[Goose]

ESPN is in the business of broadcasting sports events that people want to see, and of course they're going to promote the events that they broadcast.

Correct. ESPN is not journalism, in case anybody thought it was. It is in the entertainment business, and want to maximize their profit. Period.

UConn remains the biggest national brand by far is women's basketball. If Stanford women's basketball brought in the highest ratings then you can be sure that ESPN would show "favoritism" to our program in terms of how much coverage we receive.

It is important to recognize that "biggest brand" is heavily influenced by what ESPN covers and how it covers it. ESPN could probably make Stanford, Notre Dame, or just about anybody else that is halfway credible the "biggest brand" if they wanted to do so. Coverage brings recruits, coaching talent, and money. This is just a fact. Never confuse ESPN with some kind of "objective reality". They create the reality that suits them. It is easier to do this if they chose a reality that has some truth behind it, but a good reality distortion field can make up for lots of shortcomings. That is ESPN.

[Goose]

ESPN is in the business of broadcasting sports events that people want to see, and of course they're going to promote the events that they broadcast.

Correct. ESPN is not journalism, in case anybody thought it was. It is in the entertainment business, and want to maximize their profit. Period.

UConn remains the biggest national brand by far is women's basketball. If Stanford women's basketball brought in the highest ratings then you can be sure that ESPN would show "favoritism" to our program in terms of how much coverage we receive.

It is important to recognize that "biggest brand" is heavily influenced by what ESPN covers and how it covers it. ESPN could probably make Stanford, Notre Dame, or just about anybody else that is halfway credible the "biggest brand" if they wanted to do so. Coverage brings recruits, coaching talent, and money. This is just a fact. Never confuse ESPN with some kind of "objective reality". They create the reality that suits them. It is easier to do this if they chose a reality that has some truth behind it, but a good reality distortion field can make up for lots of shortcomings. That is ESPN.