Pro athletes in the buildup to the election have been "speaking out more often and forcefully" about racism and social justice on sports TV, pushing ESPN and other nets to "carry programs where on-air commentators, hosts and players are discussing the topics as thoroughly as any news program," according to Stephen Battaglio of the L.A. TIMES. Throughout the NBA playoffs, TNT "aired a series of specials called 'The Arena,'" which featured discussions and segments on the "coronavirus pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement and racial injustice." ESPN Senior VP & Editor-At-Large Rob King said that the net's "wave of programming and coverage related to racial injustice is less about politics and more about a societal movement now sweeping the country, and recent research shows the sports audience is more willing to listen." King: "We all understand we're having a national conversation. It has an urgency to it that it hasn't for decades, and so [fans] do recognize why it matters." King added that ESPN has "always covered the intersection of sports and social issues," but the "difference now is that 'we seem to be crossing that intersection every block and a half.'" Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza believes that the willingness of Black athletes to "tell their stories about their encounters with racism, social injustice and the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on their communities is making sports and news inextricable" (L.A. TIMES, 11/3).
