Boycott ESPN/Athletic - A Rallying Cry

I dropped ESPN+.  It will not impact me at all since I rarely used it.  Glad to have the couple coffees worth of cash back. I hope more can find it righteous to do so.  I wish I could pay as I go, like renting a movie, for Michigan games on Big Ten Network.  I would cancel any of that as well.

I had already canceled the Athletic for related reasons several months ago.  I don't have ESPN+ 

IPTV is your answer. Watch away on all ESPN networks, without paying them a dime.

Athletic sucked and cancelling with them was a PIA.

Seriously......it is at least a full news day since the story broke (weeks since Thamel knew about it) regarding the revelation of evidence showing B1G coaches colluding to steal and share Michigan signs and there is absolutely nothing about it on their site. I searched....nothing.

How blatantly biased can you get? It is being reported everywhere else, the NCAA and B1G have the evidence.......crickets. 

Rece Davis: Narrative that ESPN is out to get Jim Harbaugh is ‘ridiculous’ https://t.co/obunYWjIxu

pic.twitter.com/YbPmXd7E4F

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 7, 2023

Hardly defensible when Thamel and who knows who else sat on this weeks ago and still refuse to report on it. 

Cannot wait to hear how he feels when there is actual evidence of people out to get him.

Hammer him online.

ESPN couldn't make it more obvious how biased they are rn. Simultaneously all their talking heads come out with the same anti-Michigan narrative last week, while all their writers continue to only represent one side of the story

I’ve never subscribed to the Athletic, and for general cost reasons I went to the lowest tier of Comcast in A2 (which doesn’t include ESPN) about 2 years ago.

I understand the desire to exact some retribution, but boycotts rarely amount to anything that the target company feels. Insofar as ESPN is concerned, canceling a subscription to its TV offerings usually means giving up a lot of other channels because there’s no a la carte cable packages. Most people aren’t willing to go that far.

I haven't turned on or consulted ESPN for ages. It seems to me that about 20 years ago they decided to choose the most irritating content and personalities possible just to piss of as many viewers as they could. Even the guy who does their network introductions and transitions has one of the worst, most fake-drama broadcast voices on television.

No use for them - may they rot in the hell of defunct sports organizations ...

Done.  For Hockey, I will access NHL.com and local fan sites.  For football, NFL.com and local fan sites.  Etc. etc.  Finished with ESPN and never began with the Athletic.  

Just removed the ESPN app from my phone, and added The Score app, as recommended by someone above. 

Fuck ESPN, fuck all biased and agenda driven entities (regardless of the Agenda).

Unpopular opinion but I don't think these sites are necessarily entirely biased by one school or another, their slant is towards sensationalism as it will draw the largest amount of clicks/attention to each story. AND, to be fair, this is a really interesting story as it has captured the national conversation for multiple weeks.

There is fair criticism as to the standard of reporting that both sites have accepted, but I believe that they would apply this to any school if the story were potentially big enough. For example, I remember the Bernie Fine story at Syracuse basketball about 10 years back in the wake of the Sandusky scandal, and how that ended up being a false accusation.

These aren't the only news outlets that operate this way... and once you recognize that it makes their content slightly more palatable IMO.

Done and done

I very rarely trot this out and I mostly lurk here, but... I have a very reliable source that says MI very specifically leaked this story to Thamel, just to see what he would do with the information.

The silence from him/ESPN on the recently leaked information about other schools sharing information is deafening. 

I very rarely trot this out and I mostly lurk here, but... I have a very reliable source that says MI very specifically leaked this story to Thamel, just to see what he would do with the information.

The silence from him/ESPN on the recently leaked information about other schools sharing signals is deafening. 

I think I can do this. At first, I thought I couldn't live without ESPN, but then I remembered TMZ still exists.

All good. 

Already canceled my ESPN eyes!!!

ND fans have it good.  All of their games are on NBC / Peacock.  One channel or subscription instead of 5.

I wonder how much a network would pay for exclusive broadcast rights to Michigan football?  At least as much as ND gets, and they're not exactly hurting for cash.

Fuck the Big 10.

I only watch ESPN on pirated streams. v2.sportsurge.net

Also, fuck Rece Davis.

