Does the media affect professional athletes?

Question

I think that when paparazzi follow you to everywhere and the media invents stuff about you, it is hard as an athlete to stay foscused on your objective. My best example is David Beckham which was sold form Manchester United in 2003 because of the media.

Answer 1

Attention kind of comes with the territory when you are making millions of dollars and idolized by millions of people. There are all sorts of pressure on athletes, and this is another example of it.

However, the actual cases where the media actually drives a decision on personnel are few and far between. I used to work in pro sports, and they would avoid some moves just because they don't want the appearance that the media could dictate actions. I don't know what happened with Beckham, but as I recall he was making a lot of money, his performance had dropped a bit, and Man U got a huge transfer fee.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, the media affects anyone it touches and usually not in a good way. The media needs to learn to just report the news, not make the news happen.