By Brett “The Conqueror” Beverly
It’s officially a critical point in the development of MMA in mainstream media. After the initial buzz of ESPN’s agreement with the UFC, the coverage from these organizations has been lackluster at best.
While it’s true that ESPN, Fox Sports and Yahoo are covering MMA, these sources are still a long way from rivaling Sherdog or MMAweekly in coverage.
Take ESPN for example, MMA results are as easy to find on their website as chess highlights. The MMA section is literally under the “more” category, right below horse racing.
Even when you do find the MMA section, it isn’t much more than what Sherdog is already offering on their webpage. What good is ESPN’s coverage, if they don’t actually do any “covering”?
Other mainstream sports organizations aren’t doing much better; results and news from the world of MMA are banned to the back pages and rarely seen as front-page news.
Did you read about Randy Couture’s retirement on Fox Sports? Of course not. Did you hear about Fedor’s signing with M-1 on Sportscenter? Hell no.
The bottom line is: to find information on MMA, you have to seek information on MMA. The place to find this information is still on the web. Yes, it’s easy for the diehards to find, but what about prospective fans?
While the idea of covering the sport formally known as “human cock fighting” is not making these mainstream giants sick to their stomach, a silent resistance is still present.
As a fan, the power lies with us. Organizations like the UFC, Elite XC, and the IFL are going to keep trying to make their presence known. It’s up to us, the fans, to let media organizations know we want more.
The only way the sport can receive the mainstream success of Major League Baseball and the National Football League is to get a similar amount of coverage. The only way this is going to happen is through us.
So, take the time to go to your favorite mainstream sports website and let them know what you think about their MMA news coverage. Be nice, be complementary, but be assertive. Having a section devoted to MMA is not enough; devoting time and resources to the sport is what we want.
Here are a few feedback links to contact:
ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?page=contact/index
Foxsports: http://msn.foxsports.com/feedback
Yahoo Sports (which is pretty damn good): http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/sports/general.html
Still No MMA Coverage:
Sporting News: http://www.sportingnews.com/contact/feedback.html
SI: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/about_us/contact/index.html
PEACE
Brett “The Conqueror” Beverly
CONQUERORS NOTE: Who doesn’t cover MMA? Seriously, do the people making this decision have ties to Don King? Are they still driving mid-80s Camero’s and listening to REO Speedwagon? What the hell? I guess it makes perfect sense that one of those organizations is SI. Have you seen CNN lately? It’s like watching a PowerPoint presentation. What the hell is a “situation room” anyway?
