By Roshini Ellis

Sports media has a serious problem; it is too focused on the negative. A recent report has found that 39% of global audiences actively avoid the news because of how negative its tone is. This poses a significant challenge for sports media, which is already struggling with declining youth engagement, with only 31% of 18-24 year olds watching live matches.

But it gets worse, the issue extends far beyond a decline in audience numbers, it also impacts the very athletes who are the target of negative coverage. The National Basketball Association (NBA) offers a compelling case in point, where reportedly negative press has sparked concerns about the league's future as they struggle to find the next face of the NBA.

“Why do you want to be the face of the league when all the people that cover our game and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis s***t on everybody?” - Lebron James.

Here Lebron’s statement underscores how negative media narratives can disincentivize athletes and potentially harm the future of sport culture.

How does this negativity impact the audience?

Research has shown that the negative subjective opinions of sports commentators can significantly impact spectator behavior. For instance, when commentators express criticism toward a certain team, this directly increases audience rejection of those teams. Consider, for example, the actions of former radio host Martin Sheargold, who took to the air to voice his overly negative and misogynistic views about the Matildas, Australia's women's football team, after their loss to the US in the SheBelieves Cup.

Sheargold's abuse of his platform reinforced misogyny within the sports sphere, a negative phenomenon that has been tirelessly fought to eradicate. His commentary conveyed to a primetime audience that it was permissible to express such views, thus facilitating the spread of misogyny to listeners at home. Although Sheargold has since been dismissed, unfortunately, the damage had already been done.

Negative commentary has also been shown to intensify feelings of disappointment and frustration following defeats, potentially amplifying hostile emotions among viewers. This negativity is particularly influential on younger, more impressionable audiences who may internalize these attitudes, affecting their long-term behavioral development and social interactions.

England Fans seen fighting during the European Championship final in 2024 (Source:The Telegraph)

However, negativity in sports coverage doesn’t only occur when an athlete makes a mistake or a team is defeated - it has found a way to creep into winning moments too. Take for example when England defeated Scotland to win the Calcutta Cup at the Six Nations for the first time in five years. Despite winning, the England team faced criticism from the press.

“We won and people are still upset…” Ellis Genge, England’s Prop told the Guardian furth stating that the team had been “slandered” whether they won or lost by a point: “it feels like we can’t win, to be honest. That’s how I feel. It’s like, damned if you do, damned if you don’t”.

This constant barrage of criticism, even in victory, paints a stark picture of the relentless pressure athletes face. This raises the question:

How do athletes cope with the negativity?

It’s no surprise that negativity in sports media coverage significantly impacts both an athletes' mental health and their performance. For example, media scrutiny was shown to create immense pressure, with 75% of participants reporting media-induced stress.

This pressure manifests in real-world consequences, as seen with Naomi Osaka's withdrawal from the 2021 French Open after citing how press conferences made athletes doubt themselves. Taking to social media, Osaka wrote:

“I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes' mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one”.

“I’m just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me. I’ve watched many clips of athletes breaking down after a loss in the press room…I believe that the whole situation is kicking a person while they’re down.”

Even long after the athletes have left the pitch, post-event criticism can leave them demotivated to continue training, highlighting the need for more supportive media practices in sports.

Given these profound negative impacts on both audience perception and athlete well-being, it brings into focus: Why does this negativity persist, and why are we, as consumers, often drawn to it?

The psychology behind negativity in sports media

Despite such harmful consequences of overly negative narratives within sports media, why do we continue to engage with it? Why is it that we easily remember the footballer who missed the penalty, the cricketer who missed a simple catch, or a golfer failing to get onto the green?

The answer is negativity bias: the tendency for our brains to remember and attend to negative stimuli over positive stimuli.

So why does negativity bias occur?

Psychologists argue that we have our ancestors to blame…

Psychologists propose that throughout our evolutionary history, those who learnt that a stimulus was a threat, such as a predator, a poisonous fruit, a steep cliff, were the ones who survived. The ones who survived were then able to pass on their genes. After approximately six million years of this evolutionary process, the brain became hardwired to avoid threats and negative consequences at all cost. Although this was great for survival for our ancestors, fast forward to modern day where we are rarely being chased by a predator, our negatively hard wired brain can be a hindrance.

