Cons: Immature and unprofessional writing, Cluttered layout, Quite bulky, WAY too much advertisement
The Bottom Line: Poor journalism, a cluttered format and ten times as many ads as articles does not make a good magazine. Go pick up Sports Illustrated.
SixerMan's Full Review: ESPN Magazine Subscription
Allow me to first say that I am a HUGE sports enthusiast. I subscribe to three different sports magazines (including this one), listen to at least two hours of sports talk radio a day, and never miss the news of the day on Fox Sports Net. I have never read a sports magazine that didn't have something that interested me, or that had some sort of redeeming value. Until now. It's very difficult to put my strong feelings of disgust about this magazine into words, so let me give you a more vivid picture of what this magazine is like:
Imagine the annoying voice of Stuart Scott hollering "Booya!" repeatedly right in your ear, the horridly unfunny deadpan humor of Dan Patrick, and the obnoxiousness of Linda Cohn combined with the shallow stories and interviews of Sportscenter and you've got a pretty good idea of what ESPN the Magazine is like.
The most important part of a magazine is definitely the writing. Without good, solid stories and quality journalism, it doesn't matter how you dress it up, it's still a bad magazine. This seems to be what ESPN has the biggest problem with. The writers attempt to take an edgy, somewhat opinionated position, but instead come off as having the intelligence of a fifth grader combined with the argumentative qualities of a five year old. This adds up to very poor journalism, and attempting to read many of the articles will make you want to strangle the writer. But since that is not an option, most readers will do the next best thing and quit reading. Unfortunately, the problems don't stop here.
In order to attempt to make up for the poor journalism found in ESPN the Magazine, the writers throw five different single-column half-page articles at you per page. This leads to a very cluttered page layout and print that is so small you have to squint to read it. While they may claim that presenting information in this fashion allows them to present the reader with more information, it appears very unattractive and painful to the eyes and is likely to turn off most potential readers.
Another major problem with ESPN the Magazine is the ridiculous amount dedicated to advertising. Rarely is there a two page spread that doesn't include at least one full-page ad, and many of the already cluttered pages are intruded by quarter and half page ads. Worst of all, full-page ads frequently interrupt the magazine's featured articles. While it may not sound like much, these ads destroy any continuity the magazine may have had and can be very distracting.
Were ESPN the Magazine the only available option for sports fans, it would function nicely. However, the fact of the matter is that there is way too much competition out there to merit ESPN the Magazine a read, let alone a subscription. Although the photography is nice at times, it pales in comparison to Sports Illustrated. It also comes up short of Sports Illustrated in every other category possible. If you're the type of person who loves Sportscenter, already has a subscription to Sports Illustrated and still can't get enough sports, then perhaps ESPN the Magazine is for you. If not, stay away.
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