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Leah Hextall Felt Unwelcome in NHL Broadcast Booths

“It was just, to me, that I survived that, that I survived the mental attacks, I survived the outside attacks from social media, I survived the internal attacks from other people within the hockey world, I survived attacks from some of my colleagues not at ESPN but just different things I heard,” she said.
Jordan Bondurant

Published

7 months ago

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Leah Hextall

Last year ESPN made its triumphant return as a media rights holder for the NHL, and among some of the more notable moves the network made was including female voices on its broadcast crews.

But Leah Hextall, who even led play-by-play during ESPN’s coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, said it wasn’t such a wonderful experience.

Talking to Richard Deitsch on his podcast Sports Media with Richard Deitsch, Hextall said she was unwelcome in a lot of different settings in the league. That compounded many of the vile and sexist messages and threats she received for just doing the job.

“To me, you add that on to the fact that then I didn’t feel welcomed in some press boxes, and I didn’t feel welcomed at some rinks and in some conversations,” she said. “I realized that I was once again the lone woman and the outsider looking in, and I wasn’t one of the boys and I wasn’t going to be no matter how hard I tried.”

Hextall gave a presentation earlier in the summer that spotlighted a lot of what she went through. She said she was a survivor and elaborated more on what she meant by that.

“It was just, to me, that I survived that, that I survived the mental attacks, I survived the outside attacks from social media, I survived the internal attacks from other people within the hockey world, I survived attacks from some of my colleagues not at ESPN but just different things I heard,” she said.

The comments, threats and treatment she received took its toll. Hextall said she struggled with having to keep all of that stuff private.

“I have been really taught that in this industry, keep your head down, do the work and don’t draw attention to yourself because this is just something you have to deal with. You have to deal with it,” she said. “But I’ve also never wanted to draw attention to myself in that way, because I didn’t want to give that person the satisfaction of retweeting that or sharing this on my social media platform because I also don’t want people to think I’m complaining. I know I’m not complaining but that’s how it looks like.”

“Because of that, I kept a lot of this silent,” she added.

But with a new season on the horizon, Hextall said she’s going to have a different approach. She’s not going to be fearful of making sure people know the types of things she’s subjected to.

“This season I think I will have a different mentality about it,” she said. “I would think more about passing it along when somebody references a threat or knowing where I live or something like that because at the end of the day, as my brother in-law who’s a cop says, you don’t know that they don’t need this. And if you get enough of them, maybe it’s time to start making people be held accountable for what they think is OK and how they treat people.”

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Sean McManus: LIV Golfers Won’t Get Different Treatment During The Masters

“We’re not gonna put our heads in the sand.”
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2 hours ago

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March 29, 2023

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CBS Sports is preparing for coverage of its 68th consecutive year of The Masters, but the 2023 event could prove to be unlike any before it, and CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus is cognizant of the situation.

After several former Masters champions departed the PGA Tour for the upstart LIV Golf, many pondered what that meant for the sport’s major championships. The Masters decided to continue to allow the golfers who are now playing exclusively with the Saudi-backed league to compete for the green jacket. McManus shared that CBS will continue the showcase the golfers as it always has.

“We’re not gonna cover up or hide anything,” McManus said, as reported by Golf Digest. “As I’ve said so often, our job is to cover the golf tournament. We’re not gonna show any different treatment for the golfers who have played on the LIV tour than we do the other golfers. And if there’s a pertinent point or something that we need to, or we feel that we should bring up in our coverage on Saturday and Sunday, or on our other coverage throughout the week, you know, we’re not gonna put our heads in the sand.

“Having said that, unless it really affects the story that’s taking place on the golf course, we’re not gonna go out of our way to cover it. I’m not sure there’s anything that we could add to the story as it already exists. We’ll cover it as, as is suitable.”

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NFL Owners Not Voting on Flex Scheduling For Thursday Night Football

“The owners have simply decided to wait until May to make their decision.”
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3 hours ago

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March 29, 2023

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Thursday Night Football

Amazon will have to wait for flex scheduling. NFL owners decided to table a proposal that would allow the league to create more compelling matchups for Thursday Night Football later in the season.

That doesn’t mean flex scheduling won’t be a reality on Thursday nights this season. The owners have simply decided to wait until May to make their decision.

Earlier this week, Peter King of NBC Sports reported that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is pushing the idea. Coaches have been outspoken about how much they dislike it, complaining about managing injuries and the competitive disadvantage that would come with finding out you suddenly have a shorter week of preparation than expected. According to King, Goodell is trying to make Amazon happy after the first season of Thursday Night Football failed to deliver projected audience numbers for Prime Video.

League owners did take a step they hope will lead to fewer games between losing teams. Last season, teams could only be scheduled once for a Thursday night game. The owners decided to bump that limit up to twice per season.

Goodell defended the proposal against accusations that the league is prioritizing revenue over player safety. 

“We always look at the data with respect to injuries,” he told the media gathered at the league meetings. “That is what drove our decisions throughout the first 12 or so years of Thursday Night Football and how it’s evolved. I think the data was very clear: it doesn’t show a higher injury rate. But we recognize shorter weeks. We went through this with COVID, too.”

When the idea of flex scheduling is revisited in May, it will require the support of 24 team owners in order to become a reality. 

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Eric Shanks Got Approval From Alex Rodriguez Before FOX Hired Derek Jeter

“Why wouldn’t we reach out?”
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4 hours ago

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March 29, 2023

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Derek Jeter is going to work a very limited schedule for FOX next season. Still, before he came on board, FOX Sports CEO Eric Shanks wanted the support of Jeter’s former Yankees teammate and on-again/off-again friend Alex Rodriguez.

Andrew Marchand is reporting that Shanks reached out to ARod personally. Rodriguez gave his approval to the network.

“Why wouldn’t we reach out?” a Fox Sports spokesman said when The New York Post reached out for confirmation.

While Derek Jeter is now part of the FOX family, fans shouldn’t expect to see him every time baseball is on the network. He is only scheduled to work “marquee events”. This season, those include the London series, the All-Star Game, and the World Series.

He will be at the desk alongside Kevin Burkhardt, David Ortíz, and Rodriguez.

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