ESPN / ESPN Deportes Rant

[WMR]

Sorry, this just really peeves me...

On SportsCenter they have this thing called an "ESPN Deportes" segment, where some ESPN Deportes anchorman/woman talks about "Mexican? Spanish?" sports in broken english.

Here's the thing: the highlights are, more often than not, about teams playing in the English Premier League or even MLS!! (NOT RELATED TO MEXICO OR SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES!! )

What idiot at ESPN decided this was a good idea?

Are they trying to make soccer seem even less "American" to potential fans?

It is just so lame. But then again, it IS stupid ESPN, so I don't suppose I should expect anything different from them.

/endrant

[Joseph]

I have comments that relate to this in the broad sense, but they belong in the peanut gallery, so I'll save them for over there.

[HotCorner]

So much for the US being the "melting pot"

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by HotCorner

So much for the US being the "melting pot"

I think his point is that their idea of "Deportes" is to have someone with an accent talk about sports not necessarily related to Latin America, which to me seems a little patronizing. If I see a segment coming up called ESPN Deportes, I would expect it to be a discussion of what's going on the the Latin American sporting world, with or without accents. I would rather they talk about MLS or EPL on its own rather that trying to dress it up with some "Latin flava." I haven't seen it, but if it is as WilyMo describes, it seems to me like the "Deportes" idea is merely a marketing ploy, window dressing rather than any serious attempt to show interest in Latin American sports. When was the last time Sportscenter spent more than 5 seconds talking about Copa Libertadores?

[WMR]

Originally Posted by Yachtzee

I think his point is that their idea of "Deportes" is to have someone with an accent talk about sports not necessarily related to Latin America, which to me seems a little patronizing. If I see a segment coming up called ESPN Deportes, I would expect it to be a discussion of what's going on the the Latin American sporting world, with or without accents. I would rather they talk about MLS or EPL on its own rather that trying to dress it up with some "Latin flava." I haven't seen it, but if it is as WilyMo describes, it seems to me like the "Deportes" idea is merely a marketing ploy, window dressing rather than any serious attempt to show interest in Latin American sports. When was the last time Sportscenter spent more than 5 seconds talking about Copa Libertadores?

You are exactly right in all of your points about what I was saying, Yacht.

Calling it patronizing--of both spanish-speaking people and english speaking people--is being very kind.

It's like ESPN is telling us: Soccer is for Mexicans living in the United States. Even if a soccer sporting event has NOTHING to do with spanish speaking people and/or countries, for instance, the one I saw this morning were highlights of Chelsea v. whatever English team they beat 4-nil in the Carling Cup...

If you're going to have an ESPN Deportes "moment," MAKE IT ABOUT SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES.

[WMR]

Bottom line: It hurts the "mainstream-ification" of soccer in America and implies that ALL soccer is somehow "foreign" and interesting only to people who speak Spanish. It's ludicrous.

[HotCorner]

Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS

Bottom line: It hurts the "mainstream-ification" of soccer in America and implies that ALL soccer is somehow "foreign" and interesting only to people who speak Spanish. It's ludicrous.

Sorry. I obviously misunderstood your point. My apologies.

[WMR]

Originally Posted by HotCorner

Sorry. I obviously misunderstood your point. My apologies.

No worries, patnah.

[IslandRed]

I think the fundamental misunderstanding here is that ESPN Deportes is not just someone's idea of how to get a Latina chick onto SportsCenter, it's an actual TV channel. It is not a channel to cover Latin American sports; it is a sports channel for Spanish-speaking people, which is not the same thing. The anchors have accents because they are ESPN Deportes anchors.

Now, you guys are 100% right about the marketing-ploy aspect. They don't need to have an ESPN Deportes segment to talk about soccer, but they want to, because they want the soccer-loving, Spanish-speaking population to know about the channel and start asking for it on their cable systems.

[pedro]

Originally Posted by IslandRed

I think the fundamental misunderstanding here is that ESPN Deportes is not just someone's idea of how to get a Latina chick onto SportsCenter, it's an actual TV channel. It is not a channel to cover Latin American sports; it is a sports channel for Spanish-speaking people, which is not the same thing. The anchors have accents because they are ESPN Deportes anchors.

