ESPN Lauded For Handling Of Cuba Game, Substantive In-Game Interview With Obama

Sports Business Daily
March 23, 2016

ESPN's on-air crew of Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez and Doug Glanville did an "excellent job" interviewing President Obama during the third inning of yesterday's Rays-Cuban national team game in Havana, according to SI.com's Richard Deitsch. The interview provided "substance," and "not just fluff." ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer for MLB Phil Orlins also deserves "serious props" for the crew's discussion following Obama's appearance, as the segment "treated viewers like adults" (TWITTER.com, 3/22). AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Andrew Bucholz noted Obama "talked everything from the Brussels terrorist attacks to human rights in Cuba." While it is "unusual to see this kind of extremely serious content on ESPN, they deserve credit for letting Obama address this without interruption ... and not focusing on the non-existent sanctity of an exhibition baseball game." Bucholz: "It’s hard to find much fault with how ESPN handled this particular part of their Cuba coverage" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 3/22). SI.com's Jay Jaffe noted the interview "superseded coverage of the action for nearly the entire inning before Obama departed the stadium to travel for a state visit to Argentina" (SI.com, 3/22). 

Republished from SportsBusinessDaily.com.