61. How well does the analogy between sports and politics work?

This Digiday article today about us notes that both share:

• key players,
• a story arc,
• big audiences, and
• a big reveal at the end.

Keep going. Where does the analogy end? Can you think of more similarities? And can you think of some differences? Beyond sports and politics, what else shares these key features? Does news in general — not just politics — have “stadium moments”?

If you’re a reporter and you buy into this analogy, what should you do differently, if anything? Can it make you sharper in your reporting, and help sharpen your perspective of your sources and audience? Are there any externalities to making this analogy? Does it make news coverage sound more like a horse race, or wrestling match, or war (Trump hits Cruz, Ben Carson blasts RNC, FOX News shot back at Trump, Ted Cruz tackles the Wall Street Journal, Palin explodes, Cruz leaps, GOP candidates start limping, Trump killed the GOP)? Even if it does, is there anything wrong with that?

And assuming that the analogy works, to what extent can that translate to similar monetization strategies? Can this be a solution for monetizing coverage of politics? Where does that break down, if at all? Thought exercise: if we were to hire an advertising representative from ESPN, what skills/vocabulary would transfer, and what would be different?

Finally, can technology from coverage of sports be repurposed for coverage of politics? If ESPN can easily and quickly surface any stat about sports, can that technology be used to help report stats on politics (see the Trevor Noah video below and here)?

To appeal to news-wary advertisers, Politico borrows from sports

Digiday (Lucia Moses)

February 1, 2016

Politico is trying to … [get] advertisers to think of its political coverage as if it’s another big sporting event like the Super Bowl. After all, both share key players, a story arc, big audiences and a big reveal at the end. Politics just has a brand problem.

Starting today for the Iowa caucuses, the site is rolling out a new visual presentation for its election coverage that’s reminiscent of sports coverage. It’s even calling the treatment “Stadium Moments.” Home page visitors spike during big political events, so the treatment is designed with them in mind. For side-door traffic, there will be a banner pointing people to the full event coverage.

Trevor Noah: African American — Sports in America

YouTube — Trevor Noah

January 22, 2015

You guys love your sports out here. I have never seen more focus put on sports anywhere else in the world. Americans love their sports, back-to-front. You analyze them, you worship them, you watch the game before the game, you watch the game after the game, you talk about what might happen in the game, you talk about what’s happening in the game and then you talk about what happened in the game and what could have and might have but didn’t happen in the game. It’s just the craziest thing I’ve seen in my life. … It’s crazy you know everything, you know everything.

And then you switch over to your business channels and your economy and you’re like, “What’s happening in the economy this year, Bob?” “Well, no- nobody knows. Nobody knows. Hahaha. We thought the housing market was coming up, but it wasn’t. Hahaha. But hey, I mean, that’s economy. You never know, right? You never know.” “What about stocks?” “Well, I guess you know stocks, they’re up and down. I don’t really know, they’re up and down. They could go anywhere. Those are stocks, they could go anywhere.” But the sports, you know, you need to flip that around, get the statistics on the economy, just relax on sports, just have fun.

President Obama gives Jerry Seinfeld a pretty good football analogy

By The Washington Post (Cindy Boren)

December 31, 2015

Seinfeld: “What sport is politics? Is it chess? Is it liar’s poker?”

Obama: “That’s interesting. That was a good question. It’s probably most like football.”

Seinfeld: “Football.”

Obama: “Yeah. Because a lot of players. A lot of specialization. A lot of hitting.”

Seinfeld: “A lot of attrition.”

Obama: “A lot of attrition. But then every once in a while you’ll see an opening. You hit the line, you get one yard. You try a play, you get sacked, now it’s like third and 15. But every once in a while — you have to punt a lot — but every once in a while you’ll see a hole and then there’s open field.”