Indian sports journalism is about struggle, culture, politics, identity and stories of success. But in an age of 24/7 coverage, live updates and highlight reels, how can sports journalists push back? 

These were the themes of the session ‘Has Indian sports reporting been reduced to scorecards?’ at The Media Rumble 2025, which took place in Bengaluru on October 3 and 4. The discussion, moderated by LawNK founder and GoSports Foundation cofounder Nandan Kamath, featured Bengaluru-based journalist Sharda Urga, and independent journalist Sharda Ugra.

Nandan pointed out that it is the “de-elitisation or productisation of sport” that has shifted the focus to numbers and viewer engagement. “This has possibly taken a toll on the quality of content.”

“I think it’s more accurate to say that we have reduced it to scorecards,” said Prem Panicker, pointing out that language matters. “I am not saying the match report is redundant. The match report in its current form is redundant. AI is at some point going to eat this particular lunch.”

Sharda said the tagline of IPL is where talent meets opportunity. “But in India, for other sports, there is a lot of talent but not opportunities. It’s similar for journalism.”

On sports journalists, she said “all” of them start out as fans. “Eventually you discover whether you love the sport or the athlete. But you need good leadership and mentorship in the process.” “My advice to young journalists would be to look where the gap is. Everyone wants to do cricket, but to become distinctive you must know the sport you are reporting from the bottom.”

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