Skip to main content
SI

Golf Fans Aren’t Thrilled With ESPN Shoving Jason Kelce Down Their Throats

The trend of networks using random people as talent on sporting events is a problem.
Jimmy Traina|
Jason Kelce always seems up for getting wacky.
Jason Kelce always seems up for getting wacky. | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

1. It seems sports fans are finally getting fed up with networks doing everything they can to cater to the fringe fan instead of the real fan.

We saw it last week when there was massive backlash to Netflix’s awful presentation of the Yankees-Giants game that featured comedian Bert Kreischer, football player Jameis Winston and WWE wrestlers.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Now comes the news that Jason Kelce will be part of ESPN’s coverage of the Masters next week.

There is an important caveat here. Kelce is expected to work the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday. It does not appear he will be part of the coverage once the actual tournament gets started on Thursday.

Even so, a large portion of golf fans don’t want to see a former NFL center anywhere near the biggest major of the year.

Throw in the fact that Kelce is overexposed at the moment and you have the perfect storm for push back.

A few things on this: Again, Kelce will appear on ESPN for the Par 3 Contest, not the actual Masters, so this isn’t the end of the world. But it does seem like sports fans are getting sick and tired of networks openly showing that they are not a priority anymore. The priority is to appeal to the social media crowd and generate stupid videos for TikTok and Instagram Reels.

Kelce will wear some wacky outfit, or maybe take his shirt off, and ESPN will post it all over the place. Mission accomplished. That’s what this is about in addition to the fact that his future sister-in-law is Taylor Swift. There is a 0% chance that Jason Kelce would be anywhere near ESPN’s Masters coverage if that wasn’t the case. Remember when ESPN gave him a late-night show? Again, do you think that happens if he’s not connected to one of the most popular people in the world with a rabid fan base?

While I fully understand everyone’s frustration with networks being hell-bent on ruining events for real fans (just read this), this trend is only going to get worse, not better.

The posts above say it all. Nobody wants this. But that doesn’t matter. Getting a Swiftie to tune in or having a video of Kelce acting “crazy” get views on social media is what matters.

2. The UConn-Duke game being a blowout for about 75% of the time ended up hurting the viewership number for CBS on Sunday.

The game averaged just 13.4 million viewers. However, viewership did peak with 18.9 million for the conclusion.

The early window on Friday actually averaged more viewers than the UConn-Duke game.

3. If you’re a baseball fan, you’ve likely seen this blown call by umpire C.B. Bucknor on Tuesday.

What’s stunning here isn’t that Bucknor blew the call. It’s that he wasn’t even looking at first base to make the call.  The Brewers’ broadcast crew was great here on expressing their disbelief with what just happened.

4. Mets sideline reporter Steve Gelbs debuted a new segment Tuesday night in which he will review hot dogs from every road ballpark. Things did not get off to a great start in St. Louis, with Gelbs unable to hide his disgust with the gross glizzy.

5. I say this with all seriousness. I need someone, anyone, to explain to me how this is supposed to be a funny April Fool’s joke. Please. I need to know.

6. We dropped two SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcasts for you last week.

NBC’s Jason Benetti joined me to talk about becoming the voice of Sunday Night Baseball, getting called into emergency duty on the NCAA tournament, an unusual entry on his Wikipedia page and much more.

In addition, SNY broadcasters Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling appeared on the podcast to talk about their popularity among Mets fans, the unfortunate circumstances of getting shut out of the playoffs, analytics on a broadcast and more. Plus, Hernandez talked about Seinfeld.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Bruce Springsteen opened his latest tour in Minneapolis on Tuesday night, so given the location, The Boss did a cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” It was very good.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published | Modified
Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

Home/Media