Nick McAdam, Staff Writer

A study by Statista last year confirmed that there was approximately 134 hours of sports television programming. About 107 million people consumed national sports coverage.

Despite ESPN being the most-viewed sports network, other forms of coverage have risen to popularity.

Utica College said there is an app for any sports information they are looking for. Forbes confirmed in 2016 two-thirds of the population in the United States get their sports news from a social media outlet such as Bleacher Report and The Score.

UC sophomore Hunter Remley gets his coverage from the two most-viewed organizations in sports media

“I get more sports coverage from Bleacher Report and SportsCenter because they’re the most widely recognizable and easily accessible on TV and social media,” Remley said.

Despite ESPN seeing a 7 percent decrease in daily views while it’s secondary channel, ESPN2, saw a 22 percent decline, Forbes reported that the sports network still got an average of over 180,000 views per day.

Leading the study was FOX Sports, who continue to see increases in their numbers because of their coverage of the World Series.

Pioneers baseball player Donovan Felder was a part of Fox’s increase in viewing numbers.

“I watched the World Series this past year,” he said. “I never really think about what network I’m watching on. The only time to think about FOX or CBS is when you think of the commentators like Joe Buck that separate the networks.”

Joe Buck is worth $15 million a year for his commentating of both football and baseball. Sports Illustrated noted that the duo of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman received the second-most NFL views on FOX in 2017, only topped by NBC commentators Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth.

“I wish Joe Buck would stick to baseball,” Felder said. “It seems like a lot of people don’t like his unusual bias towards winning teams on what should be a factual network.”

Soccer is growing in America as a recent Gallup Poll shows that the sport is only 2 percent behind baseball, especially among college students.

NBCSN recently got in on the action with their announcement to cover every Premier League event, whether it is on the television or through the mobile app.

 Utica freshmen Wyatt Cayer has also gotten into the action while watching his favorite Manchester United play on the weekends.

“Thankfully, I don’t have to watch the MLS every week,” Cayer said. “The level of competition is nowhere near the Premier League or United. I feel like NBC really cashed in on their deal with the EPL a couple of years ago” Cayer said.

Affiliate stations such as Utica’s WKTV cover local sports. WKTV covers Utica College sports and the AHL’s Utica Comets.

Although UC freshmen Kristin Clases sometimes gets her highlights through the local news station, she live streams Pioneers games as well.

“I stream the games when I’m bored or when a team is doing well,” Clases said. “It’s not on a regular basis for me to watch, but it’s still nice to see that the college provides this option.”

Streaming sports has been increasingly popular for the millennial generation. Adweek studies show that there was a 33% jump in ESPN’s streaming service alone in the past year.