An Examination of MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and WNBA Team Social Media Statements in Response to George Floyd's Death

Abstract

Abstract: The current study examined, via critical race theory, team statements issued by the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, and MLB teams in response to George Floyd's death at the hands of a White police officer. Out of 136 teams, 133 issued statements via Twitter, which were collected and assessed in a codebook. Analyses to consider the impact of league and post timing on statement quality indicated that the NHL teams had statistically significantly lower-quality statements compared to the teams in the other four leagues. There were no significant differences in statement quality among the NBA, WNBA, NFL, and MLB. There were no differences in statement quality conditional upon time of statement posting. A further textual analysis was conducted to understand the language present in team statements. The textual analysis revealed similar language among the leagues, with few noticeable differences. The overall findings reveal that organizations within the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, and MLB have done little to challenge the status quo of systemic racism and violence in North America, serving as performative outrage instead of committing to real change.