Jun 8, 2020 - Sports

Only 5 major U.S. sports teams haven't directly spoken out about the George Floyd protests

Kendall Baker, author of Sports
Data: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook; Graphic: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

118 of 123 teams (96%) across the big four American sports leagues have issued statements regarding George Floyd's murder and the ensuing nationwide protests.

Why it matters: A week ago, that number was 74 of 123 (60%), though we only reviewed Twitter last time. This week, we also included Instagram and Facebook.

  • Despite not issuing a formal team statement, we counted the Dolphins because they promoted head coach Brian Flores' strong statement before most teams had said anything. Could go either way with them, though.

The five holdouts: The Knicks and Rangers participated in #BlackoutTuesday, the Redskins participated in #BlackoutTuesday and retweeted a few players, the Yankees posted a Nelson Mandela quote and the Bengals posted on their website but not on social.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include the Bengals' statement on their website.

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