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Growing up in North Dakota in the 1980s as a baseball player, I became a huge fan of the Atlanta Braves because of one main reason: access.
Almost every game was on TV (TBS, the Superstation). It was appointment viewing, even when the teams were unspeakably bad. Want highlights? Well, there was This Week In Baseball. Or, if the NFL was more your thing, there were the halftime highlights during Monday Night Football.
That viewing reality feels both familiar and as though it never happened. It is in such contrast to how things work in 2022, when virtually every live event is available in some format and all highlights are instantly repackaged on countless platforms if you don't have the time or that much interest in sitting through an entire event.
It made me curious: What are the sports watching habits of the teenage athlete and sports fan now?
So in an unscientific but still (hopefully) meaningful way, I asked several of them that question on Tuesday at the Star Tribune's All-Metro Sports Awards. (Full coverage of the winners and events is here, if you missed it).
The short answer: Probably a lot like how many of us consume sports in 2022 — with the difference being this is the only viewing reality a sports fan in his or her teens has ever known. You can find their full answers on Friday's Daily Delivery podcast.
Here are a few samples of what they had to say:
*Miles Akhigbe, Wayzata soccer, graduated senior: "It depends on the sport. I'm a soccer fan, a football fan, a big sports fan in general. If it's a soccer game, I'm watching the full game on TV. Same with football. Also on TikTok and social media you see highlights and little clips. ... In this day and age, you can see anything you want. It's kind of normal these days."
*Avery Jesewitz, Wayzata volleyball, junior-to-be: "One of my biggest things is being a student of the game and I think it's important to watch other people. Not every volleyball player does watch it, but everybody should. ... I do a lot of YouTube. I feel like you can almost find anything on YouTube. ... I like watching it live, but also if I'm trying to find something specific I'll look up a skill and find a professional doing that skill."
*Adam Tebbs, Southwest Christian soccer and baseball, graduated senior: "Soccer games, every Loons game I'm probably here (Allianz Field). If not, I'm watching on TV. Same with other MLS and Premier League games. If I miss a game, then I'm going to watch the highlights of it either on YouTube or Instagram. Baseball is a tough sport to watch and endure through. But normally if it's a game I really want to watch, I'll watch on ESPN or something. If not, I'm probably just watching the highlights on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube."
