Dan Le Batard criticizes lack of diversity among NFL broadcast analysts

Sports personality Dan Le Batard stated on his program Tuesday that the NFL intentionally favors white broadcasters to appeal to a broad audience, despite the league's player base being disproportionately Black. Le Batard pointed to the hiring of former players like Luke Kuechly, J.J. Watt, and Rob Gronkowski as examples of a pattern within network hiring practices. The critique comes as the NFL prepares for the start of the regular season this week. Reviews of network broadcast teams indicate that the top in-game analysts for NBC, Fox, CBS, ESPN, Amazon, and Netflix are all white. While Le Batard asserted that the lack of diversity in the booth is a deliberate choice to make the product palatable, others view the hiring decisions as a matter for ongoing debate. The league has not issued an official response to the claims regarding its broadcast talent selection.

• 2:18 PMYahoo Sports — ‘It’s on purpose’: NFL sparks outrage with too many white announcers