ESPN: The world leader in destroying sports journalism with an AI slap in the face to fans.

There is no greater example of a con job at the crossroads of sports broadcasting and sports journalism than ESPN.

Then again, are they just the best at reading the room and understanding that when it comes to that intersection, most fans couldn’t care less as long as they get their games and their easy way to gamble away the mortgage?

I've been meaning to get around to this travesty for some time, so let’s first deal with the core of this “screw the fan” greed.

In yet another grim chapter of corporate greed and cost-cutting at the expense of quality, ESPN, under the watchful eye of its parent company, Disney, has taken the baffling, and frankly insulting, step of replacing some of its sportswriters with artificial intelligence.

Indeed, robots dishing out the news at the expense of real professionals.

The same sports network that brought you countless classic moments and compelling storytelling has now decided that a machine, devoid of passion, personality, or a single ounce of human understanding, can handle the job of informing fans about their favorite teams, players, and moments.

Let’s be clear about what’s happening here: this isn’t about innovation. This isn’t about ESPN making sports journalism more accessible or dynamic for fans.

This is about one thing and one thing only: money.

And by replacing human writers with algorithms and bots, ESPN and Disney are showing an alarming disregard for both their employees and their audience.

Greed Masquerading as Progress

The decision to replace writers with AI isn’t about improving content or efficiency; it’s about cutting costs and padding profit margins. Writers, particularly those with the experience and insight that make sports reporting engaging, don’t come cheap. They demand salaries, benefits, and occasionally inconvenient things like vacation time. AI, on the other hand, works 24/7 for the low, low price of a few server maintenance fees.

In other words, ESPN isn’t saving sports journalism. They’re butchering it in the name of corporate greed. Rather than investing in the talented journalists who have spent years honing their craft, learning the intricacies of the sports they cover, and building trust with their viewers and readers, ESPN is opting for the easy route.

Why pay for quality when you can pay for quantity?

Disney, already raking in billions annually, clearly decided that shaving a little more off the bottom line was more important than maintaining the integrity of their sports coverage. If you can cut 50 journalists and replace them with 50 bots, you’ve just saved a significant amount on salaries.

Never mind that these bots won’t have any real connection to the game or the people who play it. Never mind they night get the stats wrong, or have the soul of a touchpad.

The Human Element Matters

Sports, in their very essence, are human. They’re about drama, passion, heartbreak, and triumph. The writers who cover sports are responsible for capturing that human element, for telling the stories behind the box scores, for making fans feel connected to something larger than themselves. Can AI string together stats and results in a coherent fashion? Sure. But can it dig deep into the mind of a player who’s just suffered a crushing loss or a reporter who’s spent years following a team’s journey? Absolutely not.

Then again, ESPN and just about everyone else is always happy with putting what amounts to a human creampuff in the job of conducting player interviews. That, or yet another derrierre-smooching former jock who can be perfectly breathless without asking anything of intelligence.

Human writers bring nuance, perspective, and empathy. They can draw on years of watching a sport to provide context that an algorithm simply can’t replicate. They know the players, the coaches, the histories, and the rivalries that give sports their rich texture. AI, at best, can regurgitate data without understanding why any of it matters.

The decision by ESPN to replace real writers with bots is a direct insult to the fans. It’s like the network is saying, “Hey, we know you love sports, but we’re not going to bother giving you the best possible coverage. Instead, we’re going to hand you something cheap, something easy, because clearly, you don’t deserve better.” It’s an admission that ESPN doesn’t care about quality journalism, just about cutting costs wherever they can.

A Disservice to Sports Fans Everywhere. Or is it?

What does this mean for sports fans? It means a gradual erosion of quality. Sure, at first, the AI-generated content might seem fine. You’ll still get your recaps, your highlights, and maybe a little analysis here and there. But slowly, over time, you’ll start to notice what’s missing—the heart. The depth. The real insight that only comes from someone who’s been following the story for years.

Imagine reading a recap of a crucial playoff game, only to realize it’s nothing more than a glorified box score. No emotion. No deep dives into player performances. Just facts spit out by an algorithm that doesn’t know the first thing about why that game mattered to you as a fan.

Fans of niche sports—those that don’t draw the same massive ratings as football or basketball—are particularly vulnerable here. ESPN’s decision to automate some of its writing is essentially a message that these sports don’t matter enough to warrant actual human attention. If you’re a die-hard fan of something like volleyball or lacrosse, good luck getting thoughtful coverage moving forward. An algorithm can give you the score, but don’t expect any deep analysis.

But do the fans care? A growing number of those watching the games have been bred by the social media generational idiocy of babbling little more than rumor and innuendo as meaningful information. Tucked into that group are those who don’t give a single damn about what makes the games tick, so long as the betting odds are in line with a quick buck, and the official ESPN sports book is there to take every nickel it can, conflict of interest be damned.

The Inevitable Decline of Sports Journalism

This move by ESPN also points to the larger and more troubling trend in sports journalism. As more outlets chase profit over quality, we’re going to see more and more stories that are devoid of the rich human perspective that makes sports coverage so engaging. If ESPN, a titan in the industry, can get away with this, how long before other outlets follow suit?

Perhaps they already have. After all, FOX Sports relies on little more than hyperbolic babble from their roster of bubble-headed “experts”, and their website is nothing more than hyperbolic video screeching and ranting for the purpose of clicks. The last time anything intelligent crossed the FOX Sports website was when Methuselah was a baby.

At what point does all sports coverage become robotic, emotionless, and hollow? If ESPN can justify replacing their writers with AI, what’s stopping every other sports media outlet from doing the same? And when that happens, the fans, the very people who these companies claim to serve, will be the ones who suffer.

Conclusion: Fans Deserve Better

In the end, this is about respect. Respect for the journalists who have spent years building careers, and respect for the fans who deserve more than half-baked content created by an algorithm. ESPN’s decision to replace writers with AI is a slap in the face to everyone who values quality sports journalism. And while Disney and ESPN executives might be laughing all the way to the bank, sports fans everywhere will be the ones left holding the bag.

It’s time we demand better. Because if ESPN doesn’t care enough about the integrity of its journalism, why should we care about anything they produce?

But to be sure, first let’s answer the question: Do sports fans even care, or have I re-opened a Pandora’s Box that is little more than dusty memories inside?

Ed Berliner has been covering sports since ESPN was a ramshackle sports network operating out of a barn in Connecticut, which means his career started about the time he was 12. Having once worked for ESPN back in those early days, he realizes that after writing something like this, he may one day wake up and his ESPN+ subscription for watching his beloved Boston Bruins may vanish from his selections. Read more from Ed on sports, news, and opinion at the email newsletter "Shakedown Street", and then have him address your meeting, group, convention or classroom by contacting him for a personal appearance that will no doubt be more than a little raucous.