ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire

By: Travis Vogan

Narrated by: Brad Enright

Once a shoestring operation built on plywood sets and Australian rules football, ESPN has evolved into a media colossus. A genius for cross-promotion and its near-mystical rapport with its viewers empower the network to set agendas and create superstars, to curate sports history even as it mainstreams the latest cultural trends. Travis Vogan teams archival research and interviews with an all-star cast to pen the definitive account of how ESPN turned Xs and Os into billions of $$$. Vogan's institutional and cultural history focuses on the network since 1998, the year it launched a high-motor effort to craft its brand and grow audiences across media platforms. As he shows, innovative properties like SportsCentury, ESPN The Magazine, and 30 for 30 built the network's cultural caché. This credibility, in turn, propelled ESPN's transformation into an entity that lapped its run-of-the-mill competitors and helped fulfill its self-proclaimed status as the "worldwide leader in sports". Ambitious and long overdue, ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire offers an inside look at how the network changed an industry and reshaped the very way we live as sports fans.

The book is published by University of Illinois Press.

©2015 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (P)2017 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"In this fascinating history, journalism professor Vogan imbues the network's nascent struggles with a sense of adventure...an account of the life of a TV network as enjoyable as most star biographies." ( Booklist)

"This well-researched book is a gold mine of information about the origin and philosophy of ESPN. Highly recommended." ( Choice)

"This smart, lively examination of ESPN's place in American culture and how it continues to consciously work its way in is a trove of research, insight, and fascinating stories." (Robert Lipsyte, New York Times)

An academic book on ESPN's rise

What started out as an idea for a regional sports service, blossomed into a sports media giant. ESPN has turned sports fans into addicts, and in fact, caused a woman to file for divorce claiming the network ruined her marriage. Devout ESPN watchers have even named their children ESPN, Travis Vogan offers an academic look at the network's brand building, and becoming the true world wide leader in sports.

The network hemorrhaged millions of dollars after its inception in 1979, but by 1985, thanks the contracts with the NCAA, financial backing, and sponsorship deals, ESPN became profitable. ESPN transformed from showing sports event with marginal appeal, to landing a deal to broadcast NFL games in 1987. The author demonstrates how the ESPN culture was born, and how the network built SportsCenter into their signature show.

In 1993, ESPN launched ESPN to attract a younger audience. ESPN created the SportsCentury to list the top 50 athletes of the 20th century, with baskeball legend Michael Jordan receiving the top honor. Thanks to the network's success, ESPN debuted ESPN The magazine in 1998. Vogan covers the success of shows original shows such as A Season on the Brink and The Bronx Is Burning.

The author wraps up his provocative look at ESPN becoming a media giant discussing ESPN's launch of ESPN films, and the development of the critically acclaimed 30 for 30 series, which has earned the network Peabody Awards. I found Vogan's "ESPN" enlightening, and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning how ESPN became a media empire, the world wide leader is sports.