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Just weeks after a report claiming that the NFL is in talks to purchase an equity stake in ESPN, fans are already seeing what a potential conflict of interest could mean for the league and the network.
ESPN’s Shwetha Surendran and Mark Fainaru-Wada co-authored a report entitled “How fears over CTE and football outpaced what researchers know.”
The story questions prior CTE research and the disorder’s effects on NFL players, who are overwhelmingly likely to suffer from it.
“I’m very respectful of what [BU has] done,” Dr. Aaron Baggish, a former cardiologist for the New England Patriots and a member of a Harvard University research team studying former NFL players, told ESPN. “But it has contributed to a very single-sided discussion and has, unfortunately, left many to think that this is a much simpler problem than it really is.”
ESPN Publishes Controversial CTE Story In Wake Of Roger Goodell Comments
The story also comes just days after a court documents revealed disturbing comments made by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell regarding player safety.
““I think there’s still a great deal of uncertainty about the causation issue, if that’s what you’re referring to,” Goodell told the court when asked about concussions and long-term brain damage among players.
Goodell was also asked about NFL players, such as hall of fame linebacker Junior Seau, who have requested their brains be studied after taking their own lives.
“When you have research and brains can be studied…hopefully something good comes from that and in discovery,” he answer. “That’s how science advances. Obviously, as I stated, the unfortunate circumstances of anybody committing suicide are horrific in and of themselves. But there are a lot of factors that probably go into that.”
Timing Of ESPN Article Raises Several Questions
The ESPN article also takes aim at the “tremendous selection bias” of CTE studies. Stating that studies are entirely based on a “select sample of football players who reached the very highest level of the sport; a specific set of NFL players who, years after they retired, were so cognitively addled that their families donated their brains for study.”
Naturally, that selection bias is merely observational. Particularly when it comes to news headlines about players who suffered from CTE.
Which leads to several obvious questions: why did the article come out on? When did research begin on it? Was the NFL aware of article? Did the NFL direct ESPN to write the article?
The reported deal would see the league acquire a stake in the sports broadcasting giant. ESPN would then gain control of NFL Media, including NFL Network and NFL RedZone.
It’s impossible to say for certain whether the article suffered from a conflict on interest. But it’s not a great look for either side given the information on hand.