Nicole Noren: “I’m not going to have blood on my hands.”
www.cjr.org
Why Nicole Noren, a decorated ESPN producer, quit in protest.

An award-winning ESPN producer resigned after 24 years over the network’s embrace of sports betting: “I’m not going to have blood on my hands.”

  • BassTurd@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    19 hours ago

    I absolutely loath how ingrained it has become in sports. They have specific segments during half times about betting odds and there are banners everywhere for the various betting site.

    To a lesser extent, I also hate what fantasy sports have done for various sports as well, mostly NFL. I don’t think it’s as bad as explicit gambling, but I just dgaf about anyone’s fantasy scores, teams, or whatever. That they take time out to cover that shit is annoying and is amongst the various reasons I no longer watch the NFL after 30 years of watching the Packers religiously. The product as a whole is just not enjoyable anymore.

    • PancakesCantKillMe@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      19 hours ago

      I didn’t mind playing FF, but the heartbreak it provided each week wore me down over 20yrs. Won a couple of championships, but I also had rookie FF players win championships. Lots of luck involved. T’was a casual league, but one guy kept treating it like bloodsport so I decided to stop managing a couple years ago. With the inundation of gambling in the NFL I was so disgusted I gave it up altogether. I might tune in if someone else wants to but I’ve gained soooo much time back by not watching game after game. My fav team is even currently doing well, but I don’t really have any fucks to give either way. The owners have ruined the product through greed and avarice. Very apropo for this timeline.

      • Hypnotoad_@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        0·
        12 hours ago

        I watched my first baseball game in a few years the other night. Had to turn it off. Between the draft kings, garbage political ads, AI slop pushing, viagra dick pills, and DEPARTMENT OF WAR commercials… Ugh it’s so sad. Our society is so fucked. If only we cared about education, healthcare, infrastructure, childhood development, etc the same. So much wasted resources, brain power, and ambition.

        Makes me so sad. My kid is being raised in a hell hole. Doing what I can to protect her but good gravy I don’t even see a way out anymore. Sports are something I’ve all but given up on, and those commercial breaks during the guardians game reminded me why.

      • BassTurd@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        18 hours ago

        Pretty much nailed in. I’ve been away for probably 4 years now and honestly I have no interest in the game at all. I was at a bar with friends a few years ago when some of their friends were doing a fantasy draft and was wearing a pair of Packers shorts. A Bears fan came up and started giving me some gruff and I just told him I hadn’t been following the NFL anymore so I was current on events. He just kept trying to give me shit, so I went ahead and returned the favour as a Packers fan to a Bears fan. Afterwards I was telling my buddy that while I don’t watch or care anymore, I will always take the opportunity to dunk on the Bears.

        I used to go to at least one game at Lambeau every year for about a decade. I do miss the excitement of being at a live game with 70k other people, but I just don’t have any desire to go to another. I would absolutely tag along for the tailgate though and hold down the fort as everyone else went in.