“Killing the Sport”: Sha’Carri Richardson Joins Hands With Millions After NBC Drops a Disappointing Update for Track and Field World

Published 07/01/2023, 5:30 AM EDT

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Known for sprinting through tracks within seconds, Sha’Carri Richardson has never been afraid to raise her opinion against the wrong. Recently, the American track and field sprinter took a jab at the streaming companies. The athlete shared an Instagram story talking about the 2023 US Championship streaming channels.

This year’s outdoor track and field championship will take place at the beginning of July. The 40-event championship will be held in Eugene, Oregon. However, this year, a big change in viewership has been seen before the commencement of the competition. And many fans and athletes, including Sha’Carri Richardson, are calling out the sports media for it.

Athlete Sha’Carri Richardson expresses her discontent with the new viewership policy

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On July 1, the LSU star posted a story on Instagram claiming the media is exploiting the track and field sport. In the story, the athlete shared a news post track world revealing that the US championship will not be airing on NBC with the caption, “These companies continue to make it HARDER for track and field to have exposure!!! All they want is to continue to exploit sports!!!”

Sha’Carri also tagged USATF on CNBC, expressing her sadness over this decision as this is the first time the championship will not be aired since 2006. The post was originally posted by the track and field news account, as they revealed that the US championship won’t be airing on NBC and will be exclusively available only on CNBC and USATF.TV.

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Besides Richardson, many fans, including athletes Rachel Dincoff and Sam Cappos, were also upset to not see the streaming of the event on NBC. Fans were quick to react to this news and left hundreds of comments expressing their sadness on the news post.

Netizens joined forces with Sha’Carri Richardson to express their disregard

Many Fans reacted to the news with disappointment. Rachel Dincoff wrote: “use me as a dislike button.” While Sam Cappos dropped two comments, Broadcasters about to be talking to a brick wall.” Further, the athlete in the other comment stated, “Oh great even less people will watch.” 

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More so, the 3x NCAA All-American champion Justin Stuckey penned, “Killing the sport.” Besides this, one fan expressed his frustration by writing, “These athletes work hard and their family can’t even watch…. why do they have to subscribe to see their loved ones?” One fan even called out the selected ones by stating, “yep, that’s the way to grow the sport, hide it from public few and make it available to only a select few.”

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Interestingly, not just Richardson, but Track and Field legend Michael Johnson also expressed his disappointment by voicing his opinion on his Twitter handle. He added, “kind of ironic NBC will be airing America’s got Talent reruns instead of America’s most talented track & field athletes competing to represent America“.

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Clearly, NBC’s update regarding the streaming of USATF events has drawn scrutiny not only from track and field fandom but also from elite sprinters like Sha’Carri Richardson and Michael Johnson. With a hoard full of conjectures and criticism toward the media platform, will NBC remain firm with its decision or will it start functioning again toward the coverage of track and field events?

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Written by:

Paras Jan

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Paras Haji is a US Sports author at Essentially Sports. She began her professional journey as a content and news publisher, which gave her valuable experience in the sports media industry. Her passion for all things Olympics, and dedication to keeping track of every competitive performance, have earned her recognition for handing over captivating articles.
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Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai