--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The media circus surrounding Sports…" description: "\"The media circus surrounding Sports Direct... only proves that whatever progress Sports Direct makes, it will always be subject to disproportionate scr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/649/mike-ashley-14493_circus_the-media-circus-surrounding-sports-dire_1361326.jpg" --- # The media circus surrounding Sports Direct... only proves… ![“The media circus surrounding Sports Direct... only proves that whatever progress Sports Direct makes, it will always be subject to disproportionate scrutiny and misrepresentation.” quote by Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/649/mike-ashley-14493_circus_the-media-circus-surrounding-sports-dire_1361326.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/649/mike-ashley-14493_circus_the-media-circus-surrounding-sports-dire_1361326.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/649/mike-ashley-14493_circus_the-media-circus-surrounding-sports-dire_1361326.jpg) > “The media circus surrounding Sports Direct... only proves that whatever progress Sports Direct makes, it will always be subject to disproportionate scrutiny and misrepresentation.” [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The intense media focus on Sports Direct often exaggerates issues, making any progress vulnerable to harsh criticism and distortion. **In simple terms:** Media scrutiny can distort perception of a company's improvements. Key Takeaway Expect and manage media narratives. Themes media scrutiny corporate reputation public perception Mood cautious defensive Type statement business When to use this quote - business strategy - brand management - crisis communication - stakeholder engagement Key Concepts bias misrepresentation public relations Questions to Reflect On - How can a company balance transparency with protecting its image? - What steps can mitigate disproportionate media focus? A Different Perspective Media narratives may overlook genuine improvements. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Circus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circus/) [Direct Proves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct-proves-4660697/) [Disproportionate Scrutiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disproportionate-scrutiny-4660696/) [Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media/) [Media Circus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media-circus-1488023/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Progress Sports](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress-sports-4660698/) [Sports](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sports/) [Sports Direct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sports-direct-583967/) [Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/will/) ## Related quotes > [I would not get to know every single thing that happens in Sports Direct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/i-would-not-get-to-know-every-single-thing-that-happens-in-sports/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [Do I regret getting into football? The answer is yes. I have had tonnes of fun in it but I haven't been able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/do-i-regret-getting-into-football-the-answer-is-yes-i-have-had-tonnes/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [Sports Direct is on course to become the 'Selfridges of sport' by migrating to a new generation of stores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/sports-direct-is-on-course-to-become-the-selfridges-of-sport-by/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [Sports Direct should come with a government health warning - this stock is not for the fainthearted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/sports-direct-should-come-with-a-government-health-warning-this-stock/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [I am wedded to Newcastle like Sports Direct. They've got me and I've got them. That's just the way it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/i-am-wedded-to-newcastle-like-sports-direct-they-ve-got-me-and-i-ve/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [Despite significant challenges within the retail sector in the UK and beyond, which have resulted in many retailers failing, Sports Direct has continued to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/despite-significant-challenges-within-the-retail-sector-in-the-uk-and/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [“We're just not cut out for all this media circus crap. But then, you already knew that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/we-re-just-not-cut-out-for-all-this-media-circus-crap-but-then-you/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [“All in all, it was the goldarndest, Barnum-and-Baileyest, rib-stickinest, rough-and-tumblest infernal foofaraw of a media circus anybody had seen since grandpaw chased the possum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-varley/all-in-all-it-was-the-goldarndest-barnum-and-baileyest-rib-stickinest/) [John Varley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-varley/) > [The media circus got a bit twisted when I was in London. It became a bit of a joke, really. In Paris, they're so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-doherty/the-media-circus-got-a-bit-twisted-when-i-was-in-london-it-became-a/) [Pete Doherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-doherty/) > [I don't think the media circus has ever been a shock to my life seeing as I was with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-annis/i-don-t-think-the-media-circus-has-ever-been-a-shock-to-my-life/) [Francesca Annis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-annis/) > [As incredible as television has