{"id":2402099,"date":"2025-02-13T06:09:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T11:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/espns-decade-long-politicization-is-ruining-sports-tv\/"},"modified":"2025-02-13T06:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T11:11:08","slug":"espns-decade-long-politicization-is-ruining-sports-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/espns-decade-long-politicization-is-ruining-sports-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN\u2019s Decade-Long Politicization Is Ruining Sports TV"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fespns-decade-long-politicization-is-ruining-sports-tv%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2402099&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the growing frustration among sports fans regarding ESPN&#8217;s political stance and its impact on sports coverage. \u200dIt highlights what the author terms\u200d a &#8220;sports drought&#8221; following the Super Bowl and the upcoming March Madness, emphasizing the\u2062 annoyance of\u200d politicization during\u200b peak\u2064 sports\u2064 seasons. <\/p>\n<p>The piece critiques ESPN for its left-leaning focus, \u200dillustrating this\u200d with several examples over the past decade, including: celebrating Jalen Hurts&#8217; race during super Bowl \u200dcelebrations, refusing too recognize biological males, and emphasizing race in coaching situations. It also criticizes \u2062ESPN for overlooking female athletes\u2063 in favor \u200cof \u200cpromoting male \u2062figures like Lia\u2063 Thomas during Women&#8217;s History Month, and for amplifying\u2062 false narratives related to incidents like \u2063the\u2062 &#8220;noose hoax&#8221; in NASCAR.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the article \u200cpoints out instances where ESPN allegedly silenced employees for expressing \u200cdissent \u2062against progressive ideologies, while allowing hosts to make disparaging comments\u200b about \u2064viewers and specific demographics.\u200d It concludes with references to controversial decisions by the network, such as withdrawing an announcer named Robert Lee from a game and awarding Caitlyn Jenner a courage award. the article portrays ESPN\u200c as an organization whose politicized content may alienate its audience.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Super Bowl is over, and March Madness (while still a month away) will be over before we know it, which will thrust sports-loving Americans into what is unaffectionately known in our house as a &ldquo;sports drought.&rdquo; While having no college or professional games of significance to watch on TV is annoying, it pales in comparison to the frustration that comes with the politicization of coverage that occurs during the peak of popular sports seasons like football and basketball.<\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest offenders is ESPN. It&rsquo;s no secret that the Disney-owned network has taken a sharp left turn. ESPN&rsquo;s quest to turn an American pastime into a partisan talking-to hasn&rsquo;t simply bled into the sports commentary shows that once captured viewers&rsquo; attention. The network&rsquo;s obsession with race and vilifying anyone who dares deviate from the hivemind has hijacked much of its coverage completely.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN&rsquo;s own political activism paired with its repeated encouragement of players&rsquo; activism has <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2017\/07\/28\/espn-finally-admits-viewers-tuned-nfl-national-anthem-protests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">turned audiences off<\/a> of the network before, yet the network continues to embrace it. Here&rsquo;s a look back at some of ESPN&rsquo;s most egregious moments over the last decade.<\/p>\n<h2>Made a Big Deal About Jalen Hurts&rsquo; Skin Color<\/h2>\n<p>ESPN celebrated the Philadelphia Eagles&rsquo; Super Bowl LIX win this week by honoring Jalen Hurts for being the fourth black quarterback to secure ultimate victory. The X post welcoming Hurts to the ranks with Patrick Mahomes II, Russell Wilson, and Doug Williams was captioned &ldquo;Black excellence.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Black excellence &#128081;<\/p>\n<p>Jalen Hurts joins Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson and Doug Williams as the only Black QBs to win a Super Bowl &#128141; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fQHIeELuaT\">pic.twitter.com\/fQHIeELuaT<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn\/status\/1888986704121348146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>Refused to Call Men Men<\/h2>\n<p>When President Donald Trump signed an executive order to prohibit men from infiltrating women&rsquo;s sports, ESPN claimed the popular policy &ldquo;marks another aggressive shift by the Republican president&rsquo;s second administration in the way the federal government deals with transgender people and their rights.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The network also refused to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">call adult human males men<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Wednesday designed to prevent people who were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/espn-throws-a-tantrum-over-trump-protecting-womens-sports\/\" title=\"ESPN Throws A Tantrum Over Trump Protecting ...s ...\">biologically assigned male<\/a> at birth from participating in women&rsquo;s or girls&rsquo; sporting events,&rdquo; the X post accompanying ESPN&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/05\/espn-gets-dragged-for-temper-tantrum-after-trump-bans-men-from-ruining-womens-sports\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">temper tantrum article<\/a> reads.