ESPN has become more heated in the political realm over the past few years. Across many sports forums, athletes have spoken up in the name of politics. But now, ESPN is restricting its athletes by enforcing political avoidance. As of Friday, ESPN sent their media conditioning reminder to employees, so that they avoid misrepresentation and conflict.
Dan Le Batard, ESPN host, stirred up the ESPN “hush hush on politics” movement. He responded to President Trump’s rally in North Carolina. Le Batard was stirred up by what Trump said about Ilhan Omar, finding his comments to be unrepresentative of America and also caused division of people toward the new election.
Similar to Jemele Hill’s conversation addressing Trump a few years ago, ESPN is trying to steer from politics by acknowledging the issue while it is still current.
Some of the ESPN employees take these rules to the next level. The owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, threatened to fire anyone from his team who disregarded the significance of the American flag.
While politics and sports maybe should not conflict, employees are now restricted in their freedom of expression as public figures. Athletes and announcers must watch what they say to keep their own jobs.
