• Loading stock data...
Friday, March 29, 2024
2024 Best Venues nominations are open now through April 8! Submit Now

Is ESPN ‘Going Easy’ On Business Partner Dana White?

  • Criticism over ESPN’s coverage of Dana White’s altercation with wife criticized.
  • ESPN defends its coverage of its UFC business partner.
Dana White
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Ten days after video surfaced of UFC president Dana White slapping his wife, questions about ESPN’s alleged softball coverage are raised.

Former ESPN personality Jemele Hill accused her former network – and its biggest star Stephen A. Smith – of “intentionally going easy” on White, who was caught on camera angrily exchanging slaps with his wife Anne at a nightclub in Mexico. 

Yes, ESPN has covered the story. On Monday, for example, ESPN.com posted a story on the California Legislative Women’s Caucus calling on UFC owner Endeavor to remove White from his position. “SportsCenter” covered the story for nearly a minute Tuesday morning, and the network aired the TMZ video of the confrontation.

According to an ESPN spokesperson, the network has devoted much ink and air time to the story across its linear, audio and digital platforms.  

“We have been covering the story on our platforms since it broke and will continue to do so,” the spokesperson said. 

There’s a difference between saving-face coverage and ESPN’s flood-the-zone outrage on controversial issues, wrote Hill in The Atlantic. In a story headlined, “The Sports Scandal Almost Nobody Is Talking About,” Hill asked if ESPN’s five-year, $1.5 billion media rights deal with the UFC is making it pull its punches. 

dana-white-ari-emanuel

Can Endeavor Handle Dana White and Vince McMahon?

Vince McMahon has renewed speculation he may sell WWE. Maybe even to…
January 7, 2023

Beyond ESPN, UFC’s parent company —  entertainment giant Endeavor — has been quieter since the incident. Endeavor has yet to offer up public comment. FOS reported on Saturday that Endeavor was unlikely to let White go due to the incident. 

California state Sen. Nancy Skinner, chair of California Legislative Women’s Caucus, already aimed Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel with Monday’s letter she co-authored that called for White’s removal.

In an interview with FOS, Skinner didn’t rule out reaching out to ESPN or its parent company, The Walt Disney Company, in a similar manner. 

“We will continue to put pressure wherever it’s appropriate,” Skinner said. 

Compare ESPN’s White coverage to that of NBA star Kyrie Irving, asked Hill. Much less NFL running back Ray Rice, who never played in the league again after TMZ published video of him knocking out his fiancee in an elevator in 2014.

Hill also pointed to Smith and “First Take” host Molly Qerim’s empathetic discussion of the White incident as an example of ESPN’s “compromised” coverage. 

“The issue isn’t that ESPN has ignored White’s situation entirely. It’s just that the coverage of the incident has overall been pretty soft,” she wrote. “Having worked at ESPN for 12 years, I know intimately the difference between cursory coverage and an ongoing national conversation fueled by the massive sports media machine. 

Unlike all other major ESPN broadcast partners like the NFL and MLB, UFC produces its own shows for the network. That gives White and UFC officials unparalleled control of their shows, leaving ESPN as the content’s delivery method. 

The first show since the White incident is slated to air on ESPN+ on Saturday. UFC didn’t return multiple FOS messages asking if it would address the White’s domestic incident or if he’d be on the show. 

Last week, ESPN staffer Jeff Wagenheim tweeted he and his colleagues had been told not to write anything inflammatory about the story.

“We’ve been told to not write anything incendiary on social media about the Dana White situation, and I understand why and have abided by that. I just ask y’all to understand that some of us at ESPN do not have as soft a take as this on domestic violence.”

Power Slap
exclusive

Dana White’s Slap-Fighting League Debut on TBS Delayed

Dana White and his wife recently had a physical altercation in Mexico.
January 5, 2023

He later clarified his position on Twitter: “There was no edict from ESPN bosses regarding the White situation, but in general, we are strongly discouraged from incendiary posts on social media, and with a business partner things are sensitive. My bad on the wording.”

