Innovative developments in the field of sports and the emergence of knowledge-based sports companies have doubled the need to rearrange the role and performance of the national media in supporting this emerging ecosystem. However, field evidence shows that the current arrangement of the national media in the field of sports is not only not efficient enough to empower these companies, but in some cases has exacerbated the disconnect between media, innovation, and sports. The purpose of this research was to analyze the mechanisms existing in the national media in dealing with knowledge-based sports companies and identify obstacles and strategies to promote this interaction.This research was conducted with a qualitative approach based on data-based theory using the systematic method of Strauss and Corbin. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 experts in the fields of media, sports innovation, and policy-making and analyzed using three-stage coding (open, axial, and selective). Based on the findings, three main categories of conditions play a role in the formation of the phenomenon of “misalignment of national media with the sports innovation ecosystem”: causal conditions (lack of specialized media policy-making, disconnection between media and innovation institutions, dominance of the dramatic and emotional gaze), contextual conditions (structural centralization in national media, weak institutional communication, weak media culture in companies), and interventionist conditions (infrastructural limitations of the media, unfavorable economic climate, cultural resistance within the media, weak macro-policy-making). In response to this situation, four main strategies were identified: redesigning the media structure in the field of innovative sports,