Jason Barrett and the state of sports media
The roots of American sports journalism stretch back to the 1820s when a handful of specialized publications focused on boxing and horse racing. Fast-forward to today and the sports journalism environment is one of the most lucrative in the media industry ”“ recent data from Mobily Foresights is predicting the U.S. sports media market will grow to $30.8 billion in 2027.
One of the most prominent figures shaping the depth and scope of today”™s sports media world is Jason Barrett, president of Wallkill-based Barrett Sports Media (BSM), a consultancy which helps the brands and individuals within this sector with their on-air, online and social media activities and presentations. Barrett is currently finishing his touches on this year”™s edition of BSM”™s Summit in Los Angeles ”“ this annual event is widely considered as the most prestigious business conference in the sport media industry, and Barrett is eager to deliver his best show to date.
“This is our fifth annual event and right now we’ve got over 40 professionals scheduled to speak at the show,” he said. “I’ve got a few more that I’m hoping to announce next week. When all is said and done, we should probably have 50-plus ”“ and it’s not just about the amount of people you have. Among the notables are Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks, Colin Cowherd [of Fox Sports Radio], Jim Rome [of CBS Sport Radio], Mina Kimes of ESPN and Joy Taylor of Fox Sports. We’ve got a strong mix of sports radio program directors ”“ these are the people who make all the key decisions across the country at a number of top stations.”
Barrett noted that the event “has just kind of grown year after year, and each year when I do it, it’s an exhausting process. But by the time you get to the two days, it’s pretty cool to see how it resonates with the people that come there.”
Barrett has more than a quarter-century of media business, beginning his career on Hudson Valley-area radio before joining ESPN Radio as a producer for several of its popular programs, most notably “The Dan Patrick Show.” He later launched and programmed before starting his business.
Looking at the current sports media landscape, Barrett viewed a sector that he found “healthy but cluttered,” with every possible media format creating content for the sports-hungry consumer.
“There’s more sports media content consumed now than ever,” he observed. “There’s a surplus of it everywhere you look, whether it’s radio, YouTube, Spotify, Apple, iTunes, television, the multiple channels in the streaming network. Everywhere you look, there’s sports media content available.”
“The challenge,” he continued, “is standing out in a cluttered field. When you look at the podcast space, it’s got millions of pieces of content available. The question is: can you get a large audience to pay attention to it? That’s the challenge every major radio and television station ”“ there”™s really healthy advertising, but at the same time it’s a very crowded field and only the great ones stand out.”
This, of course, leads to the ultimate question: What does it take to become great in this field?
“It starts with talent ”“ you have to have premium talent,” Barrett advised. “If you don’t, you could have a nice logo, you could have a great signal ”“ all of those things are great and you need them. But if you don’t have great talent, it’s a moot point.”
Complementary to that talent, Barrett stated, was on-air talent who play an active role in crafting and executive a digital strategy to “navigate these various platforms that are constantly changing.” He was cautious about a trend in recent years of sports commentators lacing political remarks into their on-air presentations, noting that while some media talent might be able to pull it off without polarizing audiences the core audience of sports fans “tend to want to consume sports talk in sports ”“ the banter and debate, because that’s what draws them.”
One consistent in the sport media world, according to Barrett, is the target audience ”“ these consumers are “always men, 25-54.” And while he noted that there has been “a stronger interest from women” over the last decade in sports media, gender parity is not on the near horizon in this landscape.
“In the grand scheme of things, men still dominate the discussion on the air, and they still dominate the amount of listening and consumption that goes on,” he said.
Outside of his BSM Summit, Barrett is focused on the publishing of his own resources, the online Barrett Sports Media and the non-sports-focused Barrett News Media. In September, he is hosting his first summit event for news media sector.
“And in between all that, I consult the number of sports stations around the country and media brands,” he said. “My day is always a combination of different things ”“ I’m listening to stations, I’m talking to clients, making sure my editors and my writers are working on stories that we think people are going to want to read. And then on top of that, I’ve got to build to conferences, and then come up with creative ideas along the way. So, there’s no day off, unfortunately. But it’s a good problem to have ”“ I’m doing something I love to do.”