Tennis.com Overhaul Ends Written Commentary
The Tennis.com website is undergoing a complete rebuild that has removed all written commentary from journalists like Steve Tignor and Pete Bodo, shifting
Tennis.com has been stripped of its written journalism in a site overhaul, leaving only scores and rankings. The move ends the platform's run as a home for commentary from writers like Steve Tignor and Pete Bodo.
Initially the online site of Tennis Magazine, Tennis.com is now under a complete rebuild by its owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group. Jill Dortheimer, vice-president of communications for the Tennis Channel, which is merged with the site, stated the priority is now to deliver fast match schedules, scores, and draws. She did not respond to queries about plans to reintroduce written commentary.
The End of an Era
Tennis Magazine started in 1965, with Tennis.com launching in 1996. The print magazine lasted until 2022. Steve Tignor told the Guardian he had feared this day for 25 years. He noted that having Tennis.com owned by a broadcaster like Tennis Channel was not a perfect scenario, as they have intrinsically different goals.
The Guardian report suggests Sinclair may be more interested in having its on-air announcers debate gambling odds for advertisers than in maintaining independent website commentary. This shift leaves American tennis fans with one major source for full-time tennis writers: The Athletic, owned by the New York Times, which employs Matthew Futterman.
A Vanishing Media Landscape
Once, American tennis fans had a plethora of dedicated publications. Tennis Magazine, World Tennis Magazine, and Tennis Week thrived during the 1970s and 80s tennis boom. Many newspapers also had dedicated tennis writers filing from Grand Slams. That ecosystem has now largely collapsed.
Steve Flink, a Hall of Fame journalist, believes older tennis followers thirst for good writing. But he says younger fans seem to only want videos. He argues scant media coverage feeds into this problem. Flink contrasts the U.S. With the UK, where major newspapers still employ tennis beat writers and maintain significant readership.
The Threat to Independent Voices
Without independent voices, media risks becoming an extension of the tournaments it televises and a slave to advertisers. The report cites a recent piece by The Athletic's Matthew Futterman exposing the US Open's pricing policy as the type of accountability journalism that becomes rarer.
The pivot to visual and audio programming threatens the written word. Studies show people process information more comprehensively and have better recall when reading text versus watching video. The future of insightful tennis analysis in the U.S. Looks uncertain as AI-generated content spreads. Steve Flink fears the battle for substantive coverage could be permanently lost.
Source: The Guardian