was not based on any concerns about hurting its contractual relationship
with the N.F.L.
Posted on 08/23/2013 6:38:05 AM PDT by John W
Pressure from the National Football League led to ESPN’s decision on Thursday to pull out of an investigative project with “Frontline” regarding head injuries in the N.F.L., according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.
“Frontline,” the PBS public affairs series, and ESPN had been working for 15 months on a two-part documentary, to be televised in October. But ESPN’s role came under intense pressure by the league, the two people said, after a trailer for the documentary was released Aug. 6, the day that the project was discussed at a Television Critics Association event in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Chris LaPlaca, an ESPN spokesman, said Thursday that ESPN’s decision was not based on any concerns about hurting its contractual relationship with the N.F.L. Rather, the network said in a statement, it was ending its official association with “Frontline” because it did not have editorial control of what appeared on the public television public affairs series.
But Raney Aronson-Rath, the deputy executive producer of “Frontline,” said that ESPN executives had for more than a year understood the ground rules of the collaboration: “Frontline” would keep editorial control of what it televised or put on its Web sites, and ESPN would have control of everything it televised or posted on the Web.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
NFL is tainted with steroids already... now we have the thugs, time to bin it, American football is great but too much of this other stuff, at the college level too. Hate saying this.
I have thought since the concussion issue gained prominence the game was doomed. It’s amazing however to see the parties involved in it approaching the issue in such ways as to speed up it’s demise.
$
-jack lambert
The NFL’s days are numbered. Our society is actively being feminized. Add to that the out of control use of steroids, and it’s going to spell the death of the professional sport.
It won’t go willingly, but the lawyers will kill it.
With regard to your point, it appears that the management/owners of the NFL are acting like dinosaurs who just witnessed the asteroid impact the Earth, but don't understand.
Awfully stupid for ESPN to push the ban football agenda. Without College and NFL football, there isn’t much need for ESPN.
Wait for the pink fairy refs throwing flags for hurting player feelings......
I doubt it. MMA is the biggest thing going at the moment. People want to see blood sport these days.
“I read an interesting post on a sports economics blog that argued that the NFL is doomed, not because of the pending concussion litigation and other current issues regarding concussions, but because the threat of concussion will cause parents to keep their children out of the sport. Result being, that the pipeline of talent will dry up and the sport will wither away (or wither into something considerably “smaller”).”
I doubt it. It may hurt the suburban white football leagues, but those aren’t the kids that are largely playing NCAA and pro football.
Pipeline dries up, money dries up. It’s simple math.
You mean get it back to what it is suppose to be and sport you spend a few bucks to watch, not some Goliath marketing scheme suck billions from fans and cities with stadium projects.
Baseball rules anyway.
And it acts as such.
“I doubt it. MMA is the biggest thing going at the moment. People want to see blood sport these days.”
I don’t want to see people seriously hurt, but I admit, I loved the old days when a receiver would get “blown up” for going over the middle. Before they designated them “defenseless”. We watch for the big hits as much as for the great plays.
But, the lawsuits will shut it down. When MMA has enough retired participants who are physically damaged due to participation, and if there is enough money to be gained from suing, MMA will be shut down too.
Full disclosure: I can’t stand MMA and won’t watch it. My thought is that as long as the money keeps rolling in, though, losses from lawsuits can be replaced. May be simplistic, but I do think it’s true.
And when you have owners like my team has (the Wilfs) who are about to be fined for unfair business practices in New Jersey yet still can take Minnesota taxpayers for nearly a billion dollars for their new Vikings playground, I think the NFL is going to be around for a long, long time.
Undt, vhy vould you not thingt that Euro-futbal is being promoted to replace this EN-EF-EL?
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