The football analyst has consistently leveraged his ample platform and gravitas against reproductive rights and LGBTQ people – and it doesn’t seem like NBC or the NFL careNo sports league does more than the National Football League to encourage the stereotype of the glass-chewing, expletive-spewing coach. Tony Dungy, though, was more Kenneth Parcell than Bill Parcells – a soft-spoken, clean-cut ex-defensive back whose winning pedigree and strategic ingenuity rightly earned him pride of place among the titans of his profession. That Dungy is also a Black pioneer makes him especially useful to commissioner Roger Goodell’s efforts to “protect the [NFL] shield” from the seasonal assaults on its undying legacy of racial and gender inequality. Since transitioning to a lofty post-retirement...
Fifty-seven channels and nothing on? The splintering of French Open coverage in the United States has left many fans lostOn Tuesday night in Paris, in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic contested yet another epic contest in their immortal rivalry. It was a thrilling affair full of ferocious offensive firepower and jaw-dropping defensive escapes with Nadal emerging as the victor in four grueling sets, making the Spaniard a heavy favorite to claim his 14th French Open title.This current generation of tennis fans is perhaps the most spoiled, entitled lot of followers of any sport ever, having been gifted the remarkable array of matches between Nadal, Djokovic and, of course, Roger Federer. For nearly 20 years whenever...
ESPN asked Jemele Hill to ‘discuss sports topics, news, culture, and social issues’ and to tweet on ‘a current issue impacting sports’ – then suspended her for doing exactly thatMore than a week into her suspension for some highly anodyne tweets related to the Take the Knee protest, it feels long overdue to devote space to the ESPN anchor Jemele Hill. Still, I vaguely heard we were listening to women for a minute, and wondered if a black woman could catch a little of that entitlement to be heard. The traditional answer to that has been “No, I’m afraid she can’t” – which accounts for the nagging sense among many women of colour that sisterliness only stretches so far. Its...
Until recently it was easier to watch the Premier League in the US than the UK. But now viewers must pay to watch many of the games onlineAs the executive director of Upper 90, which sells soccer shoes, jerseys, apparel, equipment and teamwear online and at four stores in and near New York, Zac Rubin has a keen interest in the Premier League’s success in the United States. It is literally a part of business: store customers can watch any match they want on TV while shopping.NBC will continue to air 250 of the Premier League’s 380 matches live on any number its broadcast and cable channels – including NBC Sports and CNBC – this season. It is what is...
There has been plenty of attention on the NFL’s struggles to attract viewers this year. But figures are down for a European upstart tooOn Sunday, Arsenal and Tottenham played out a draw in a North London derby that could prove to have serious repercussions for the Premier League title race. But American fans had to get up early or find means to record the match and watch it in a spoiler-proofed room. Kickoff, after all, was at noon in London – 7am in New York and 4am in Los Angeles. Ideally for American fans, the match would have aired live on the NBC Sports Network early Saturday or Sunday afternoon in the United States, but the NBC Sports Network has...