League of Fans

By Ken Reed

College basketball players don’t have a union. Moreover, they’re young, in school, and most have little spending money.

As such, they are in a tough position when it comes to collectively addressing civil rights and economic injustice issues with the NCAA.

That said, there’s a growing chorus that believes it might take […]

By Ken Reed

Dave Zirin had a good piece this week about Bernie Sanders visiting the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training home and reflecting on the pain it caused him and millions of other Dodger fans in Brooklyn when Walter O’Malley chased the money in California and left a loyal diehard fanbase in New […]

By Ken Reed

Washington Post columnist, Jerry Brewer, delivered a blistering — and well-deserved — attack to the NFL this week.

Apparently, at the recent NFL scouting combine, LSU running back Derrius Guice was asked by some enlightened NFL team if he liked men. This would be shocking if the NFL hadn’t shown multiple […]

New Book Tells the Story of O’Bannon’s Fight Against the NCAA for Economic Justice

By Ken Reed

Former UCLA basketball All-American Ed O’Bannon had finally had enough when he saw his likeness being used in a video game. He knew others were making money off his likeness and he also knew he wasn’t getting a […]

By Ken Reed

We know that repetitive blows to the head lead to brain injuries and diseases, including concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). And we know the sole purpose of boxing is to strike one’s opponent in the head repeatedly, in the hopes of knocking him/her out.

So, the obvious question is why do […]

League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, was interviewed for this article examining the activism of African-American athletes in the United States throughout history.

Following is an excerpt from Al Jazeera on Jackie Robinson as part of a Black History Month feature, The black game changers of US sport
From Muhammad Ali […]

By Ken Reed

Beginning tomorrow night (Feb. 27), HBO’s Real Sports begins airing a feature story on the “alarming concussion crisis” in hockey. It will focus on how the NHL, in general, and commissioner Gary Bettman, in particular, are ignoring the issue.

But it will also talk about how hockey can do a great […]

By Ken Reed

California legislators recently introduced a bill that would ban tackle football before high school.

The bill, called the “Safe Youth Football Act,” will be considered this year by state lawmakers.

“The science is clear: head injuries sustained at a young age can harm kids for the rest of their lives,” Lorena Gonzalez […]

By Ken Reed

For anyone in their 30’s or 40’s, Bob Costas has been the one and only host of the Olympic Games’ television coverage in the United States. His 30-year run ended at this Olympics. Costas is nowhere near Pyeongchang, South Korea.

In fact, he’s at his home in Newport Beach, California, watching his […]

By Ken Reed

Fox News’s Laura Ingraham is the latest talking head to tell athletes, coaches and sports journalists to “stick to sports.”

Ingraham was upset with NBA stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant for speaking out against Donald Trump and his “leadership” style.

“Must they run their mouths like that?” asked Ingraham on […]