Editing Media guide

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[[File:New York Yanks Media Guide, 1950.png|thumb|279x279px|Media guide for the [[1950 New York Yanks season|1950 New York Yanks]]]]
A '''media guide''', historically also known as a '''dope book''', is a sports-related [[press kit]], distributed as a book or binder, and published by sports teams before the start of the [[Season (sport)|sporting season]]. It features information relating to the team players, history, [[statistics|statistical records]] and other similar items. Media guides are usually distributed to [[Sportswriting|sports journalists]] to assist in their [[broadcasting]] of the team game.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gilman |first1=Sam |title=Media Guide 101 |url=https://www.baseballebm.com/post/2018/02/07/media-guide-101 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710110104/https://www.baseballebm.com/post/2018/02/07/media-guide-101 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 10, 2020 |website=European Baseball & Softball Magazine |access-date=8 July 2020 |language=en |date=7 February 2018}}</ref>

While generally not sold in retail [[Retailing|stores]], media guides for professional sports teams are often available in their online stores or home web sites, along with being sold in physical form to the game attending public with [[Programme (booklet)#Sporting event|game programs]] at in-stadium stands. Many major college and university sport media guides are available in [[PDF]] or other electronic formats for free on their home web sites. Following the end of the season, the printed media guides are often discarded or given to fans of the team. 

==History==
Press guides – later known as media guides – have existed since at least the 1930s and provide one of the few detailed sources of comprehensive historical athletic data before the [[United States Department of Education|Department of Education]] and [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] requirements of the 1980s.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

An older term for a similar type of publication is "dope book". According to ''[[Cassell's Dictionary of Slang]]'', the term originated in the 19th century and refers to an information book on any subject, but usually on [[horse racing]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Green |first1=Jonathon |title=Cassell's Dictionary of Slang |date=2005 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London |isbn=0304366366 |page=432 |edition=2nd |entry=dope book |entry-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5GpLcC4a5fAC&dq=%22dope+book%22&pg=PA432}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Press kit]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category-inline|Media guides}}
[[Category:Terminology used in multiple sports]]
[[Category:Sources (journalism)]]
[[Category:Public relations techniques]]
[[Category:Sports marketing]]

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