In a nation reeling from federal actions, a planned White House visit by top sports commissioners is a reckless gamble. It’s not just a photo-op; it’s a move that could turn their leagues into the epicenter of national protest, alienate players, and permanently tarnish their public image.
A piece of advice for Roger Goodell, Adam Silver and any other sports official thinking of joining President Donald Trump at the White House this week for some party planning: Read the room.
Trump’s goon squads are gunning down U.S. citizens and using a 5-year-old in a blue bunny hat as bait for their overreaching immigration raids. Much of the country is furious and looking for someone — anyone — to have a spine and say this is not OK. Now is not the time to be seen indulging Trump’s latest visions of grandeur, even if he claims they’re in celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
The Athletic reported last week that the commissioners of the four major men’s sports were going to visit the White House, possibly as early as Tuesday, to hear Trump’s ideas for incorporating the leagues into plans for America 250. As anyone who has paid even the slightest bit of attention to this administration knows, the meeting would turn into surreality TV, with Trump inflating his accomplishments, airing his grievances and expecting the commissioners to fawn over him.
If they need convincing of how poorly that would go over with the general public right now, look at the reaction to Apple CEO Tim Cook going to the White House for movie night when Alex Pretti’s body was still warm.
White House visit would be seen as endorsement
The owners who Goodell, Silver, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred serve are overwhelmingly conservative and many are Trump supporters. It would surprise no one if the commissioners are, as well.
But this is not about politics. Truly. It’s about not pretending everything is normal when it is not. It’s about preventing their leagues from becoming the focus of Americans’ anger.
Go to the White House, and the leagues will be seen as taking the side of an administration that has declared open season on its own people. Go to the White House, and they’d all but ensure their games would become an epicenter for protests in the coming weeks.
Does Goodell really want thousands of angry Americans marching outside the Super Bowl and claiming the spotlight from the NFL’s marquee event? Does Silver really want to antagonize his players, who have not hesitated to take a stand on the right side of history?
“Alex Pretti was murdered,” Indiana Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton said in a post on X on Jan. 25.
Even Major League Baseball, with its large number of players from Latin America, cannot assume this wouldn’t rub its fans, and players, the wrong way.
Leagues already celebrating America’s 250th
It’s a needless risk, especially since the leagues can celebrate this country’s founding on their own. The NFL and NBA are, in fact, already doing it.
“America 250” was painted on the sideline near each of the end zones at the AFC title game in Denver, just as it’s been at NFL games the last three weekends. The footballs were embossed with “America” and a red, white and blue ribbon with “250” below it.
The NBA said last week it will do service and volunteer projects throughout the year. The country could use more of that, the leagues working to strengthen our bonds rather than tearing them apart.
When athletes call out racism, homophobia or our society’s brutalization of the most marginalized, they are almost always met with a howl of “Stick to sports!” If ever that instruction needed to be heeded, it’s now.
A White House visit, when this country is seething, would not be seen as the polite cost of doing business. The commissioners would be seen as being complicit, and they would saddle their leagues with that shame forever.
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