Not a lot of people watch women’s college basketball compared to other sports. ESPN is trying to keep it that way.
The “worldwide leader in sports” is broadcasting the women’s NCAA Tournament — and doing a terrible job of it. During halftime of the game between South Carolina and Howard, Elle Duncan opted to take time away from the rest of the women’s bracket to tout that ESPN employees would stage a walkout over Florida’s parental rights bill. The bill prevents classroom instruction on sexual orientation for children between kindergarten and third grade.
This is a travesty, according to Duncan. “We thought we were going to come here today and celebrate a sport that has meant so much and done so much, including for so many in the LGBTQIA+ communities,” Duncan said. But the “gravity” of a bill preventing teachers from teaching second graders about sex means that “our allyship is going to take a front seat.” Duncan’s segment mercifully came to a close with a moment of silence.
When the broadcast returned, Courtney Lyle informed the audience that she would “normally” look back at the first half but that “there are things bigger than basketball.” You know, like teaching first graders about transgenderism. Peck then stated that she, too, would be taking a moment of silence, allowing the second half to begin with no commentary.
Today during the Women’s NCAA Tournament, ESPN’s Carolyn Peck and Courtney Lyle remained silent for two minutes in opposition of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
“There are things bigger than basketball … Our LGBTQIA+ teammates at Disney asked for our solidarity and support.” pic.twitter.com/d0xISZvNUh
— The Recount Alt (@therecountalt) March 18, 2022
Perhaps it didn’t help that No. 1 overall seed South Carolina was crushing Howard 44-4 at halftime. But there are plenty of other directions to take coverage of a blowout than turning it into uneducated political posturing. Duncan, Lyle, and Peck likely couldn’t even tell viewers what the bill does, let alone how it affects ESPN employees or requires a grandstand of “allyship.”
The women’s championship last year drew over 4 million viewers, its highest number since 2014. The men’s championship drew just under 17 million. ESPN has regularly covered inequalities, both real and perceived, between men’s and women’s basketball. Driving away viewers with toxic liberal politics won’t help the problem. The heavily politicized WNBA also saw its most-viewed postseason since 2014, averaging just 367,000 viewers. ESPN seems content to try and drive women’s college basketball to the same fate.
Yeah, most of ESPN’s on-air personalities are liberals. ESPN, owned by Disney, is liberal. But ESPN is supposed to be a sports outlet. Politicizing sports has been detrimental to the NFL, the NBA, and ESPN itself. For the sake of women’s college basketball, ESPN’s “analysts” should spend more time focused on the court and less time on bills they don’t understand.