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Made Notre Dame&rsquo;s Playoff Win About Race<\/h2>\n<p>Despite Marcus Freeman&rsquo;s attempts to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/10\/notre-dame-head-coach-shuts-down-espn-for-trying-to-make-his-teams-victory-about-race\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">frame<\/a> the University of Notre Dame&rsquo;s path to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/counting-down-the-10-biggest-quarterback-busts-of-all-time\/\" title=\"Counting Down The 10 Biggest Quarterback Busts Of All Time\">college football national championship<\/a> as a team effort, ESPN reporters and College GameDay hosts alike hailed the Fighting Irish&rsquo;s presence in the 2024 season faceoff as monumental simply because Freeman was the &ldquo;first black and Asian American head coach&rdquo; to make it that far.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN&rsquo;s Jenna Laine posed a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/10\/20\/todd-bowles-to-woke-whites-stop-yapping-about-race-every-chance-you-get\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">similar race-based question<\/a> to Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles in 2022 when she asked him his thoughts on Steve Wilks joining the ranks of &ldquo;the few <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sports-media-blasts-nfl-for-having-only-one-black-head-coach-after-firings\/\" title=\"... Media Blasts NFL for Having Only One ... ... After Firings\">black head coaches<\/a> in the league.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Celebrated Women&rsquo;s History Month by Promoting a Man Who Likes to Play Dress-Up<\/h2>\n<p>In honor of Women&rsquo;s History Month 2023, ESPN glossed over the accomplishments of hundreds of thousands of talented female college and professional athletes in the U.S. to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/27\/espn-celebrates-women-by-denying-their-existence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recognize male swimmer Lia Thomas<\/a> for stealing the NCAA Division I women&rsquo;s championship title away from a deserving woman.<\/p>\n<h2>Tried to Revive Debunked NASCAR Noose Hoax<\/h2>\n<p>ESPN not only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/racing\/nascar\/story\/_\/id\/29345568\/nascar-says-noose-found-bubba-wallace-garage-talladega\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">amplified<\/a> false reports of a noose hanging in NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace&rsquo;s garage in June 2020, but it also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/espn-bubba-wallace-noose\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tried to revive the story<\/a> in a December 2021 social media post claiming &ldquo;a noose was found in Bubba Wallace&rsquo;s stall at Talladega Superspeedway.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Forced Out Reporters for Speaking Up About Leftist Lunacy &hellip;<\/h2>\n<p>ESPN gave the boot to &ldquo;Sunday NFL Countdown&rdquo; host Samantha Ponder in 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/16\/espn-axes-host-days-after-she-voiced-opposition-to-men-competing-in-womens-sports\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mere days<\/a> after she agreed on X that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3-min-after-new-account-instagram-serves-sex-content-to-13-year-old-boys-analysis\/\" title=\"Analysis Reveals Instagram Shows Sexual Content to 13-Year-Old Boys Within 3 Minutes of New Account Creation\">men don&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t belong in women&rsquo;s sports.<\/p>\n<p>Years before that in 2021, the network&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/media\/575370-espn-removes-sage-steele-from-programming-after-controversial-remarks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suspended<\/a>&nbsp;its &ldquo;SportsCenter&rdquo; host Sage Steele for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.outkick.com\/sports\/sage-steele-leaving-espn-after-settling-free-speech-lawsuit-with-disney\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">calling ESPN&rsquo;s Covid-19 jab mandates<\/a> &ldquo;scary&rdquo; and &ldquo;sick.&rdquo; Steele sued and eventually settled with ESPN over the suspension. ESPN reporter Allison Williams also <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/18\/espn-reporter-allison-williams-forced-out-of-job-over-vaxx-coercion-i-cannot-put-a-paycheck-over-principle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">left her job <\/a>with the network after it tried to medically coerce her into getting the Covid shot.<\/p>\n<h2>&hellip; But Kept Crazies on Air Even When They Slurred ESPN Viewers<\/h2>\n<p>ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/05\/21\/espns-stephen-smith-says-tim-tebows-return-to-the-nfl-is-example-of-white-privilege\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> in 2021 that Tim Tebow&rsquo;s return to the NFL was an example of &ldquo;white privilege.&rdquo; The allegation came one year after Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/video\/clip\/_\/id\/29801128\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">blamed white privilege<\/a> as the culprit for the NBA Brooklyn Nets&rsquo; decision to hire Steve Nash as head coach and told anyone who disagreed with his take to <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2020\/09\/10\/stephen-a-smith-espn-going-all-in-on-tales-of-white-privilege\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&ldquo;kick rocks.