There’s no question SportsCenter is a smaller part of the ESPN brand than it was in its heyday, and that the show has changed.
But SportsCenter:AM anchor Gary Striewski has been all over social media pushing back on the idea that the show is irrelevant or just another opinion show sucked up in sports narratives. In a recent TikTok video, Striewski responded directly to a commenter who was complaining that SportsCenter no longer showed highlights from the big games.
Striewski flashed his show prep for Thursday morning’s SportsCenter, noting that he gave highlights from Alabama-Missouri and Kentucky-Vanderbilt in men’s basketball.
“Don’t ask yourself where else you get this highlight besides Twitter (X) or these local, regional markets,” Striewski said. “Where else do you get these highlights, this collection of important stuff? Because we aggregate all the important stuff and deliver it to you in a nice, curated package called SportsCenter. Where else do you get this on a national scale?”
@thekimchipapi Replying to @Ayperos80 truly appreciate all the comments and passion from people. But if you say you haven’t watched ESPN “in X amount of years” how do you know what we do now? #foryou #espn #sportscenter ♬ original sound – Gary Striewski
Striewski acknowledged that many ESPN shows focus on similar stories in a a debate format. He even teased as he looked through his notes that he couldn’t find any Lakers or Cowboys sections, before realizing SportsCenter showed Lakers-Hornets highlights that day.
But while SportsCenter may not be the same as it was in the days of the Big Show with Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick or what it became under Stuart Scott, Striewski emphasized that the show still brings viewers value. In the thicket of social media feeds and recommendation algorithms, SportsCenter still delivers must-see sports highlights and news in an entertaining way.
“I do understand some of the people who might be disinterested,” Striewski said. “But to those people I would say, maybe give us another try. Maybe for the people who are like, ‘I haven’t watched ESPN or SportsCenter in five years, in seven years, in 10 years … just give us another try, man. We’re not all in the box that you think we’re checking.”
At some point amid the growth of X, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, the habit of sports fans turning on SportsCenter faded away. But if Scott Van Pelt’s viewership numbers and the value of sports highlight rights are any indication, people still want to see what’s up with their favorite teams and leagues.
After all these years, people like Striewski still work to bring us exactly that.
