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Moderator Linda
Cohn ’81, an anchor
on ESPN's “SportsCenter,” (far left) leads discussion
at the Louis A. Borrelli Media Summit debating
"The Impact of Media on U.S. Sports: Who's Winning?
Media, Teams, Athletes or Fans?" with (from left
after Cohn) panelists Stuart Robinson, athletic
director at SUNY New Paltz; Dr. Myles Brand, president
of the National Collegiate Athletic Association;
George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC
Sports and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks;
Linda Bruno, commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference;
and Bud Poliquin, sports columnist for the Syracuse
Post-Standard and co-host of WHEN's sports talk
radio show. |
“There’s never been a better time to be
a sports fan, if you judge by access to the product,”
said George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC Sports
and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks. The athletes
and pro teams are getting more coverage. “The
media is exploding; there are more and more outlets.
The entire business is continuing to boom.”
Bodenheimer was discussing "The Impact of Media
on U.S. Sports: Who's Winning? Media, Teams, Athletes
or Fans?" during the second annual Louis A. Borrelli
Jr. Media Summit Oct. 20 on the SUNY Oswego campus.
The summit, sponsored by Louis
A. Borrelli Jr. ’77, chief executive officer
of NEP Broadcasting, who committed $150,000 over five
years to fund a media summit each autumn at Oswego,
featured a panel of distinguished experts in the sports
journalism field.
Bodenheimer was joined by Dr. Myles Brand, president
of the National Collegiate Athletic Association; Linda
Bruno, commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference; Bud
Poliquin, sports columnist for the Syracuse
Post-Standard and co-host of WHEN's sports talk
radio show; and Stuart Robinson, athletic director at
SUNY New Paltz.
Linda Cohn ’81,
an anchor on ESPN's “SportsCenter,” moderated
the discussion, which took place in SUNY Oswego's Sheldon
Hall ballroom.
In answer to the panel’s central question, Bruno
thought the media were winning, while Poliquin said,
“The media are the losers; the fans are the big
winners.” He pointed to the proliferation of coverage
that fans can enjoy.
George Bodenheimer, president
of ESPN and ABC Sports and co-chairman of Disney
Media Networks, was interviewed by Louis
A. Borrelli Jr. ’77
at “Breakfast with Bodenheimer,” which kicked
off the media summit. |
Brand thought the question a “complex” one,
adding that, “Interest in college sports has mushroomed.
The media is responsive to the fans.”
Robinson, on the other hand, worried about the professionalization
of amateur sports. “It distorts the focus of what
sport should really be about,” he said.
Panelists also addressed issues such as whether poker
is a sport and if fans are losing their heroes, due
to coverage of athletes' bad behavior outside the athletic
arena.
In addition to the main panel, the panelists spent the
entire day on the Oswego campus, sharing their expertise
with students in classes and small group discussions.
Bodenheimer and Borrelli discussed televised sports
and shared the stories of their own rise to the top
of the competitive cable television business with students
and faculty in a special "Breakfast with Bodenheimer"
to kick off the day.
The audio of the 2006 summit will be available on the
WRVO Web
site, said program director Fred
Vigeant ’02.
More pictures from the summit are available at the Borrelli
summit Web site. |
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To November 2006 E-Newsletter |
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