The Brain's Response to Negativity

The Cerebral Cortex

The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of your brain that handles important functions like thinking, memory, emotions, and problem-solving. Research has shown that this part of the brain reacts more strongly when we see negative pictures compared to positive ones. This stronger reaction helps explain why bad news tends to impact us more deeply than good news - our brains are literally paying more attention to the negative information.

The Amygdala

The amygdala is one of the most primitive parts of our brain and is often called our emotional control center. Brain scans have revealed that while the amygdala responds to both positive and negative experiences, it shows significantly more activity when we encounter negative situations. This means our emotional response is naturally stronger toward negative events.

Amygdala activity, as seen in fMRI identified by the cross Source Sanchez et al., 2015

Hardwired for Negativity: The Impact of Negative Bias on Sports Coverage

This neurological predisposition towards negativity directly shapes how sports media is both created and consumed. Sports commentators, journalists, and producers, who all share the same evolutionary hardwiring as their audience, instinctively gravitate toward negative narratives.

When a commentator focuses intensely on a player's mistake or a team's collapse, they're responding to the same primal neural pathways that once protected our ancestors from threats. In the same way, audiences are more likely to remember and engage with negative coverage. This creates a feedback loop where media outlets, recognising that negative content drives engagement, produce increasingly critical coverage.

However, understanding this bias doesn't mean we must surrender to it. While our brains may be predisposed to negativity, we possess the capacity for awareness and conscious choice. By recognising how negativity bias influences sports media, we can develop more balanced perspectives as creators and consumers.

How can we overcome negative bias?

It’s not all doom (scrolling) and gloom. We have the power to change the narrative and break our evolutionary habit of getting stuck on negative news. As outlined, negativity bias is concerned with where we direct our attention. By directing more of our conscious attention toward the positive events and feelings we experience, we can begin to be more aware of and call out the negative bias.

Here are some sports news sources, clubs and programs that can help bring some positivity back into your life.

Default positive

In a media landscape dominated by criticism and controversy, Default Positive emerges as a refreshing voice, championing the inherent joy and inspiration found within the world of sports. This rapidly growing channel, evidenced by its enthusiastic following, actively counters the prevailing negativity, by spotlighting uplifting achievements, acts of sportsmanship, and the sheer fun of athletic competition. While committed to maintaining a positive lens, Default Positive doesn't shy away from addressing crucial issues like athlete mental health and the need for positive team cultures, approaching these topics with constructive intent and a focus on fostering meaningful change within the sporting community.

Gals FC

Founded in 2022 following the Lionesses' Euro victory, Gals FC is a women's football club challenging traditional competitive structures by not keeping score. Their philosophy centres on creating a community built on enjoyment, camaraderie, and empowerment. Receiving praise from England forward Alessia Russo who commended the clubs "vibe protectors" for making football accessible and enjoyable for women and gender non conforming people who previously might have felt excluded from the sport.

Ahead of the Game

Ahead of the Game uses sport to help young athletes gain the skills and knowledge that underpin good mental health and resilience.

By integrating quality mental health support within sports programs, it aims to improve wellbeing, particularly for marginalised groups disproportionately affected by mental health issues. This initiative emphasises partnership, learning, and providing organisations with the tools to create lasting, positive change at the intersection of sport and mental health.

A Call for a Positive Future for Sports Media

Despite the prevalence of negativity in sports media, we must remember what truly draws us to the game: the thrill of competition, the camaraderie of teams, and the overarching sense of community it brings. Understanding our inherent negativity bias empowers us to consciously push back against overly critical narratives. The future of sports culture hinges on our willingness to demand a more balanced and supportive media landscape, one that celebrates achievements, fosters positive environments, and ultimately preserves the joy and inspiration that sport is meant to ignite.

References:

THE NEGATIVITY CRISIS IN SPORTS MEDIA: ITS IMPACT ON ATHLETES, FANS, AND THE FUTURE OF SPORT