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Game On: How Sports Media Grew Up, Sold Out, and Got Personal with Billions of Fans
In Game On David Bockino, a former marketing and advertising manager at ESPN turned professor of communications and sport management, provides the first overview of the evolution of the sports media industry. Written at a time of great uncertainty and rapid change and told through the fascinating stories of the most important innovations, matchups, events, and personalities over the last hundred years, Game On explores how sports media both affects and reflects our society.
From the groundbreaking radio broadcast of the Jack Dempsey–Georges Carpentier boxing match in 1921 and the launch of Sports Illustrated magazine in 1954 to the birth of ESPN in 1979 and the unveiling of the NFL’s yellow line in 1998, Game On details the most important events, platforms, and personalities in the evolution of the sports media industry. Early on, sports media had the unique ability to bring people nationally through the Olympic Games and regionally through telecasts of local professional teams. Increased interest led to more innovation and more options—cable TV, sports talk radio, internet broadcasts, and now multitudes of podcasts. With so many choices, some fans have begun to show deeper loyalties to brands or personalities in place of loyalties to teams or players. Today the personalization of sports content means broadcasters increasingly focus on what individual consumers want, often at the expense of the collective fan experience.
Exploring the evolution of the sports media industry can tell us a lot about how our world has changed over the past hundred years and how it might yet change in the future. Through an exploration of sports media trends, Bockino shows that the industry’s privileging of personal over collective interests reflects how people today form and maintain their social identities—and sports’ key role in shaping them.
From the groundbreaking radio broadcast of the Jack Dempsey–Georges Carpentier boxing match in 1921 and the launch of Sports Illustrated magazine in 1954 to the birth of ESPN in 1979 and the unveiling of the NFL’s yellow line in 1998, Game On details the most important events, platforms, and personalities in the evolution of the sports media industry. Early on, sports media had the unique ability to bring people nationally through the Olympic Games and regionally through telecasts of local professional teams. Increased interest led to more innovation and more options—cable TV, sports talk radio, internet broadcasts, and now multitudes of podcasts. With so many choices, some fans have begun to show deeper loyalties to brands or personalities in place of loyalties to teams or players. Today the personalization of sports content means broadcasters increasingly focus on what individual consumers want, often at the expense of the collective fan experience.
Exploring the evolution of the sports media industry can tell us a lot about how our world has changed over the past hundred years and how it might yet change in the future. Through an exploration of sports media trends, Bockino shows that the industry’s privileging of personal over collective interests reflects how people today form and maintain their social identities—and sports’ key role in shaping them.
- GenresSports
376 pages, Hardcover
Published April 1, 2024
About the author
David Bockino
4 books5 followersI'm a professor in the School of Communications at Elon University where I teach classes in sport management, communications, and media analytics. When I’m not in the classroom, I like to ride bikes, go up mountains, and play in the woods with my family. I was born and raised in New York and live in Durham, North Carolina with my wife and three children.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 17, 2024
Sports fans today have so many different ways to enjoy sports or associated aspects such as betting and fantasy games. How we got here today from the humble beginnings of a boxing match being broadcast on the radio in 1921 is told in this excellent book by David Bockino.
This is certainly more than a simple retelling of the history of media. How Bockino makes this so interesting is how he connects the new form of media he is describing with the societal norms of the time. Usually this means something is going to change drastically.
One example is professional football exploding in popularity after the famous televised 1958 championship game between the Colts and the Giants. This is well known to even casual fans, but the way Bockino writes about it and his references to other coverage of the game, especially newspaper writers, makes this even better than the commonly known account of the game and telecast.
The latter chapters, from the creation of ESPN to sports talk radio to fan “experiences” is also excellent writing. This is mainly due to Bockino’s personalization of the events. The reader will get to know people who took chances, financially and professionally. There are far too many people to name her and it’s difficult to provide a great example because every chapter and every innovation Bockino describes is excellent. It should be noted that even though the topic could easily become dry, it never becomes that. The pages will be turned quickly by a reader, who will be entertained and educated on a topic that has undergone dramatic changes in the century covered in the book.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a review copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
This is certainly more than a simple retelling of the history of media. How Bockino makes this so interesting is how he connects the new form of media he is describing with the societal norms of the time. Usually this means something is going to change drastically.
One example is professional football exploding in popularity after the famous televised 1958 championship game between the Colts and the Giants. This is well known to even casual fans, but the way Bockino writes about it and his references to other coverage of the game, especially newspaper writers, makes this even better than the commonly known account of the game and telecast.
The latter chapters, from the creation of ESPN to sports talk radio to fan “experiences” is also excellent writing. This is mainly due to Bockino’s personalization of the events. The reader will get to know people who took chances, financially and professionally. There are far too many people to name her and it’s difficult to provide a great example because every chapter and every innovation Bockino describes is excellent. It should be noted that even though the topic could easily become dry, it never becomes that. The pages will be turned quickly by a reader, who will be entertained and educated on a topic that has undergone dramatic changes in the century covered in the book.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a review copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
March 6, 2024
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, for which I thank them.
“Game On” is a non-fiction book by David Bockino about the growth, popularity, and craziness of the sports media industry. The sports industry has a lot of history - from how favorite teams started to those crazy fans and even those fantastic newspaper writers, but little observed (or noted) is the sports media industry. From the invention of the radio (and all that fell out of that) to the propaganda associated with televised sporting events down to today’s YouTube and streaming - it’s all covered in this book. I can see how this book could have been longer, but I think the author did a great job in keeping to the facts (sometimes a bit dryly but some information cannot be made as wonderful as the tales about Gorgeous George) and selecting what to cover. My child was heavily involved in sports media and I think would’ve appreciated reading this book for the historical information.
“Game On” is a non-fiction book by David Bockino about the growth, popularity, and craziness of the sports media industry. The sports industry has a lot of history - from how favorite teams started to those crazy fans and even those fantastic newspaper writers, but little observed (or noted) is the sports media industry. From the invention of the radio (and all that fell out of that) to the propaganda associated with televised sporting events down to today’s YouTube and streaming - it’s all covered in this book. I can see how this book could have been longer, but I think the author did a great job in keeping to the facts (sometimes a bit dryly but some information cannot be made as wonderful as the tales about Gorgeous George) and selecting what to cover. My child was heavily involved in sports media and I think would’ve appreciated reading this book for the historical information.
March 29, 2024
I mean this book was a great sports info dump for fans of sports.
I do think it just felt too much information without any levity or analyzation. I felt it dragged on a lot, just not a fan.
I do think it just felt too much information without any levity or analyzation. I felt it dragged on a lot, just not a fan.
December 29, 2025
I liked learning about the history of sports broadcasting but I think it didn't cover the 21st century as well.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews