Award shows are a dying form of entertainment. And ESPN’s ESPYs have become the Detroit Lions of award shows, reaching a unique mark of futility at a time when all award shows are struggling.
It was thought that the 2020 ESPYs, left to flounder during the pandemic at a time when sports had stopped, might have been a victim of circumstance. The awards had 482,000 viewers last year, setting a new record low from the 1.98 million in 2018. But, while sports came back last year, the ESPYs audience did not: Only 1.1 million tuned in for the award show on Sunday.
The ESPYs had averaged around 2.6 million viewers from 1996-2014. The network then boosted the show’s ratings by giving Caitlyn Jenner the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2015. That show brought in 7.7 million viewers and, while the ESPYs had seen a gradual decline since, they still brought in 3.9 million viewers in 2019.
It wasn’t Jenner who tanked the ESPYs ratings: It was the network’s full-throated recent embrace of progressive politics, which viewers knew would infect its award show after it completely took over the network last summer. ESPN had social justice activist and soccer player Megan Rapinoe co-host the show in 2020. Viewers saw the writing on the wall, and most of them didn’t want to come back.
And the show did not leave politics in 2020. Footage of athletes protesting was shown during the show’s opening. University of Connecticut basketball star Paige Bueckers used her acceptance speech to thank black women, showing that the bizarre obsession with identity perseveres among athletes. The Arthur Ashe Courage Award went to WNBA star Maya Moore in part for, you guessed it, political activism.
.@MooreMaya is the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
Her story of sacrifice, courage and strength will forever inspire ❤️ pic.twitter.com/81MkFYBoVv
— ESPN (@espn) July 11, 2021
The floundering ratings aren’t unique to the ESPYs. The Golden Globes lost nearly two-thirds of its 2020 audience this year and was coincidentally dropped by NBC. The Oscars had fewer than 10 million viewers, setting a new record low. The Grammys lost 10 million viewers from 2020, also setting a record low.
But the futility of the ESPYs is notable in its own way. It’s the only prominent sports awards show outside of the NFL Honors, a show that is focused only on NFL awards. Its record-low 2.59 million viewers this year still dwarfed the ESPYs. ESPN is backed by Disney: Marvel actor Anthony Mackie hosted the event. And yet, the viewership for the show has almost completely disappeared.
The sight of celebrities palling around at fancy gatherings talking about how brave they are for pushing the same progressive talking points is no longer tolerable when you can simply check who won which award online. This is especially true for the world of sports, where fans have made it clear that they don’t want to see political diatribes.