Now, you guys are 100% right about the marketing-ploy aspect. They don't need to have an ESPN Deportes segment to talk about soccer, but they want to, because they want the soccer-loving, Spanish-speaking population to know about the channel and start asking for it on their cable systems.

bingo. espn is not in the business of promoting the growth of soccer in the US. It's in the business of gaining viewers and selling advertising time.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by IslandRed

I think the fundamental misunderstanding here is that ESPN Deportes is not just someone's idea of how to get a Latina chick onto SportsCenter, it's an actual TV channel. It is not a channel to cover Latin American sports; it is a sports channel for Spanish-speaking people, which is not the same thing. The anchors have accents because they are ESPN Deportes anchors.

Now, you guys are 100% right about the marketing-ploy aspect. They don't need to have an ESPN Deportes segment to talk about soccer, but they want to, because they want the soccer-loving, Spanish-speaking population to know about the channel and start asking for it on their cable systems.

I realize ESPN Deportes is its own channel. In fact, they've advertised it on ESPN and other channels before. I would say that the problem with the Deportes segment would be that 1) if they're going for the Spanish-speaking population, they're better served by advertising the channel on other Spanish language channels rather than just dropping an English language segment into an English language show in a way that seems very patronizing, and 2) Why have the Spanish-speaking anchor doing an English language segment on a sports league with little connection to Latin America other than some Latin Americans play in the league. What WilyMo objects to is what he rightfully sees as ESPN relegating soccer coverage to a gimmick used to promote the Deportes channel in a way that is not likely to succeed. To me it sounds like all that other garbage they put on there like "The Budweiser Hotseat" and "Who's Now?" Now if they were to do a 5 minute segment of ESPN Deportes "en Espanol" on Sportscenter, I could see that as a useful means of promoting the channel to Spanish-speaking sports fans. I'll have to check out Sportscenter, but based on what I've heard, I'm thinking it sounds more like a cheap gimmick than a legitimate attempt to promote the Deportes channel.

[WMR]

Originally Posted by Yachtzee

I realize ESPN Deportes is its own channel. In fact, they've advertised it on ESPN and other channels before. I would say that the problem with the Deportes segment would be that 1) if they're going for the Spanish-speaking population, they're better served by advertising the channel on other Spanish language channels rather than just dropping an English language segment into an English language show in a way that seems very patronizing, and 2) Why have the Spanish-speaking anchor doing an English language segment on a sports league with little connection to Latin America other than some Latin Americans play in the league. What WilyMo objects to is what he rightfully sees as ESPN relegating soccer coverage to a gimmick used to promote the Deportes channel in a way that is not likely to succeed. To me it sounds like all that other garbage they put on there like "The Budweiser Hotseat" and "Who's Now?" Now if they were to do a 5 minute segment of ESPN Deportes "en Espanol" on Sportscenter, I could see that as a useful means of promoting the channel to Spanish-speaking sports fans. I'll have to check out Sportscenter, but based on what I've heard, I'm thinking it sounds more like a cheap gimmick than a legitimate attempt to promote the Deportes channel.

::standing ovation::

Virtual rep headed your way for this post, Yacht. Very well put.

[IslandRed]

Originally Posted by Yachtzee

1) if they're going for the Spanish-speaking population, they're better served by advertising the channel on other Spanish language channels rather than just dropping an English language segment into an English language show in a way that seems very patronizing

Whether it's patronizing or not, I'll leave to the Hispanic population. I assume what ESPN is going for here is the bilingual population that watches SportsCenter but would also watch Deportes.

2) Why have the Spanish-speaking anchor doing an English language segment on a sports league with little connection to Latin America other than some Latin Americans play in the league.

Remember, you're watching the American version of SportsCenter. Why would you assume that bilingual Hispanics watching SportsCenter in the USA are only interested in Latin American soccer leagues? I'm not a big soccer fan, but my experience is that most big soccer fans are interested in the world game.

And also, while the segment may exist to increase awareness of Deportes, it is not being viewed only by that target audience.

What WilyMo objects to is what he rightfully sees as ESPN relegating soccer coverage to a gimmick used to promote the Deportes channel in a way that is not likely to succeed.

That's a very reasonable position.

What you have to ask, though, is whether non-MLS soccer coverage would be on SportsCenter at all if not for the opportunity to plug Deportes.