The Atlanta Braves broadcast team is facing backlash and criticism over unprofessional behavior after a segment during Monday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays in which a sideline reporter got the phone number of a female fan he had just interviewed when encouraged to do so on-air by his fellow announcers.
FanDuel Sports Network Braves reporter Wiley Ballard hosted ‘The Field Report’ during the top of the fifth inning in Toronto and spoke to two female fans about their Braves fandom. One noted she was ‘not quite’ a Braves fan yet. Ballard then attempted to transition back to Braves play-by-play announcer Brandon Gaudin and color analyst C.J. Nitkowski.
‘I’m gonna go to work up here, guys,’ Ballard said. ‘Good luck the rest of the way.’
Gaudin replied with more suggestive and flirty language.
‘Ok, Wiley,’ he said, ‘You got four innings to get the numbers.’
‘I’m on it. I’m on it. I’m on it,’ Ballard responded, and immediately pulled out his cell phone.
‘Alright, so they want me to get your number,’ Ballard said to a woman who had identified herself as ‘Lauren’ during the interview.
She wondered aloud, ‘They want you to get my number?’
‘I’m dead serious. They’re saying it in my ear right now,’ Ballard said back before speaking to Gaudin and Nitkowski through the camera.
‘She doesn’t believe me because she thinks you guys, she thinks we’re making this up. Even if you guys weren’t, I may use that in the future. It’s actually a pretty good move.’
‘This is unbelievable,’ Gaudin said.
Then, Nitkowski chimed in. ‘So the best part about this is Wiley could totally be faking it,’ he said. ‘This might be the new move. Just walk around with a fake FanDuel microphone and an ear piece in and convince fans that they’re actually on TV.’
As this was happening, Lauren did appear to type her phone number into Ballard’s phone.
‘I got the number. We’re good,’ Ballard said at the end of the clip that subsequently went viral once it was shared on social media.
But the segment appears to have drawn a polarizing reaction from those watching live and and generated an immediate rebuke online as the footage was disseminated nationally, particularly in the broadcasting and journalism communities.
Many called the behavior unprofessional and misogynistic, and pointed toward a double standard that exists as it relates to the way male and female reporters are expected to conduct themselves. Others found the unorthodox on-air exchange to be funny and came to Ballard’s defense.
Here’s a sampling of what the sports world is saying on social media about an Atlanta Braves broadcast that was anything but normal: