There was a bizarre moment a few minutes before the NWSL Championship’s scheduled kickoff, where the CBS Sports pregame show interviewed Eli Manning. The former NFL quarterback’s status as a two-time Super Bowl champion was his second honor listed on the show’s chyron, following recognition of his status as an investor in Gotham FC. The network clearly wanted to highlight Manning’s financial interest in one of the competing teams, and it didn’t matter how often he played the “dad of girls” card to justify his investment in one of the two Championship finalists. NWSL, it was a necessary reminder that he was not speaking as a dispassionate celebrity.
After a few questions from reporter Lianne Sanderson, the show returned to the office and its trio of panelists. Host Poppy Miller followed Manning’s remarks with a small group discussion on the importance of increased investment in the NWSL and women’s sport as a whole. To his left sat two analysts: Jordan Angeli and Carli Lloyd. Each echoed sentiments of support for anyone like Manning who financially supports a women’s sports franchise.
“We’re seeing the game elevate,” Angeli said. “Women have been playing very good football for a long time, but we see that Gotham is a good example. When you invest and put money into it, it’s not just a good business decision. But also, these women show that they can perform on stage week after week. I love seeing that. I also like to see him here supporting.
If you head over to the official Gotham website, you can find Manning listed as one of the six “strategic investors” in the club. The group is listed under founding owners and operating owners, and this is the liveliest distinction of the three. Among them: basketball legend Sue Bird, NBA superstar Kevin Durant and… two-time World Cup winner Carli Lloyd. CBS, however, seemed less eager to emphasize Lloyd’s financial interest in the team.
Rather than give Lloyd a chance to follow up on Angeli’s remarks or disclose his investment in Gotham, Miller changed the subject and asked Lloyd how she felt about the players preparing for kickoff . After a bit more from Angeli on the emotions of the moment, Miller again seemed to give Lloyd a window to reveal his conflict of interest by asking him what it was like to see Gotham successfully turnaround from being a worst team in the NWSL last season to make the final tonight.
“It’s a storybook ending, especially for Ali Krieger,” Lloyd said. “I was a part of Gotham and Sky Blue FC. It’s incredible to see.
Apparently, this was another reference to Lloyd’s successful playing career. She played for the club in 2010 and again from 2018 until her retirement after the 2021 season. At no time during the hour-long pregame show did she or the CBS chyrons Sports has not identified her as an investor in Gotham – just Eli Manning.
Earlier this week, AthleticismMeg Linehan of , posted on X about the proliferation of undisclosed conflicts of interest among NWSL broadcasters. “I think we need to find a way to better report conflicts of interest when booking talent for these shows,” her thread reads in part. “We have to cite all the potentials in every article.”
Less than 12 hours later, Lloyd shared Linehan’s message with his own thoughts attached. “What’s the problem? It’s soccer. You’re talking about two teams in the NWSL final? And you can just contact me. That’s perfect.”
To recap: Linehan called out a widespread problem in NWSL broadcasting, and Lloyd interpreted it as a personal attack and dismissed it as unimportant since “it’s soccer.”
These days, there are a few natural pathways for retired great players to stay in football. As players have become coaches as the game is played, broadcast opportunities multiply, along with players’ desire to link their name and associated legacy to a club via an ownership stake. Ideally, these two lanes would be exclusive, spaced far enough apart that a person couldn’t keep wheels inside each.
Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any awareness of the importance of this distance. THE The Society of Professional Journalists has clear signatures emphasizing the importance of avoiding or, at a minimum, recognizing any conflict of interest. Their code of ethics includes a link to NPR’s handbook, which lists “financial participations” the first of some of the clear and obvious conflicts of interest – to borrow official language – to consider as a journalist.
How could anyone be impartial when discussing something they are financially invested in?
At this point, Lloyd is two years into her playing career. After spending eight days covering Fox’s men’s World Cup, she was among the stars of their studio analysis during the summer Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. She made headlines for questioning the focus and favorite status of the United States women’s national team, criticizing many elements of their four-match series, from their on-court performances to their dancing pre-match.
It is also worth remembering some key differences between club football and international football. In situations like a World Cup or international friendlies, a former national team player is seen as the ideal talking head. They can regale the team’s fans with the exploits of their playing career, and some can get a glimpse of the current roster if they have a relationship with their younger compatriots.
