Last year when PlayFly Sports acquired Collegiate StarLeague it was touted as a move for this sports marketing firm to enter the world of amateur esports. One key aspect of the acquisition that was buried in the lead was that Sinclair Broadcast Group, the ultra-right wing media organization, is one of the lead owners of PlayFly, and now Collegiate StarLeague. Unsuspecting Canadian universities are falling prey to their messaging and do not realize their goal is to influence Canadian University Athletics and shape it into a NCAA body.
Plus during the dark days of the Trump administration, Sinclair became a loudest media proponent for media district and fales conspiracy scenarios. A recent paper by Emory University political scientists Gregory Martin and Josh McCrain found that when Sinclair buys a local station, its local news program focuses on a conservative ultra right agenda more national and less on local politics.
You may remember Sinclair as being responsible for sharing the same, media-controlled messaging among its 193 owned local news stations across the United States. In 2018, a clip went viral when Sinclair began a promotional series warning audiences of the plagues of “fake news” and to be on the lookout for members of the media.
Now, Sinclair is spreading its sphere of influence to Canada’s younger demographics through it’s ownership with CSL Esports. Sinclair, which reaches 39 percent of American viewers, is tapping the international markets for two reasons: opportunity and propaganda.
Canada is a relatively open market with limited competition in the realm of esports. Sinclair sees an opportunity of market capitalization and ultra right wing messaging by spreading its dollars to our neighbors in the north. By entering Canadian esports early, Sinclair can do to Canadian competitive gaming similar to what it did to United States media: control it all, Control young minds and you end up controlling the future. Under the banner of USPORT, Sinclair is moving its program of right wing propaganda to our neighbor to the North.
As for influence, Canada has historically been a moderate, middle of the line democratic country. There’s fewer spectrums of far-left and far-right when compared to the United States, and Sinclair knows this. Politically, swaying moderate conservatives and liberals is an easier matchup than those on the far-left.
With a rise in Sinclair’s media dominance spreading outside of the United States, we should be very aware. Further concerning universities both in the USA and north of the board is Playfly’s flirting with the world of online gambling in its relationship with SuperBook Sport.
How America’s largest local TV owner turned its news anchors into soldiers in Trump’s war on the media: https://t.co/iLVtKRQycL pic.twitter.com/dMdSGellH3
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) March 31, 2018
