The No. 1 ranked team in college baseball’s preseason poll will have some rather restrictive policies regarding the media’s access to players.
The top-ranked Texas A&M Aggies baseball team began its season with a 4-2 win over Elon on Friday. That likely came as a relief for reporters covering the team, who are seemingly now dependent on wins and losses to determine their access to players.
According to media policies posted on Texas A&M’s website, the team’s players “will not be made available following a loss.”
Sam Khan Jr., a college football writer for The Athletic, brought attention to the team’s policy via a social media post on Saturday.
This is a first in my years of covering college sports: Texas A&M baseball’s media policy states that players won’t be made available for interviews after losses.
It’s currently on their web site: https://t.co/cNhkvpnjSi
Any reporters out there experience this elsewhere?
— Sam Khan Jr. (@skhanjr) February 15, 2025
It should go without saying, but this policy helps no one. It doesn’t help the media whose job it is to cover the team accurately and fairly. It doesn’t help the fans who want to consume coverage of the team, which includes access to the players. And it doesn’t help the players, many of whom will go on to play professionally and need to give interviews regardless of if they win or lose.
Khan goes on to say that this follows a recent trend he’s noticed with Texas A&M football offering restricted access to its players, at least compared to other programs.
Disclaimer: I don’t cover college baseball, but this was brought to my attention by someone on the local A&M beat. I don’t know why A&M took this step.
But it aligns with a trend I’ve seen in recent years of A&M offering less access (at least in football) than its counterparts.
— Sam Khan Jr. (@skhanjr) February 15, 2025
This is a pretty Bush League move from the Aggies, who, if their current ranking is representative of the true quality of the team, shouldn’t have to give too many interviews after losses anyway.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.