When the BBC announced a search for a new football pundit last week, there was nothing too unusual about the headline attached to the corporation’s article.
“BBC launches reality show to find new football expert,” it read. Bit strange that it’s a reality show, but sure.
The article then went on to describe that the BBC was specifically looking to hire a ‘football creator’, a term previously only used to describe a player in the mould of Roberto Baggio but which now means something very different. The winner of the show, which will be broadcast in the lead-up to Women’s Euro 2025 next summer, will produce content for BBC Sport and appear on shows such as Football Focus as well as BBC Radio 5 Live.
You would be hard-pressed to find a better example of the evolution of football coverage in the UK, and where it could go next.
In the final part of our series on punditry, we look at what the future might hold in an industry that is refusing to stand still.
Read the other parts of Tim Spiers’ series here:
You don’t have to venture too far back in time to find a number of football mediums, programmes or publications that either no longer exist or have massively decreased in popularity.
Print newspapers, Teletext, magazines, fanzines, end-of-season review videos, Soccer AM,…
