 mile patcher where both Yes Network (owned and controlled by the Yankees) and NESN (owned and controlled by the Red Sox) are available to cable subscribers. Only here, in this small area, can you consume both.
Museum personnel at the New Britain Museum of American Art informed me that their patrons are evenly split 50/50 between Red Sox Nation and Yankee supporters.
Virk told me that sportswriter Steve Rushin once wrote an article saying that New Haven, Connecticut was the demarcation point, the Mason-Dixon line between Yankees and Red Sox.
“We’re right in the midst of it, I think it’s Bristol and central Connecticut. With all respect to Steve, he’s incorrect. Whenever I’ve been to New Haven it’s all Yankees fans,” Virk articulated.
“I live in West Hartford which I’ve been told is more Yankees fans, but whoever told me that is wrong, because whenever we go to the Target, there’s 2/3 Red Sox stuff, and once you go to New Haven then it’s all Yankees.”
Virk then shared a funny anecdote about how he’s given up on his kids following in his footsteps to become Blue Jay fans, but if they have to pick Red Sox or Yankees, they should go with the Evil Empire.
“I’ve found that both fan bases can be insufferable, but if you’re going to be with the champs, go with the 26 time World Champions. Stick with we what we know. The Red Sox have admittedly won three this decade, but they could go another 85 years.”
Virk wears many hats at ESPN: SportsCenter, NBA, college football, college basketball, Baseball Tonight etc. Check out what he had to say about his fascinating interview with Joe Buck; and his thoughts on the 2015 Chicago Cubbie Kool-Aid.
Obviously, the east coast is where the national focus is right now. There’s been an amazing confluence of factors: the Patriots in the Super Bowl, a Super Bowl being played in the midst of an “investigation” into a media-driven “scandal,” and also a huge snowstorm in New England that CNN is giving the “missing plane” treatment.
And don’t forget about all the national media sports networks headquartered in the Northeast. In addition to ESPN in Bristol, CBS Sports is in New York City. NBC Sports is in Stamford, Connecticut.
“The whole country feels like it since we’re all populated by New England power. It’s all Brady and the Patriots and stuff,” said Virk.
“Which is a great story, but I think sometimes it’s a challenge when you’re broadcasting because you can be susceptible to what’s happening in your region.”
“With baseball it’s tricky particularly, they said we’ll show you the research, there’s only seven or eight teams that rate nationally.”
The Red Sox and Yankees are on the top of that list; joined by the Cubs, Dodgers, Cardinals and Braves.
“So often times people go ‘why is ESPN so Red Sox, Yankees?’ Well, there’s a reason. We’re trying to make money, and nobody is watching these other games,” Virk concluded.
Exactly. There are 26 satellite dishes on the exterior of ESPN headquarters. Paying the rent on those things is expensive.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital, eBay, Google News and CBS Interactive Inc.
You can read Banks’ feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye newspaper and listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)