become, it often feels like a sideshow in what has become a daily three-ring media circus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-landgraf/as-incredible-as-television-has-become-it-often-feels-like-a-sideshow/) [John Landgraf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-landgraf/) > [Circus clown. That's a new one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/circus-clown-that-s-a-new-one/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In Roslyn, Pennsylvania, we started our real-life family circus. They provided the inspiration for my cartoons. I provided the perspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bil-keane/in-roslyn-pennsylvania-we-started-our-real-life-family-circus-they/) [Bil Keane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bil-keane/) > [Blind with love, my daughter has cried nightly for horses, those long-necked marchers and churners that she has mastered, any and all, reigning them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/blind-with-love-my-daughter-has-cried-nightly-for-horses-those-long/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I would have done well as a gypsy child, I think. A circus baby. I coulda played a great street urchin or ragamuffin. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/i-would-have-done-well-as-a-gypsy-child-i-think-a-circus-baby-i/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) ## More by Mike Ashley > [It is very boring and lonely in Shirebrook. You know what we do after work? We go to the pub after work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/it-is-very-boring-and-lonely-in-shirebrook-you-know-what-we-do-after/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [I'm not Father Christmas, I'm actually a very fair guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/i-m-not-father-christmas-i-m-actually-a-very-fair-guy/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [I don't care what people say, it's very difficult to keep a player when they want to go. The age of slavery is dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/i-don-t-care-what-people-say-it-s-very-difficult-to-keep-a-player/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [In Harrods you get some exceptional services.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/in-harrods-you-get-some-exceptional-services/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [I take business decisions all day every day, from home, from the bath.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/i-take-business-decisions-all-day-every-day-from-home-from-the-bath/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [Despite significant challenges within the retail sector in the UK and beyond, which have resulted in many retailers failing, Sports Direct has continued to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/despite-significant-challenges-within-the-retail-sector-in-the-uk-and/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [I'm not sitting in my office stroking a white cat... I find it very frustrating: what benefit have I got of closing stores?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/i-m-not-sitting-in-my-office-stroking-a-white-cat-i-find-it-very/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [I'm not a clicks man, I wasn't born in the clicks era. I'm a bricks man, I believe in bricks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/i-m-not-a-clicks-man-i-wasn-t-born-in-the-clicks-era-i-m-a-bricks-man/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [I like to get drunk, I'm a power drinker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/i-like-to-get-drunk-i-m-a-power-drinker/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [People will say 'how can you have a plane when your workers are on minimum wage?' I said 'but I don't set the minimum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/people-will-say-how-can-you-have-a-plane-when-your-workers-are-on/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [Kevin Keegan is an outstanding individual and also did his best. It wasn't always easy for Kevin at the football club. We didn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/kevin-keegan-is-an-outstanding-individual-and-also-did-his-best-it/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [I am wedded to Newcastle like Sports Direct. They've got me and I've got them. That's just the way it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/i-am-wedded-to-newcastle-like-sports-direct-they-ve-got-me-and-i-ve/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [I'm not the thickest person on the planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/i-m-not-the-thickest-person-on-the-planet/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [“If rules make a framework for the mind to climb about in, why should the mind not climb right out?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/if-rules-make-a-framework-for-the-mind-to-climb-about-in-why-should/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [We think the biggest and most important thing House of Fraser is missing is luxury brands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/we-think-the-biggest-and-most-important-thing-house-of-fraser-is/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) [Explore all 46 Mike Ashley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) ## More Circus quotes > [I would have done well as a gypsy child, I think. A circus baby. I coulda played a great street urchin or ragamuffin. