Time for the Sports Industry to Fight Antisemitism

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Mark Conrad
Hello and welcome to the Sports Business podcast with prophecy. The podcast that explores the world of professional, collegiate, amateur and Olympic sports. I'm Mark Conrad or prophecy from Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business, where I serve as professor of law and ethics and the director of the Sports Business Initiative. The Hello and welcome to the Sports Business Podcast with Prof C, the podcast that explores the world of professional, collegiate, amateur, and Olympic sports. I’m Mark Conrad, or Prof. C from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, where I serve as Professor of Law and Ethics and the Director of the Sports Business Initiative. The Anti-Defamation League reports that more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents occurred in the United States between October 7, 2023, and September 2024 – League reports that more than 10,000 anti-Semitic incidents occurred in the United States between October 7th, 2023 and September 2024 -

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Mark Conrad
a huge jump the from 3,300 incidents the prior year. That marks the most incidents recorded in a 12-month period by the organization since it began tracking such threats over 40 years ago. The 2024 figure includes more than 150 incidents of physical assault, more than 1,800 acts of vandalism and more than 8,000 other antisemitic incidents involving verbal or written harassment.

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Mark Conrad
The organization also noted at least 1,200 antisemitic activities occurred on US college campuses over the past year, representing a 500% spike from the previous year’s data in the same category. Many have debated ways to confront the problem and finding policies to reduce incidents of antisemitism. The sports industry could help in this quest. Because millions follow professional, college, high school and Olympic sports, organizations and individual athletes could participate in activities designed to expose the dangers of antisemitism.

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Mark Conrad
Professional, college and Olympics sport systems have traditionally been considered an entertainment pursuit where stakeholders did not venture into civil rights or political questions. In the last two decades, that has changed. Leagues and teams have backed the right to abortion, pulled all-star games from states with restrictive transgender laws, and promoted diversity and racial justice. Players associations and individual athletes have also become involved in these issues. So it is time for the sports industry to become more proactive in combating antisemitism, in the sports ecosystem and also in society at large.

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Mark Conrad
In 2020, shortly after the rise of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, former NBA star and social commentator Kareen Abdul-Jabbar penned a commentary titled “Where is the Outrage Over Antisemitism in Sports and Hollywood?” He stated: “Incidents of anti-Semitic tweets and posts from sports and entertainment celebrities are a very troubling omen. . . but so too is the shocking lack of massive indignation. Given the New Woke-fulness in Hollywood and the sports world,

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Mark Conrad
we expected more passionate public outrage. What we got was a shrug of meh-rage.” Mr. Abdul-Jabbar is indeed correct. To be fair, some change has already occurred. New England Patriots Owner Robert Kraft and commissioners in all the major sports leagues have agreed to an initiative against hate. Kraft has teamed up with the commissioners of Major League Baseball,

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Mark Conrad
the NFL, NBA, NHL, WNBA, the National Women’s Soccer League, and NASCAR to help create ads featuring leaders and top athletes. Those ads – featuring notable sports icons - will play across all major leagues throughout the rest of the year. The campaign deals with various kinds of hate, not just antisemitism and it is a good start. Here are a few other ideas for sports to combat antisemitism: For sports stakeholders,

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Mark Conrad
more educational awareness programs about the history and evils of antisemitism, including trips to Jewish or Holocaust museums in the United States or Europe. Sanctions by leagues, conferences, and Olympic officials for antisemitic acts or conduct by owners, executives and players. League Commissioners have broad authority to sanction acts not in the best interest of the sport and such conduct would constitute such a violation.

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Mark Conrad
Working with the players’ unions, a broad consensus of acts could be included in future collective bargaining agreements. Other measures include banning offensive chants and symbols in arenas and stadiums; creating outreach programs to protect Jewish employees and fans from hate; establishing a hotline for those in the sports organizations who feel threatened or victimized by antisemitic conduct; and finally, training for those who are counselors or directors in summer youth sports leagues to stop antisemitic actions. For society at large,

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Mark Conrad
the sports industry can help combat antisemitism by creating public service advertisements and sponsoring educational programs with civil rights organizations. At this troubled time, a more aggressive stand by professional, amateur, college and Olympic sports in addressing this issue would be a positive development. Any thoughts? Send them to me at [email protected]. Thank you for listening. Until next time,

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Mark Conrad
this is Prof. C for the Gabelli Sports Business Initiative.