Awful Announcing
Sports news website
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Awful Announcing (AA) is an American sports news website and blog.[1] Founded in 2006 by Brian Powell, the platform focuses on sports media personalities, particularly broadcast announcers and television sportscasters. The platform has seven full-time staff in addition to a roster of part-time freelancers. The small crew of editors, writers, and social media creators work across multiple shifts throughout the day.[2]
The logo for Awful Announcing | |
| Available in | English |
|---|---|
| Owner | Ben Koo |
| Created by | Brian Powell |
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | 2006 |
| Current status | Active |
History
A graduate of James Madison University (JMU), Brian Powell founded Awful Announcing in May 2006.[3] Early in its history, Awful Announcing was a prominent outlet in the sports blogosphere.[4] Powell noted that Spencer Tillman was an early critic of his blog.[4] Bloguin Network acquired Awful Announcing in 2010; later in 2015, Comeback Media was spun out of Bloguin, becoming AA's parent company.[3] Ben Koo took over as owner of Awful Announcing in 2010.[5]
The website reports on news relating to sports announcing, broadcasting, and related media industry spaces.[6][7] AA also conducts interviews with sports media executives.[8] Their sharing of announcing audio has been cited to increase awareness of situations, such as when they wrote about West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins using a homophobic slur in a radio interview in 2023.[9]
In April 2026, Awful Announcing announced a new partnership with Yahoo! to become part of a new sports business hub alongside Front Office Sports, Sportico, and Sports Business Journal.[10]
Citation and reception
AA's reporting has been cited by sports media websites such as ESPN and Fox Sports,[11][12] as well as general news outlets like Forbes.[13] ESPN has also issued statements via Awful Announcing.[12]
Some sports announcers have commented on Awful Announcing. The book Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN (2011) quoted both Rece Davis and Bob Ley.[14] Davis stated that sports announcers who "fall into reading" blogs like Awful Announcing and get upset or try to explain their mistakes pointed out by such blogs on-air "probably aren't doing [their] job as effectively as [they] ought to be". Meanwhile, Ley stated that he sometimes checks sports blogs like AA, as well as The Big Lead and Deadspin, likening visiting the blogs to "shopping in a discount store".[14] Other sports media personalities have referenced Awful Announcing in their own writing, such as Bill Simmons in his Book of Basketball (2009) and Jemele Hill in her memoir, Uphill (2022).[15][16]