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/i-would-have-done-well-as-a-gypsy-child-i-think-a-circus-baby-i/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [Blind with love, my daughter has cried nightly for horses, those long-necked marchers and churners that she has mastered, any and all, reigning them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/blind-with-love-my-daughter-has-cried-nightly-for-horses-those-long/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [In Roslyn, Pennsylvania, we started our real-life family circus. They provided the inspiration for my cartoons. I provided the perspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bil-keane/in-roslyn-pennsylvania-we-started-our-real-life-family-circus-they/) [Bil Keane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bil-keane/) > [Circus clown. That's a new one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/circus-clown-that-s-a-new-one/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Funerals and weddings were commonplace, and nothing could have been so interesting to them as the coming of the end of the world ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-eggleston/funerals-and-weddings-were-commonplace-and-nothing-could-have-been-so/) [Edward Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-eggleston/) > [They are enthusiasts, devotees. Addicts. Something about the circus stirs their souls, and they ache for it when it is absent. They seek each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-morgenstern/they-are-enthusiasts-devotees-addicts-something-about-the-circus/) [Erin Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-morgenstern/) > [When I was 18 I worked with the Ringling Brothers circus, taking care of menagerie animals. I used to rather deliberately risk my life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hoagland/when-i-was-18-i-worked-with-the-ringling-brothers-circus-taking-care/) [Edward Hoagland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hoagland/) > [So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wreck? If they're willing to accept me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/so-what-if-i-m-ninety-three-so-what-if-i-m-ancient-and-cranky-and-my/) [Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/) > [Writing is for men who can think and feel, not mindless sensation seekers out of nightclubs and bars. But these are bad times. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naguib-mahfouz/writing-is-for-men-who-can-think-and-feel-not-mindless-sensation/) [Naguib Mahfouz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naguib-mahfouz/) > [“If i'm gonna be described as a clown for my actions, I might aswell be a whole circus”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bee/if-i-m-gonna-be-described-as-a-clown-for-my-actions-i-might-aswell-be/) [Bee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bee/) > [I've had 79 to 80 years of show business. I started when I was 5 with a man called Tom Mix. I didn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sidney/i-ve-had-79-to-80-years-of-show-business-i-started-when-i-was-5-with/) [George Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sidney/) > [When I'm on stage, it's really intense. My mind is going a million miles an hour, trying to remember my act, trying to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/when-i-m-on-stage-it-s-really-intense-my-mind-is-going-a-million/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [I unconsciously decided that, even if it wasn't an ideal world, it should be. So I painted only the ideal aspects of it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-rockwell/i-unconsciously-decided-that-even-if-it-wasn-t-an-ideal-world-it/) [Norman Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-rockwell/) > [The circus tent was flowing pale in the rain like a fleshy flower lit from within. It seemed to bloom in the downpour. Drops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/the-circus-tent-was-flowing-pale-in-the-rain-like-a-fleshy-flower-lit/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [My father used to describe how he'd love going, early in the morning, out on a location and waiting for the trucks to arrive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-broccoli/my-father-used-to-describe-how-he-d-love-going-early-in-the-morning/) [Barbara Broccoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-broccoli/) [Browse all 606 Circus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circus/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The media circus surrounding Sports Direct... only proves that whatever progress Sports Direct makes, it will always be subject to disproportionate scrutiny and misrepresentation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mike Ashley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/the-media-circus-surrounding-sports-direct-only-proves-that-whatever/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Circus" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/the-media-circus-surrounding-sports-direct-only-proves-that-whatever/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/649/mike-ashley-14493_circus_the-media-circus-surrounding-sports-dire_1361326.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/649/mike-ashley-14493_circus_the-media-circus-surrounding-sports-dire_1361326.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/649/mike-ashley-14493_circus_the-media-circus-surrounding-sports-dire_1361326.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The media circus surrounding Sports Direct... only proves that whatever progress Sports Direct makes, it…” — Mike Ashley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mike Ashley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The media circus surrounding Sports Direct......", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/the-media-circus-surrounding-sports-direct-only-proves-that-whatever/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/the-media-circus-surrounding-sports-direct-only-proves-that-whatever/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```