As stated in a previous piece of mine, sports has always been known as an escape from reality. Anyone who dared to blur the lines between sports and politics got a stern reminder to "stick to sports!" But now the self-proclaimed "Worldwide Leader in Sports" has shifted the line, and many people think its line is now to the far left, with critics calling the network MSESPN, in reference to well-known left-leaning MSNBC.
Sports itself is now more political as well. Players are kneeling for the national anthem for political reasons, coaches are sounding off on the administration, and championship teams are breaking the tradition of visiting the White House when the win the championship.
This past election was the most polarizing in our lifetimes. As a result, people had to make everything political and still do. People are more likely to boycott companies for their or their owners' political stances, and this spills over to the sports industry too.
ESPN is beginning to show a political tilt. That would be okay if they were a political network. But they are not.
They are a sports network, and when I tune into them for sports coverage, I should be seeing sports and not talk about Colin Kaepernick.
I do not necessarily disagree with the opinions that the network has. I am known to be left of the center of the political spectrum. I will watch political coverage too when something major happens in Washington or anywhere else.
However, ESPN is no longer the informative, entertaining network it once was. Talent like Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitlock left the network to pursue pure sports-related mission at FS1. Coverage is often centered on whether or not football players should be able to unionize in college or smoke pot...which is fine, but when I tune into sports coverage, I expect to hear about the QB drama with the Miami Dolphins and other hard news in the world of football.
It goes both ways too. When I tune into cable news to see who the next Trump official to be investigated by the FBI is, I really don't want to hear about the latest with Kaepernick.
Nobody wins. The consumer loses because the number of real sports discussed is lower. ESPN as a company loses because their politics alienates people, and not just conservatives either. Cord cutters have lowered ESPN and pro sports viewership across the board (not just football). In order for ESPN and the NFL to bounce back, they have to prove that they genuinely care about putting sports first and the opinions low-key.