Free Republic

ORLANDO, Fla. — The NFL received its highest grade for diversity hiring practices but still has work to do. The annual report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport on Thursday gave the league its third consecutive A grade on racial hiring and its first C-plus for gender hiring — it drew C's the past three years. The combined B score of 82.3 percent is tops for the NFL. Richard Lapchick, the main author, attributes the improvement to what he sees as a push from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his key managers.

The most prominent event in professional sports is peaking with diversity in almost every area except one – advertising. In 2010, there were no Super Bowl commercials produced by lead creative directors of color. In 2011, that number rose to four according to the second annual study of the racial and gender makeup of creative directors produced by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.

The NBA received the highest grade ever issued on racial and gender hiring practices among men's professional leagues, continuing a recent trend. The league received an A+ for race and an A- on gender for a combined A in this year's Racial and Gender Report Card from the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. While the NFL and Major League Baseball have shown significant improvement on racial and gender hiring in recent years, the NBA is the only men's pro league to receive a combined A. TIDES has been studying diversity hiring in...

NEW YORK (AP)—The percentage of black players in the major leagues dropped again on opening day this year even as the sport again received a top overall grade for racial diversity. Baseball’s grade for gender hiring declined slightly, according to the annual study released Thursday by Richard Lapchick’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida. Baseball received an A for racial diversity in hiring, the same grade as last year, and a B-minus for gender, down from a B. Its overall grade remained a B-plus. “A one-year difference like this must be seen with...