In professional sports, every athlete is good. But oftentimes, being good is not enough. Every one of them strives to be the fan favorite, whether it is for the glory or the sponsorships. But realistically, most never make it to the top. The coveted title of the ‘GOAT’, or the greatest of all time, is given to only a select few. But what happens when the GOATs come to an end? In recent years, the “beloved best” have been slowly dwindling, and their titles are going along with them. The strange thing is, fans aren’t passing the torch, instead it is being put out. This behavior is doing more than just gatekeeping a title, but causing the decline in viewership across sports. A lack of hype around new players, regardless of skill level, is heading the downfall of professional sports.
The most famous example of the GOAT is NBA player Lebron James. James is the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, and many still regard him as the best basketball player. However, according to the ESPN 2024 NBA rankings, James sits at a humbling seventh place. Being surpassed by Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and Nikola Jokic respectively. James’ title was earned through his skill, but as other players have begun to surpass it, we have failed to reassign the title of the GOAT. In fact, ClutchPoints names this as a cause for the brutal viewership crash, down 28%, that the NBA experienced in the beginning of the 2024-25 season.
This is not constrained to basketball, however. The NFL has been experiencing viewership struggles ever since the GOAT of American football, Tom Brady, retired in 2023. Despite this, newer players have been breaking previous records. The ESPN 2024 NFL predictions placed Patrick Mahomes at number one, citing how Mahomes has the most passing yards (33,559), passing touchdowns (260), playoff wins by a starting QB (15), and Super Bowl MVPs (three) through a player’s first seven seasons in NFL history. Still, viewers of American football have been refusing to pass on the title of the GOAT to Mahomes. Fans remain stoic in their position that Brady must keep his title regardless of his current playing status. Some have even stopped watching American football altogether as a form of respect towards Brady as a player, saying the NFL is “nothing without him.”
This phenomenon has been affecting a wide range of sports: tennis with Serena Williams, golf with Tiger Woods, baseball with Babe Ruth. Worse, the tendency to refuse to pass on the title of the GOAT, even when the previous player is retired, is killing the viewership of professional sports. Fans aren’t excited to see their favorite players win because they are either retired or getting worse at their sport. If viewers start to see newer players as GOATs, there is no doubt that the excitement around watching sports would return.
