When you watch sports broadcasts, you yearn for a simple experience. You want to know two things: What channel/platform the event is on and what time it starts. Those details shouldn’t require further investigation.
Unfortunately, as the media landscape evolves, watching sports has become a more complicated process.
Adding to the confusion is the need to figure out exactly when you have to tune in. The all-too-common practice of misrepresenting the start times of games in on-air promos is maddening.
Television networks are taking the fun out of sports by giving us misleading information.
If you’re like most adults, you have limited bandwidth in your day—sometimes planning your entire schedule around enjoying your favorite sport. How irritating is it when you’re ready to cheer for your team only to realize that the game won’t start for another hour, and you’re stuck with a pregame show?
The game is at 6pm ET FWIW pic.twitter.com/fKxSrcDvBa
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 26, 2024
There was a time when pregame shows were a vital part of the televised sports experience. Before social media, it was the place to catch up with the latest news about the game you were about to watch. These days, pregame shows focus more on analysis, predictions, and features, which is perfectly fine. But many of us just want to get to the action as soon as possible.
When promos tell us the game or match starts at 5 p.m. ET when in reality it begins at 6, that feels like a bait-and-switch.
The solution is simple. Networks could include the phrase “coverage starts at (time)” in their promos and add the actual start time. We live in an on-demand society. This shouldn’t be a difficult ask.
When Fox tells you both soccer finals are on Sunday and puts times up, you have no idea when kickoff for either will be.
They say it is at 1 p.m. and I believe it begins at 3.
It is so disrespectful and I don't get how it is good business to build distrust.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 9, 2024
When it comes to this practice, one network has received a lot of attention.
On Tuesday, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic called out Fox for promoting the UEFA Euro 2024 final with a 1 p.m. ET start time when kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. The senior sports media writer wrote on X: “It is so disrespectful and I don’t get how it is good business to build distrust.”
He’s not the only one miffed with Fox. New York Times editor Andrew Das describes himself on X as a “Kickoff time truther.” He regularly posts information about misleading promos.
When Awful Announcing reached out to Das seeking comment, he replied via a direct message on X: “‘Telling viewers and fans when an event starts feels like a low bar, and the right thing to do.”
Awful Announcing also reached out to a Fox spokesperson for comment. As of Thursday, there had been no response.
Preeeeaaaach. https://t.co/J4eoqtPojC
— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) June 23, 2024
This issue is not new, and not unique to Fox. In 2020, Awful Announcing wrote about the practice in football promos, citing Thursday Night Football on NFL Network and Sunday Night Football on NBC. But in recent years, Fox has caught the most noticeable flack.
In 2022, Marchand wrote: “Fox Sports dishonestly promotes the World Cup start times. It is disrespectful, though, not unexpected.” Last year, Derek Reese of World Soccer Talk described the practice as “annoying.”
Ultimately, the complaints seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. There hasn’t been an adjustment. Networks likely want to squeeze as many commercials as possible into their broadcast. By telling viewers an event starts at 5 p.m. when it begins at 6, they can boost pregame show ratings, which will lead to more dollars down the road.
Small thing (among many) that bothers me about Fox and their soccer coverage is if you tuned in to THEIR channel today you'd assume this match kicks off at 7et.
Kickoff isn't until 8et.
Artificially boosting your pregame viewership numbers at viewer expense is very cool. pic.twitter.com/wOALTEukm2
— mikey (@mikeyfowler18) June 20, 2024
Is the extra revenue worth bothering loyal viewers? It must be. Otherwise, this practice would have been universally banned.
People may complain, but they’re not turning off the game. They’re just not sure when exactly to tune in. And that’s the problem.