Stephen Dittmore, assistant dean in the College of Education and Health Professions, will moderate a practitioner panel this week at the 17th annual Sport Marketing Association Conference in downtown Chicago.

The title of the panel is "Competing for Eyeballs in an Extremely Fragmented Sports Media Industry," a topic that aligns with Dittmore's primary research interest.

The conference includes three days of education, networking, and celebration of sport marketing research. Dittmore said it's exciting to have executives from the Big Ten Network, the Chicago Cubs' new network, Marquee Sports Network, and Stadium to participate in the discussion.

"Much of my recent scholarship has focused on legal issues related to carriage of sports networks on cable and satellite systems," Dittmore said. "We live in an era where sports organizations are increasingly creating their own television networks to distribute content to their customers. As the number of networks increases, it is possible audience numbers will dilute, impacting revenues from subscribers and advertisers."

Dittmore notes that, as a sports fan, the myriad of live content available on demand and on multiple devices is great, but it all comes at a cost.

"Ten dollars per month for this network, $8 for that network, and $60 for broadband. Don't forget about Netflix, Amazon Prime, and now, Disney-plus," he said. "It all adds up, and it is possible consumers will quickly exceed their entertainment budgets. This panel is about positioning and competition in this marketplace."