I barely watch or read ESPN as it is due to the content sucking.  I mostly stopped watching GameDay a few years ago when it became an SEC love fest.   And the talking head shows are all nauseating.   I mostly just watch NFL live, Daily Wager and occasionally some hockey coverage.  

I haven't had any use for ESPN since "The Decision" back in 2010.

Sportscenter used to be a great show for sports news and highlights. It has now become nothing but HAWT TAKES, stupid shit and a vehicle for promoting other Disney properties.

I cancelled my Athletic subscription a bit ago when I realized it was costing me money to never read the email newsletter or read mediocre coverage of teams I care about.  I'm sure they're solid enough writers at spots but (a) I already pay for the NYT so it feels like double-dipping by them, and (b) once you watch sports for a while you pick up on the "nuanced" stuff they peddle organically and so what you're left with are mediocre takes and the same beat writers I didn't enjoy when they were at local papers.

I want to support journalism and if there was a way, like I do here with donations, to support products I got value from I would.  But making sure Steward Mandel gets a steady paycheck isn't on my list of priorities.

ESPN's college sports coverage outside of Bill Connelly has been pretty shitty for a while; Rece Davis is such a bore on Gameday and Pat McAffee's loud WWE schtick wears out quickly if he's not in the ring.  

What ESPN and The Athletic did is an affront to sports journalism. I’ve been campaigning for Thamel to be added to the list of banned media sources on this site. It is obvious he has no interest in the truth when it doesn’t suit his interests. 

I cancelled the Athletic last month when the story first started breaking and they were at the epicenter.  I like their coverage of other stuff, but I had prepaid for a year.  I provided my reasons for cancelling, as I am sure many other KFATAs did.

I don't watch college GameDay, but I believe UM has an advocate on that panel. Hopefully he pushes back.

Disney from a media side of things (Film, Television, Streaming) have been doing horribly the past few years. Their IP and Theme Parks still are strong, but they are in a very bad spot when it comes to their media. ESPN is among the biggest anchors to their bottom line. An actual targeted boycott on top of the ever growing cord cutting…could sink them.

Why people think the athletic is good was beyond me their stories always seemed to have a slant and honestly slant in sports reporting annoys me.  

I'll cancel the Athletic today. But how do others watch Red Wings without ESPN+?

I just deleted the app.  After a chat with the family, all things Disney may be on the table.

I stopped watching ESPN years ago. I wanted to watch sports, they wanted to be political. 

Screw them.

I've never paid for any subscription service for sports news/boards, and viewership of anything on ESPN is already bare bones, but I applaud the effort and hope it gains relevant traction. Go Blue!

Can someone help me with what the Athletic did? I posted some content from there there other day and got crucified. I know there's been a lot of bad reporting on signgate but i'm not exactly tracking which outlets have done what. 

I am a subscriber to the Athletic, but only because it's something I could spend some leftover work wellness bucks on last December. Haven't decided about renewing yet. 

I'm not arguing with the point here, just trying to get up to speed on what they did. 

I get the impulse, but I think more of my issue is with college football generally. It's just not fun anymore.

This is the best Michigan team in a generation, and yet we're awash in so much bullshit.

ESPN is becoming a financial anchor. Shrinking margins and op profit will make it increasingly difficult for them to bid and win major broadcasting contracts. That will force them to cut more hacks such as Thamel and Reece Davis. Don't watch and don't click so their management knows who to terminate in their next round of layoffs.

We removed ESPN as a channel from our ROKU feed a few months back. ESPN offers zero value.

WELP. That won't be hard. Considering, I all thought they both suck and never referenced them.

Just today Pat Mcafee and Stephen A both basically called for UM to be barred from the CFP. Boycott them all. 

But where will I get my WNBA coverage??

I have been trying to move away from ESPN - what is a good one stop shop to get general sporting news?  I read very little now a days and mostly go to just see scores and rankings...

Yaup, Im done.  I never was an athletic guy, and my Gameday watching stopped about two years ago...but Im done going to ESPN.com/app for any sports related shit.  Its over for me, what a farse of an outlet. 

Im full in on Bleacher Report