At the Daily Dot, the crosshairs of race, social media, and sports are always on our radar. When the weight of the world is on Simone Biles for her activism. When the timeline is livid over Sha’Carri Richardson’s Olympic ban. When a Karen harasses a couple at a Houston Astros game. When helicopter parents at Little League spark a viral debate about the limits of sportsmanship. When an NFL player makes a controversial TikTok.
These flashpoints are always newsworthy and key coverage in service of our larger mission to dissect internet culture on a daily basis. But in Presser, we’ll be diving deeper than viral meltdowns. Here, we’ll be spending time with the minority figures shaping society, from creators to activists to amateurs to pros, untangling game-changing new issues and solutions.
These stories come from the web communities we’ve built trust in thanks to 10 years of existing as leading beat reporters for places like Reddit, YouTube, Twitch, Black Twitter, and more recently, TikTok. I’m thrilled to share our findings.
– Ramon Ramirez, News Director
How Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf paved the path for Colin Kaepernick and other Black athletes moved to protest
Tackling homophobia in soccer with online tools: Is it working?
Messi in Miami: How the legend (and social media megastar) might recalibrate the world’s expectations for U.S. soccer
Use these analytics bloggers—and not Kenpom—to fill out your March Madness bracket
How cricket found a critical moment to address its institutional racism
Changing the Chiefs: How an online campaign got a rugby team to ditch their racist branding
An ambitious NHL marketing campaign and the complicated case of Ivan Provorov
Soccer players turned filmmakers explore when injuries challenge identity — with a ‘Ted Lasso’ connection
Hubert Davis explores Black hockey player experiences in unflinching documentary, ‘Black Ice’
Chinese smartphones and WhatsApp enable offshore betting, newfound income, and hope for young Zimbabweans
How the digital public square contributed to NWSL’s great reckoning
2002: The year of the magical basketball shoe
In an era of soccer cynicism, a legendary European club partners with a resort chain in Curacao to teach kids and clean the ocean
A quest to reverse the African jinx at the World Cup.
How English artists use digital and stadium spaces to intertwine soccer and art.
South African rugby star Elton Jantjies’ arrest highlighted online tensions reflective of the nation’s Apartheid past.
People don’t like the jerseys Nike created for the U.S. team going to the World Cup. A few of them decided they’d just make their own.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will feel a little bit different to American sports fans. You can bet on it. Literally.
The Jadakiss-assisted clip is one of the first examples of basketball embracing Black culture in a way that wasn’t watered down. The game’s still catching up.
A professional cheerleader noticed women’s sports highlights were leftovers. She decided to change things
Black student-athletes continue to graduate at a lower rate than their white teammates
Life after sports: The challenging transition from pro athlete to normal person
How an early internet niche created a new generation of lucha libre fans
How Knicks superfans forged a new era of coverage for their favorite team
How NBA meme culture foretells an increasingly problematic present and future
Can Nigerian soccer prince Maduka Okoye handle the weight of a nation?
How Elana Meyers Taylor became U.S. bobsledding’s barrier-breaking quarterback
The fight to #SaveMuny, the South’s first desegregated golf course
‘Thrill of a billion eyes’: The Prancing J-Settes of Jackson State gracefully continue a rich legacy of sisterhood
Why Major League Baseball is losing Black players
The resignation of Ben Simmons, and why Philadelphia won’t accept it
Why your brain is wired to think Jordan is better than LeBron
How Jon Gruden became a sacrificial lamb for the NFL—a league anchored in racism
Why Kyrie Irving suddenly supercharged the NBAs anti-vax movement
Megan Reyes wants you to demand diverse voices in sports—on a T-shirt
Can Deion Sanders’ Instagram offensive save Black college football?
The Native American coaching philosophy changing MLS’ community work
The future of HBCU sports
The Sha’Carri Richardson timeline
What Draymond Green gets wrong about freedom
Black Players for Change assembled after George Floyd. They’re just getting started
