Not all sports benefit from increased media attention since television companies generally only broadcast sports that bring a large audience. In the past some sports have changed their rules in order to make them more attractive to watch. For instance, rugby league introduced the six tackle rule so the game would flow more and cricket introduced one-day matches said to be more exciting than three-day ones. Television companies such as Sky are now able to dictate to football's Premier League which games will be played on Saturdays, which on Sundays and which will be played in the week.
One main downside to how the media works is that the sports which don't get much coverage tend to be the ones at the bottom of the list for money from sponsorship and spectatorism.
Who benefits the most, sports or the media? Media can increase a sports popularity and help bring revenue to it. Newspapers and magazines etc. report on sports firstly to promote that section of the media. Television and radio coverage can bring advertising and other revenue to the broadcaster. Sport personalities write books to earn themselves money from royalties.