Buzz Bissinger: Trump's Election Partly Responsible For ESPN Layoffs
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Author Buzz Bissinger thinks the election of Donald Trump, along with an over saturation of sports programming, is responsible for the decline in ratings that led to massive layoffs at ESPN this week, telling Chris Stigall on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that people are now focused on matters of heavier impact on their lives.
"I think the country is now shifting, not to polarize on this, because Trump is president, I think people are turning toward more serious issues and, I think, to veer away from watching sports all the time, being a couch potato, as I certainly have, is probably a good thing."
He thinks sports programming is now overly pervasive in terms of television coverage, to the point where it is now performing negatively.
"There's just too much sports on television. It's absurd. It's just too much. It's saturating and people are turning it off. College basketball, either ESPN or whoever covers it, literally every game was covered. College football, Gameday on ESPN that lasts for what? It's like two months every day. Constant, constant games and I think the quality of sports, in general, has gotten worse."
Ultimately, Bissinger says the sports leader is more vulnerable than previously thought.
"I always thought that ESPN was bullet proof in terms of our love with sports in the country. Obviously, that's not the case. I knew they were going to lay off people...They're in trouble."