In the News
Book Review: “New book looks at the good, the bad and the ugly of sports,” Gerry Chidiac, Troy Media, March 23, 2023
“Thinking Fandom: When (and How) to Watch Games We Love and Hate,” Andrew Guest, Engaging Sports, the official publication of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS), September 21, 2022
“Guest opinion: It’s time to rededicate ourselves to full Title IX enforcement,” Ken Reed, Daily Camera (Boulder, CO), July 27, 2022
“What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement.,” Jay Mathews, Washington Post, June 5, 2022
“There’s still time to stop ‘public rip-off’ for Buffalo Bills stadium (Guest Opinion),” Ken Reed, Syracuse.com, April 11, 2022
“Ralph Nader: Lament Of A Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio Yankee Fan – OpEd,” Ralph Nader, Eurasia Review, November 6, 2021
“Can We Improve the Culture of Sports?,” Alden Blodget, with Thomas Babson contributing, Referee, June 30, 2021
Winsted Tort Law Day set to be celebrated Oct. 5,” Emily M. Olson, Register Citizen (New Haven, CT), September 27, 2019
“First Annual Tort Law Day October 5 at the Tort Museum in Winsted, Connecticut,” Corporate Crime Reporter, September 12, 2019
“Minor League Baseball Players Shouldn’t Be Paid Less Than Walmart Greeters,” Ken Reed, Common Dreams, March 26, 2018
“Game over for concussion debate: Some sports cause too much brain damage risk,” Ken Reed, USA Today, March 6, 2015
“New Sports Exposé: Changes Needed in All Directions,” Ralph Nader, The Huffington Post, February 25, 2015
“Ken Reed discusses his new book: How We Can Save Sports,” Ralph Nader Radio Hour, Feb. 14, 2015
“How We Can Save Sports Hits the Streets,” League of Fans, Feb. 11, 2015
“Ralph Nader’s brilliant plan for college sports: No more concussions or exploited labor,” Matt Bruenig, Salon.com, March 31, 2014
“FCC considers scrapping ‘blackout rule’,” Gregory Wallace, CNN Money, December 18, 2013
Room for Debate: “Spelman Made the Right Move,” Ken Reed (op-ed), The New York Times, April 22, 2013
“UM move to Big Ten a symbol of the evil of college athletics,” Ralph Nader and Ken Reed (op-ed), Baltimore Sun, November 28, 2012
“Is it time to ban high school football?,” Taylor Bell, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, September 5, 2012
“It’s Time to Ban High School Football,” Chicago Tribune, August 29, 2012
“Ralph Nader: Too damn many ads on baseball broadcasts,” Kevin Reichard, Baseball Digest, June 9, 2012
“Nader Criticizes Ads on Yankees Radio Broadcasts,” The New York Times, June 8, 2012
“Stanley Cup playoffs: NHL fails to control intimidation tactics,” Washington Post, Apr. 19, 2012
Ken Reed, League of Fans’ Sports Policy Director, discusses fighting in the NHL (mp3), WGN Radio (Chicago), Feb. 9, 2012
“Ralph Nader Asks Gary Bettman to Ban Fighting in the NHL,” NBC Sports, Feb. 7, 2012
“Ralph Nader Takes on Big-Time Sports,” Newsday, Dec. 16, 2011
“Time to ‘Occupy the Marlins,’” The PostGame, Dec. 13, 2011
“Ombudsmen Slam ESPN’s Penn State Coverage,” Studio Briefing, November 11, 2011
“League of Fans’ Ken Reed Talks Sports Reform,” Athletic Business, November, 2011
“Sports Fans Play the Washington Game,” MSNBC, October 28, 2011
“Nader: College Athletics Dumbing Down Society,” Herald-Review (Decatur, IL), October 5, 2011
“Where ‘Try Again’ Finds Victory,” Boston Globe, Sept. 14, 2011
“Coloradan Wants to Be Voice for Fans to Reform Sports,” Denver Post, Sept. 11, 2011
“Ken Reed, Sorts Policy director Director of the League of Fans” (mp3), WGN Radio (Chicago), Sep. 9, 2011
“College Athletics: Where Do We Go From Here?” Boulder Daily Camera, Sept. 4, 2011
“Ominous Signs in the Stands,” USA Today, August 30, 2011
ESPN Outside the Lines, College Sports Scandals, August 24, 2011
“Why Cut at All?” Chicago Tribune, August 11, 2011
“Ralph Nader’s Sports Group Seeks Changes, Targets BCS,” USA Today, Aug. 10, 2011
Ken Reed, League of Fans’ Sports Policy Director, talks about fan policies (mp3), WGN Radio (Chicago), August 1, 2011
ESPN Outside the Lines, “The Nader Plan,” April 4, 2011
“Ralph Nader Calls For Ending Scholarships,” Washington Post, March 24, 2011
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman, and has a long involvement with the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport (now called the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition). We discuss the state of college athletics today, given the pressures of NIL, the transfer portal, sports gambling and huge media contracts. McMillen then provides great perspective on the poor state of physical fitness our young people are experiencing today.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books