The Sad Truth of Esports Journalism / Why ESPN Esports Failed - The Four Horsemen S3E8 ft Kevin Hitt

Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo are joined by journalist Kevin Hitt to discuss the state of esports journalism. Topics include the history of esports journalism, recent involvement from Saudi Arabia especially in relation to Rolling Stone and the Esports Awards, the reasons why ESPN Esports failed, how the recent Dr. Disrespect scandal was handled, Chris Greeley's subtweet on behalf of Riot Games in response to the latest Summoning Insight, and more.

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Sportskeeda's gaming and esports page: https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports

Kevin's Twitter: https://x.com/Kevin_Hitt

The Four Horsemen is the premier esports industry show that reacts to important news and critical conversations across all major titles. Esports veterans Duncan "Thorin" Shields, Richard Lewis, and Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles use their decades of experience to shed light and debate on key esports topics as they emerge. Each episode they are joined by an expert guest to help further provide insider information on the topic at hand.

This episode was filmed on July 13th, 2024.

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0:00:00 - Intro + Esports Awards
0:02:53 - Sports Business Journal and other publications
0:14:02 - History of esports journalism
0:43:48 - ESPN Esports
1:11:38 - Saudi involvement in esports journalism
1:37:06 - Modern platforms + Google SEO of stories
1:50:18 - The Dr. Disrespect story
2:17:18 - Where/why did esports journalism fail?
2:29:15 - Saudi Arabia won't change
2:35:35 - Riot Games and MSI 2025
2:47:36 - Closing thoughts

#podcast
#esports
#espn