&rdquo;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jalen Rose <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/06\/25\/espn-analyst-says-five-time-nba-all-star-only-made-olympics-because-hes-white\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said on his ESPN podcast<\/a> that NBA champion and five-time All-Star Kevin Love was only selected to play on the U.S.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/?s=Olympics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Olympic<\/a>&nbsp;team because of white &ldquo;tokenism.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>ESPN &ldquo;First Take&rdquo; host Max Kellerman <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/08\/27\/espns-max-kellerman-attacks-sec-football-fans-slurs-them-as-easy-to-propagandize\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accused<\/a> SEC football fans in 2020 of being &ldquo;susceptible to very low-quality information and easy to propagandize.&rdquo; &ldquo;If they stay in their kind of propaganda silos, like the Fox News propaganda silo, it would matter what happened,&rdquo; he continued. <\/p>\n<p>Network star Jemele Hill repeatedly ran &ldquo;afoul of ESPN&rsquo;s social media policy&rdquo; by using <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/08\/24\/disney-corporate-darling-atlantic-journo-jemele-hill-says-u-s-is-as-bad-as-nazi-germany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nazi comparisons<\/a> and calling <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/07\/20\/disney-and-espn-silent-on-contributor-jemele-hill-declaring-all-trump-voters-racist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Trump voters racist<\/a>. Despite facing several suspensions for her inappropriate commentary, Hill only continued.<\/p>\n<p>The list goes on and on.<\/p>\n<h2>Banned Staff From Talking About Hong Kong&rsquo;s Plight <\/h2>\n<p>ESPN&rsquo;s senior news director Chuck Salituro <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2019\/10\/09\/espn-bans-staff-from-discussing-hong-kong-angle-of-nba-china-controversy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sent an internal memo<\/a> in 2019&nbsp;barring on-air personalities from covering Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey&rsquo;s public support of Hong Kong protestors opposed to Communist China.<\/p>\n<h2>Pulled Announcer From Game Because His Name Was Robert Lee<\/h2>\n<p>ESPN <a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2017\/08\/23\/media\/espn-robert-lee-john-skipper\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pulled<\/a> an Asian American announcer from covering a University of Virginia football game in 2017 because his name was Robert Lee. The network claimed its decision was motivated by &ldquo;the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding&rdquo; and worries about how the &ldquo;coincidence of his name&rdquo; would sit with viewers.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In that moment it felt right to all parties. It&rsquo;s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become such an issue,&rdquo;&nbsp;ESPN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/23\/sports\/ncaafootball\/espn-robert-lee-virginia.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> in a statement.<\/p>\n<h2>Published a Poem Praising a Cop Killer<\/h2>\n<p>ESPN pulled a poem about <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2017\/04\/27\/espn-yanks-poem-praising-convicted-cop-killer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">convicted cop killer<\/a> Assata Shakur from its 2017 &ldquo;New Feminism&rdquo; poetry series on its website after The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefdrlst.wpengine.com\/2017\/04\/27\/espn-poetry-tribute-fugitive-cop-killer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published an article<\/a> exposing Shakur&rsquo;s violent, extremist, and FBI-wanted past.<\/p>\n<h2>Awarded Another Confused Man a &lsquo;Courage&rsquo; Award<\/h2>\n<p>ESPN gave Olympian Bruce Jenner the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2015\/07\/15\/caitlyn-jenner-needs-therapy-not-awards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Arthur Ashe Courage Award&nbsp;in 2015<\/a> for his decision to ditch his title as a husband and father by undergoing an expensive mutilative surgery, changing his name to Caitlyn, and playing dress-up. The award is only available to a selection of candidates who &ldquo;show strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril, and willingness to stand up for their beliefs, no matter the costs.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Super Bowl has ended, and March Madness is approaching, leading to a &#8220;sports drought&#8221; for fans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":490,"featured_media":2402100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-12-at-8.07.07%E2%80%AFAM-e1739369456559.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[5851,36497,36176,9053],"class_list":["post-2402099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-espn","tag-media-critique","tag-sports-politics","tag-television"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-12-at-8.07.07%E2%80%AFAM-e1739369456559.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2402099"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2402103,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402099\/revisions\/2402103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2402100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2402099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2402099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2402099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}