If you’ve been watching the MLB Playoffs this October, it’s been hard to miss advertisements featuring Sydney Sweeney in her underwear, Megan Fox in a red bodysuit selling erectile dysfunction pills, or the latest horror movie set to hit theaters this Halloween.
asserted
it → watch → theaters
October baseball has parents across the country wondering if they need to keep the remote control within arm’s reach once the commercials come on.
asserted
commercials → have → reach
You can count Atlanta Braves legend Dale Murphy, and his son, Taylor among them, as baseball royalty takes aim at the increasingly provocative advertising invading baseball broadcasts.
asserted
royalty → count → broadcasts
And they’re not alone.
asserted
they → ’re → ?
The controversy erupted Monday when Taylor Murphy, watching the playoffs with his children, decided he’d seen enough of the commercial breaks featuring Sweeney promoting sports prediction platform Novig, Fox advertising prescription erectile dysfunction treatment for Ro and frightening horror movie trailers.
asserted
he → erupt → Ro
“Hey @MLB – wanna get more kids watching baseball?
asserted
kids → get → baseball
Maybe start with the commercials,” Murphy wrote on X.
He then delivered the kind of common-sense criticism that should make Major League Baseball’s marketing department uncomfortable.
“You don’t need a Nickelodeon game.
asserted
You → start → game
You’re not the Savannah Bananas.
asserted
You → ’re → ?
Just show baseball in a way I can leave on in my house.”
asserted
I → show → house
Two days later, his famous father entered the fray.
asserted
father → enter → fray
“Agree with my son, Taylor…” wrote Dale Murphy, the two-time National League MVP, seven-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner and Braves Hall of Famer whose No. 3 hangs proudly in Atlanta.
asserted
. → agree → Atlanta
When a player who spent nearly two decades representing baseball’s traditional values starts questioning what the sport is selling between innings, perhaps the league should pay attention.
asserted
league → spend → attention
And Murphy wasn’t the only major leaguer raising his voice.
asserted
Murphy → raise → voice
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Alex Call, who isn’t on the team’s postseason roster, joined the criticism with a pointed message directed at MLB and its television partners.
asserted
who → join → MLB
“Can we please get the soft porn ads off playoff broadcasts, TBS, Fox, NBC, @MLB?” Call wrote.
asserted
Call → get → broadcasts
“My son wants to watch baseball with Dada, but how do I justify that when a half-naked women could come on screen anytime??
uncertain
women → want → screen
Parents shouldn’t have to worry about this.”
asserted
Parents → have → this
Several Dodgers teammates reposted his message.
asserted
teammates → reposte → message
At the center of the controversy is Sweeney, the 29-year-old “Euphoria” actress who has turned her partnership with Novig into a master class in provocative advertising.
asserted
who → turn → advertising
Her latest commercial, released Sunday, features the actress wearing little more than white underwear bearing the company’s name while strategically covering her breasts with footballs.
asserted
commercial → release → footballs
“There are grown men making spreadsheets to bet on what color underwear I’m wearing,” Sweeney says.
asserted
Sweeney → be → underwear
That’s a curious distinction for a company using sex to sell sports gambling.
asserted
That → ’ → gambling
Sweeney has defended the campaign by pointing to athletes who previously posed nude for ESPN’s Body Issue.
asserted
who → defend → Issue
Actress Sharon Stone also weighed in, arguing that women’s sports shouldn’t be reduced to attracting male attention for gambling.
asserted
sports → weigh → gambling
Of course, the Murphy family’s criticism ignited its own backlash.
asserted
criticism → ignite → backlash
Some social media users questioned why the family-friendly outrage centered on revealing advertisements rather than the gambling being promoted.
asserted
outrage → question → advertisements
Others pointed to the White House’s controversial execution livestream, accusing critics of selective moral outrage.
asserted
Others → point → outrage
Those comparisons raise legitimate questions about where Americans draw their lines, but don’t invalidate a parent’s right to question what appears on a baseball broadcast.
asserted
what → raise → broadcast
The league has spent years obsessing over attracting younger audiences, implementing rule changes, embracing social media and desperately trying to make baseball more appealing to the next generation.
asserted
baseball → spend → generation
Yet during its most important games, the television experience can feel designed for an entirely different audience.
asserted
experience → design → audience
There’s nothing inherently wrong with Sweeney appearing in provocative advertising or Fox promoting a legal prescription treatment.
asserted
Fox → ’ → treatment
Adults can make their own decisions about what they watch, purchase and consume.
asserted
they → make → what
But parents should also be able to watch a playoff game with their children without wondering what sexually suggestive commercial or terrifying movie trailer might appear during the next pitching change.
uncertain
commercial → watch → change
MLB doesn’t necessarily control every advertisement sold by its broadcast partners, but it certainly has a stake in the experience being delivered under its name.
asserted
it → control → name
The sport can’t spend the afternoon telling families baseball belongs to everyone, then shrug its shoulders when those same families complain about what they’re seeing during the broadcast.
asserted
they → spend → broadcast
The Aporia
