The other problem I think ESPN has is that they&#x27;ve dumbed down their content a bit, in an appeal to the masses.  Now hardcore sports fans are moving to other venues to follow sports because ESPN isn&#x27;t what it used to be.<p>Sports subreddits are a prime example of how hardcore fans are finding more focused and higher quality venues to follow sports.  The comments on r&#x2F;NFL or r&#x2F;NBA seem to be of a much higher quality than those on espn.com.  As you said, over time it means fans just use those sites as their sports portal rather than espn.com or Sportscenter.