Some may view what the former player says as Homerism, or as being too harsh if they feel the team is not playing the way they would have when they were lacing up their shoes. Yet the conflict of interest is clear in every chyron, every anecdote, and every exchange with the host. At this point in sports media, it comes with the territory.
On the club side, the lines of impartiality are more difficult to perceive. Former players are still subject to frequent analysis. Even on national broadcasts like the NWSL and MLS, a player can analyze a match involving his former team. Years ago, this would have been concerning.
In 2023, broadcasters appear increasingly keen to feature retired players in matches involving their former teams. Sometimes they want them to act like die-hard fans of that team, even if they still feel closely connected all these years later.
Yet the conflict of interest often becomes increasingly minimal as the years accumulate between retirement and that day’s game. Where this becomes more egregious is when these “strategic investors” in teams position themselves as neutral observers in the coverage of a championship game.
Take this pre-game Instagram reel from CBS Sports, which asked several members of the team covering the game who would win between Gotham and OL Reign. The first two respondents: Darian Jenkins – a retired player-turned-analyst whom Gotham hired in February as “chief of staff of business operations” – and Lloyd. Although Jenkins at least acknowledged his bias by saying “my Batties” (a nickname for Gotham), Lloyd hemmed and hawed and wondered how both teams “could do it” before naming Gotham.
More than an hour before kickoff, Jenkins interviewed Gotham midfielder Yazmeen Ryan. At the end of their conversation, Jenkins added a remark like “I hope you win” before passing it on to another member of the show.
In July, Angeli and Ben Hubbard spoke with Athleticism about their launch plans a premier women’s soccer club in Denver, Colorado. The interview obviously focused on their ties to the Mile High City and the lack of high-profile women’s sports in the market. The group is also still looking for additional investors, which could give a double meaning to Angeli’s remark on Saturday that “it’s not just a good business decision.”
Angeli is a regular on CBS Sports’ soccer coverage, both for games and for their soccer-specific streaming channel, The Golazo Network. In July, she said For Denver FC was still unsure whether it would focus its expansion efforts on the NWSL or the new USL Super League.
Still, this could be classified as interest in the league rather than either club involved. This is a similar status to that held by players-turned-analysts Aly Wagner (who owns a stake in expansion Bay FC as co-chairman) and Julie Foudy (who is co-owner of Angel City FC).
Of course, this is not limited to women’s football. Memorably, Stuart Holden called a match at the last Men’s World Cup involving South Korea. During the match, he praised Lee Kang-in. What was not mentioned by him or his commentary partner John Strong is that Holden is an investor in RCD Mallorca, the club that employed Lee at the time. Although it is unlikely that Paris Saint-Germain watched the Fox broadcast before acquiring Lee for $24 million feeyou can understand why Holden would want an American audience to care more about a player on his team’s payroll.
This all brings us back to Lloyd. While Angeli led the pre-match segment on OL Reign, Lloyd was tasked with assessing Gotham. She praised the work done by Juan Carlos Amorós, elected NWSL coach of the year. Both in the segment and throughout the pregame show, she referred to Gotham using “they” and “their” to describe the team – something that could easily lead the viewer to believe that she is a third-party reviewer.
Throughout the show, Lloyd was referred to as “a two-time World Cup champion, among a lot other distinctions. What would have been the harm in specifically naming “Gotham FC investor” among these?
Apparently there was no damage after 45 minutes of play. As they began the halftime show, Miller made a subtle change to his introduction: “Carli Lloyd, two-time World Cup winner and Gotham investor.” It may have been brief and easy to miss, but it’s a three-word addition that carries major significance in terms of public perception.
After the match, which Gotham won 2-1, Lloyd was not with Manning and the rest of the investors who stood stageside as Ali Krieger lifted the trophy. Miller only introduced Lloyd by name, who once again referred to Gotham as a “they” entity, instead of a “we”. When talking about goalkeeper Mandy Haught, Lloyd’s stories were about sharing a dressing room rather than her contribution to Haught and the company’s salaries and workplace. Once again, a casual viewer would not have been aware of his role as an investor.
“Thank you to them, thank you to everyone involved,” said Lloyd, herself of all those involved.
(Photo: Ira L. Black – Corbis/Getty Images)
