The NAACP is calling on the NFL to not “fund Fox News.”
According to Yahoo! News, the NAACP sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell urging the league not to put together a new TV deal with its broadcast partner Fox.
The NAACP said Fox News promotes “hatred, bigotry, lies, and racism” and suggested that a new partnership with the news outlet would only condone their behavior. The letter highlighted “the NFL’s indications of support for social justice” while condemning Fox News’ efforts “to inflame racial division and propagate an unstable political climate,” Yahoo! News reports.
The letter came after the NFL announced that it would be prolonging its relationship with Fox on Thursday. The new deal is valued at $110 billion over 11 years; the NFL will continue its partnerships with Fox, CBS, NBC, and ESPN.
“Fox must not be permitted to exert unfair leverage to extort increased carriage fees for Fox News, by threatening to impede carrier access to Fox Sports, and more particularly coveted carriage of the National Football League,” the letter reads.
“The NFL, a league where nearly 70 percent of the players are Black, should not be complicit in helping to increase the profits of Fox News, a leading voice in condemning those same players for peaceful demonstrations against systemic racism,” the letter continues.
Reports show the NFL asked for $2.25 billion a year to continue broadcasting games on Sundays.
