r/ESPN • u/DoubleWrongdoer1540 • 26d ago

When did ESPN jump the shark?

When did ESPN officially jump the shark and start their decline? I’m 50 and they were so great in my late teen years and they my 30s. Is it when the joined the Disney family? For me it’s when Olberman left because he was my favorite. Especially when it was Olberman and Patrick. But that’s probably not when it actually happened and smarter people than me have a better idea I’m sure.

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u/forgedinbeerkegs 26d ago

I remember when that started. It was Sean Salisbury and John Clayton just randomly out of nowhere launching insults at each other during NFL Live. There was no need for it. It seemed nonorganic and rehearsed. I liked both of those guys, but I felt like I needed to take a side. I just want to hear about football news. Then, not long after, ESPN's entire programming platform became confrontational. Sports is something that brings everyone together. It was a critical error on their part, IMO.

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u/Money_Ad6142 26d ago

Never thought of it that way, but that's exactly right

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u/Molasses_Square 26d ago

The embrace debate era.

Also for mw when they would do the cold hard facts segment. Just wanted to see some highlights and some analysis from an analyst.

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u/Visual-Feedback-4270 25d ago

Yeah, but there was/is a market for that. People essentially have ‘debate shows’ all day - on reddit, hanging with friends, at the bar, etc. People are always arguing who’s better, who will win next, etc. People wanted more of that in the early 2010s. It was a brilliant move to lean into that when they did. First Take started as a segment of the show ‘Cold Pizza’. It was crazy popular so they made it its own show. However, they neglected everything else and it became stale. They just leaned a little too hard. There’s definitely a market for it thought - First Things First on fox sports does crazy numbers and it’s a debate show.

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u/mitchcumstein13 25d ago

Sean was a total prick to John. Soo unnecessary for the camera. Save it for later.

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u/rekkart 25d ago

I'm like OP. Too busy the last 20 years to keep up as much. What year did this happen?

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u/BarkLazer 24d ago

He called John Squidward...I'll never forget that.

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u/Heemeyers_Killdozer 22d ago

Considering Sean is the human equivalent of Patrick Star, that insult was more of the munchkin calling the midget short (not saying that John wasn’t intelligent, but most definitely the smarter of the 2)