Disturbing the Balance? How Team Media Position Themselves in the Digital Communication Ecology of Sports.

This article examines the evolving relationship between team media—digital content producers employed by sports organizations—and traditional sports journalism within the shifting sports/media communication ecology. Based on interviews with 28 team media reporters from Austria and the United States, the study finds that team media professionals view their roles as complementary rather than competitive to sports journalists, emphasizing their privileged access to teams and focus on fan engagement while acknowledging the normative and investigative functions of traditional journalism. Despite recognizing the weakened state of sports journalism due to economic pressures and restricted access, team media reporters largely do not see themselves as responsible for this decline and instead frame their work as supporting a healthy sports media ecosystem. The findings suggest a complex interdependence where team media rely on the credibility and broader reach of traditional sports journalism, highlighting ongoing shifts in power and roles within the sports communication environment.