That is the playing field that awaits Jason Wright and the Washington Football Team this season.
Wright, who was hired as the team's president this summer to help lead it out of multiple crises — becoming the first Black president of an NFL team in the process — told Cheddar in an interview on Tuesday that his first priority is to fix an office culture so that "all colleagues, especially women, feel comfortable bringing their full selves to work."
"That's not just a moral imperative," Wright said. "It's a business imperative."
"The data says if you have more than one woman engaged on a decision, the collective intelligence of that team is higher than it would be otherwise."
Wright's focus on data-based analysis should not come as a surprise. After he retired from the NFL in 2011, the former running back enrolled in the prestigious Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, where he received his MBA. Wright then became a partner at the uber-selective management consulting firm McKinsey before taking the NFL gig. It's a pedigree that should help him as he deals with an entirely different crisis in the form of the coronavirus (at last, one not of the team's making).
"I think the NFL is doing everything it can" when it comes to preparing to start a season in the midst of a pandemic, Wright said. "And at the same time, I'm still very concerned."
Not for a lack of preparation or execution, but because of how "unpredictable" and "tricky at every turn" it has been to control the virus. Wright noted that the data is always shifting, and that will in turn force the NFL and the team front offices to have to adapt to a changing landscape — much in the way a quarterback sometimes has to change plays on the fly.
Because of the size of NFL rosters and the physical space required to play, Wright said a "bubble" format is just not possible. He's focusing on a "behavioral bubble" that stresses the importance of individual behavior to players and staff, and how "one weak link" can send a season off the rails. (see: Marlins, Miami; Cardinals, St. Louis).
And then there's the ongoing search for a new name and logo after the team jettisoned its 87-year-old mascot this summer, acknowledging its racist past in the midst of sweeping social and racial justice protests.
Asked by Cheddar if Wright could divulge any hints about the new name, he demurred.
We are a week away from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and China has already faced a host of problems leading up to the opening ceremony of the Beijing games. DJ Peterson, president of Longview Global Advisors, joins Cheddar News to discuss the many concerns and controversies surrounding the event.
The Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals will be the two teams competing at Super Bowl LVI after both survived their respective nail-biting conference championships. The Big Game will be held at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, home of the Rams, potentially granting them a home-field advantage. Frank Schwab, a sportswriter for Yahoo Sports, joined Cheddar to discuss what bettors should be looking for at this year’s NFL finale. "Super Bowl, unlike any other game on the NFL schedule, where if people bet once a year, it's going to be on the Super Bowl, especially with so many states having legal betting now," Schwab said.
It's a big weekend for sports betting, with the NFL conference championships and Australian Open finals expected to bring the industry even more traffic. And if record viewership of the divisional playoff game between the Chiefs and Bills was any indication, sports betting will only continue to grow as football season comes to an end. Joe Raineri, sports betting analyst at SportsGrid, joined Cheddar to discuss how these sporting events could impact the industry, which is expected to get even bigger in 2022.
Trysta Krick breaks down the Bengals-Chiefs matchup while Lester Ricard Jr. dissects what will be the third meeting of the season for the 49ers and Rams. Meanwhile, on the hardwood, Brian Bennett says that college basketball bettors should focus on a team's road wins as an early indicator for success in March.
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Trysta Krick, host of BetMGM Tonight, joins Cheddar Bets to break down her best plays in the AFC Championship game and gives a fix for the NFL OT rules.
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Wednesday marked two years since the basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a tragic helicopter crash. In remembrance, a bronze statue has been temporarily placed at the site with all of the passenger's names included on the memorial.
With the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics right around the corner, experts are warning that climate change is threatening not only the event but also the future of snow sports. Despite being the world's top polluter, China is hoping to use the event to demonstrate the country's commitment to fighting climate change, and pledging to host a "low carbon" games. Xubin Zeng, professor of hydrology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona, joins Cheddar News.
As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics inches closer, sponsors are facing mounting pressure to pull out of the games with China is under fire for controversies like the alleged human rights abuses against its Muslim minority population and the disappearance of tennis player Peng Shuai. Rick Burton, professor of sport management at Syracuse University, joined Cheddar to discuss what he expects to happen once the games begin. Burton said China is too large of a market for American advertisers to ignore, and he doesn't expect any of them to pull out of the games. "Olympic sponsors right now I think are really just trying to hang on and get through these 17 days, come out the other end," he said.
As controversy dogs the run-up to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, China is hiring TikTokers and other social media influencers to promote the nation's history, culture, diplomatic efforts, and current trends.
Talent Resources Sports is partnering with ABG Entertainment to host Sports Illustrated The Party during the weekend of Super Bowl LVI, featuring musical performances by Kygo, Jack Harlow, and other guests. David Spencer and Mike Heller, co-CEOs and founders of Talent Resources Sports, joined Cheddar to discuss the details behind putting on the event. “We’re just really pumped that after all of the things that got canceled people will finally have a place to let some steam off in such an exciting moment, such a charged moment with the Super Bowl,” Mike Heller said about putting on the live event after previous COVID-related cancellations.
