The powers that be at ESPN find themselves at a crossroads. Are they going to be a sports network, or are they going to be "agents of social change"? The network suspended SportCenter host Jamele Hill for two weeks after she tweeted about boycotting Dallas Cowboys' sponsors and not buying their gear anymore because owner Jerry Jones has threatened to bench any player that protests during the National Anthem. Hill had previously been warned about "impulsive tweeting" after calling President Trump's supporters "Nazis".
The executives at ESPN have managed to put themselves in an unwinnable position. For the first three decades, they were the place fans could go for scores, highlights and plenty of live games. SportsCenter hosts were middle of the road "here are your stats" talking hairdos--with some, like Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann injecting some humor and a heavy dose of sarcasm. But then, the decision was to make the network more like sports talk radio. So shows moved away from highlights, scores and live action and into "discussion and debate". Anchors were replaced with "insiders" who eventually gave way to "hot take machines" who threw out unsubstantiated opinions in a loud manner that seemed to give them some credibility.
That was followed by a conscious decision to present more "voices of the under-represented". ESPN went from a collection of frat boys to something a bit more representative of America's population--but not ESPN's core audience. And now that "voices of the under-represented" are saying things that those core viewers--and executives in the leagues upon which ESPN depends for its highest ratings--don't like, what do you do?
Jerry Jones of the Cowboys heads up the NFL's Broadcast Committee. Right now, the league spreads around it's broadcast rights to numerous outlets (and some social media as well). ESPN suits know full well that Monday Night Football and one of the Wild Card playoff games could easily go to Turner Broadcasting or Fox Sports 1 or kept in house on NFL Network. So when Jamele Hill takes shots at Jerry Jones, ESPN is given no choice but to shut down Jamele Hill.
Of course, other voices at ESPN will now rally to Hill's defense--creating even more division within the network. Ratings and subscription numbers show that viewers are not fans of the current direction of the network. The time may have come for ESPN (and its parent company, Disney) to decide if they are going to get back in to the business of sports--or go down in flames "fighting the good fight".
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