Throughout its history, ESPN and its sister networks have been the targets of criticism[1] for programming choices, biased coverage,[2] conflict of interest, and controversies with individual broadcasters and analysts.
Cable and satellite television providers condemned ESPN's most recent contract extension with the NFL and have contemplated moving the network to a higher programming tier to mitigate cost increases.
[37] Since MLB Network launched on January 1, 2009, Baseball Tonight has been the target of criticism because of its perceived bias in favor of certain teams such as the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, both based within driving distance of ESPN's studios in Bristol, Connecticut.
As a condition of the new deal, Dish Network agreed to disable the ability to use the automatic commercial skipping function on its Hopper DVR on ABC programming within 72 hours of its original airing.
[49] Charter claims it intends to offer cheaper, non-sports packages to customers, as a way to fight cordcutting and to prepare for ESPN's potential launch of a full-service over-the-top subscription.
Dave O'Brien joined Marcelo Balboa on the lead broadcast team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup coverage on ESPN and ABC Sports, despite having no experience calling soccer matches before that year.
Because The Walt Disney Company, owner of both television outlets, retained control over on-air talent, the appointment of O'Brien as the main play-by-play voice was made over the objections of Soccer United Marketing, which wanted JP Dellacamera to continue in that role.
[64][65] ESPN[66] has been accused of putting more emphasis on overall negativity and the more violent aspect of MLS games (such as two confrontations, two challenges, and a player nursing a bloody head in its first six shots) in "Greatest Highlights of the Month" segment for their intermission reports.
ESPN and producer Tollin/Robbins Productions officially pulled the plug on the reality series, citing "creative control" issues with star Barry Bonds and his representatives.
In addition, ABC's New York City flagship station WABC-TV carried the race, but pre-empted NASCAR Countdown and the rain delay to cover a construction accident at a high-rise building in Manhattan.
He was quoted by the Detroit Free Press as saying: I just hear from our family and friends back home that, 'Boy, ESPN is killing you guys,' ... 'And (Nancy) Lieberman and Doris Burke are just trashing you left and right.'
[37] ESPN maintains a broadcast rights agreement with the ACC that runs through the 2026–2027 season, which provides additional football, men's and women's basketball and Olympic sports coverage on a variety of platforms, suggesting that the bias may have a financial motivation.
[89] ESPN in general, was accused of spending entire first weekend of the playoffs on December 20–21 bashing the participating schools, criticizing fans, and overall making the broadcasts a miserable experience for viewers.
On January 20, 2025, ESPN received complaints[90][91] after President Donald Trump unexpectedly appeared to deliver a brief speech during halftime of the College Football Playoff National Championship, mere hours after his second inauguration.
[99] This fact led several media organizations, including Forbes, to argue whether the financial relationship with the league creates a conflict of interest when ESPN covers the NFL.
[104] This was compared to when Jimmy Haslam, owner of the Cleveland Browns, was accused by the FBI in a 120-page affidavit[105] of a five-year-long "conspiracy to scheme" and "defraud its customers" out of millions in rebates for his company Pilot Flying J.
14 years later, in 2020, Aaron Barnhart of Primetimer wrote: The NFL was never one to turn down a lunatic network waving a blank checkbook, so it agreed to let ESPN take Monday Night Football over to cable.
On November 29, 2018, Deadspin's Drew Magary said[117] that ESPN "Is too busy living in Monday Night Football's glorious past, trying to turn the franchise into an event with needless innovations and halftime concerts – like The Chainsmokers during last week's Rams-Chiefs game.
Rolling Stone writers Jordan Burchette and Michael Weinreb each published articles examining the implications of ESPN's perceived SEC bias during the 2014 college football season.
[142] Concerns were raised by some fans, bloggers and journalists that ESPN's financial stake in the Longhorn Network (which launched in August 2011) created a potential conflict of interest.
Additionally, some questioned the stipulation included in the network's founding agreement that gives Texas the right to dismiss LHN announcers that do not "reflect the quality and reputation of UT.
[159] Most of the critics of the Jenner award considered Lauren Hill, who played college basketball despite suffering from a brain tumor that would claim her life only a few months later, a more worthy recipient.
Others cited Noah Galloway, an Iraq War double amputee who competes in extreme sports and was also a finalist in the spring 2015 season of Dancing with the Stars, as a worthy candidate.
[160] On September 11, 2017, SportsCenter anchor Jemele Hill made a series of tweets critical of President Donald Trump, including describing him as a "white supremacist".
[175] On October 8, 2019, in the wake of Chinese boycotts of the NBA after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey made a Twitter post in support of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests,[176][177] it was reported that ESPN's senior news director Chuck Salituro had issued an internal memo directing on-air personalities to not discuss political aspects of the controversy unrelated to their effects on sport, as per prior directives discouraging "pure politics".
"[186] Meanwhile, Kelly McBride of the nonprofit journalism organization the Poynter Institute in an interview with The Washington Post said "You're turning the journalist into a salesperson and asking them to upsell the product.
"[187] In July 2020, New York Times writer Kevin Draper spoke[188] with more than two dozen current and former ESPN employees, who "described a company that projected a diverse outward face, but did not have enough Black executives, especially ones with real decision-making power.
They said the company did not provide meaningful career paths for Black employees behind the camera and made decisions based on assumptions that its average viewer is an older White man, in spite of its audience trends."
On February 14, 2024, ESPN garnered criticism for its perceived delayed response to a breaking news story regarding a mass shooting following a Super Bowl LVIII victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs.
In-between that time, SportsCenter devoted about six minutes to discussing the upcoming Monday Night Football match-up before moving on to a segment on Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, whose death had been announced earlier in the day.