Mass Media Coverage of Sports Events Impact and Sports Development in Delta State

Abstract

This study sought to ascertain the extent to which mass media coverage of sports events has contributed to sports development in Delta State. Two research questions were raised to guide the study with a population of five hundred and ninety three (593) comprised of nineteen (19) sports writers, nineteen (19) sports journalists, two hundred and three (203) coaches, three hundred and twenty-six (326) athletes, and twenty-six (26) organising secretaries in Delta State, from which a sample size of three hundred and eighteen (329) was obtained with the sports writers, sports journalists, and sports organisers being purposively sampled while 50% of coaches and athletes were randomly sampled through balloting. A 15-item self-structured questionnaire scaled on a modified four-point Likert type rating of “very high” (VH 4), “high” (H 3), “low” (L 2), and “very low” (VL 1) with a reliability index (r) of 0.75 established with the Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient was used for the study. The findings revealed that the mass media covers sports events in Delta State to a high extent and that the mass media has contributed to sports development in Delta State to a high extent. It was recommended that the Delta State government open up more vistas for mass media participation while ensuring that the sports development policy would include creating more outlets for generating revenue through sports by organising more sports competitions as well as establishing more recreational outlets at the local government level.