Hill wasn’t surprised by the clarification.

“Given ESPN’s huge financial stake in UFC’s success, Wagenheim’s revelation is hardly surprising. Because ESPN is a business partner of virtually every major sports league in the country — the NFL, the NBA, college sports, and professional soccer, among others — the network’s journalists face a difficult balancing act when major players of those leagues behave inappropriate,” she wrote.

White himself expressed remorse about the incident to TMZ. And Anne White also expressed remorse, chalking up the incident to too much alcohol on New Year’s Eve.  

If White didn’t make any excuses for his violent behavior, why are others making excuses for him, Hill asked.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Spring Football’s Big Bet: An Unlikely TV Marriage, and Crazy Rules

The United Football League launches this weekend on ESPN and Fox.

NFL Executive Questions Logic Behind Streaming Giants’ Joint Venture

The ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox alliance is expected to launch this fall.
March 22, 2024, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Northwestern Wildcats guard Brooks Barnhizer (13) and Northwestern Wildcats guard Boo Buie (0) react in overtime against the Florida Atlantic Owls in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at the Barclays Center.

‘An Expensive Game’: March Madness and NIL Collectives Are Intertwined

At schools nationwide, collectives are fueling NCAA tournament runs and vice versa.
podcast thumbnail mobile
Front Office Sports Today

Why the Timberwolves Sale was Called Off

0:00
0:00

Featured Today

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (22) waits to be announced in the starting lineup against West Virginia in a NCAA Tournament round of 32 game Monday, March 25, 2024 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

The Women’s Trading Card Market Is Overlooked. Can Caitlin Clark Change That?

Traditionally, women’s sports cards have been a marginal part of collectibles.
The Sports Illustrated cover signed by Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, February 27, 2019, at Don & Charlie's, 7501 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale. Don Charlie S
March 24, 2024

Everything You Need to Know About the Ongoing ‘Sports Illustrated’ Saga

Understanding the strange state of affairs for the nearly 70-year-old publication.
March 23, 2024

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Inside the Big East’s Bizarre Online Subculture

Peeling back the curtain on the ‘phenomenally weird’ Big East online ecosystem.
Mar 21, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Stetson Hatters guard Stephan Swenson (30) reacts during team practice at Barclays Center.
March 22, 2024

First-Time NCAA Men’s Tourney Bids Could Be on the Verge of Extinction

Power and success are consolidating around the richest teams in college sports.

Careers

Powered By

Careers in Sports

Looking for a new job? Check out these featured listings and search for openings all over the world.
Live Nation
Multiple - USA Careers
Adidas
Multiple - USA Careers
Spotify
Multiple - USA Careers

‘Good Morning Football’ Beginning Mysterious Timeout Before L.A. Move

Friday is the final broadcast of ‘Good Morning Football’ from New York.
March 28, 2024

Jets Owner Blasts ‘False’ Reporting From League-Owned Outlet

League owners and NFL Media rarely criticize each other.
March 28, 2024

NBA Wants to Cash in With Foreign Investors in More Ways Than One

Sovereign wealth funds can invest in NBA teams.
Sponsored

How Daily Fantasy Sports Solved NBA Fantasy

The remarkable growth of the #1 Discord sports server in the world.
March 28, 2024

Late Rush Keeps Three MLB Teams on TV, but Revenue Issues Linger

The Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies continue to navigate a post-RSN landscape.
exclusive
March 26, 2024

Threats, Demands, a Lawsuit, and a Website in Limbo: Inside the Chaos at ‘SI’

‘Sports Illustrated’ has new publishers, but the transition has been messy at best.
March 25, 2024

Inside the Proxy Fight for the Future of Disney (and ESPN)

Dissident investor Nelson Peltz is seeking two board seats in an upcoming election.
March 25, 2024

The Brian Kelly ‘Hit Job’ Kim Mulkey Ripped Is Barely About Brian Kelly at All

The article was hardly about Kelly at all.