ESPN has become another extension of the Democrat Media Complex.
Fans looking for straight sports at the network are out of luck.
Now ESPN’s latest ratings have the network in full-blown panic mode.
ESPN is hemorrhaging money, so much so that parent company Disney has considered cutting ties.
As more users cut the cord and go to streaming services, viewers are less incentivized to keep ESPN because of the over-the-top progressive messaging.
For example, NBA analyst Jalen Rose shouted in the middle of a broadcast that the police who shot Breonna Taylor were murderers and should be arrested.
And the ratings for ESPN radio were down 53% in the last quarter of 2020.
From Outkick:
“Last January, ESPN detailed its 8% rise in the 2019 fall book, showing the Will Cain Show as the primary reason. ESPN said Cain’s radio show increased 18% year-over-year, saw triple-digit percentage audience growth on terrestrial radio for the quarter, and a 20% audience increase across platforms for December 2019. However, Cain left the network for Fox News over the summer, leaving a significant gap in the lineup.”
Will Cain is an open conservative and one of the last ones to either leave or be cut loose by the network.
Curt Schilling, Mike Ditka, and Britt McHenry are just a few conservatives who have been squeezed out at ESPN.
Former ESPN ombudsman Jim Brady detailed the oppressive left-wing environment at the company; he detailed how employees were afraid to have Fox News playing in the break room.
Brady was eventually let go as the “woke” movement grew.
After a brief move away from politics under the leadership of president Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN is back in the business of political messaging.
Now viewers are subjected to anti-American hot takes and reporters literally crying on air about social justice issues.
ESPN as well as most of the professional sports organizations fully embraced Black Lives Matter, an openly Marxist organization.
Despite the drop in ratings, ESPN continues to pump out an unpopular product.
This is what happens when ideology trumps business.
Ironically, the most “woke” members of ESPN are no longer at the company.
Dan Le Batard, Jemele Hill, and former president John Skipper are in talks to start a new progressive sports network, which will be competing with the million other left-wing sports networks.
Many sports fans, if not the majority, are more conservative.
They don’t want to be lectured to about systemic injustice while watching a football game.
Both the NFL and NBA have figured this out and toned down their political messaging, but ESPN seems to be lagging behind.
Meanwhile, sports fans are jumping ship to platforms that either reflect their views or simply stick to sports.
If ESPN were interested in bringing back fans, they would consider a perspective that goes against the liberal grain, but that seems to be incredibly unlikely.