When St. Louis CITY SC plays its first home game on Saturday against visiting Charlotte, the team can take the “pitch” knowing that Major League Soccer scores higher than most American sports leagues on the Racial and Gender Report Card (RGRC) by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida.
MLS earned an A for racial hiring practices, a B for gender hiring practices and an overall grade of B+. The league scored a sizeable improvement in its gender grade, going form 74.7 points in 2021 to 81.2 points in 2022.
The overall grade was 86.0 points, up from 83.2 points last year. While still earning an A, the MLS grade for racial hiring practices, dropped from 91.7 to 90.8.
Richard Lapchick, the study’s lead author and TIDES director, said the dip was caused “mostly” by an updated grading scale that reflects the 2020 Census data in which racial and ethnic minorities totaled 42.2% of the population.
For racial hiring practices, MLS earned an A+ for players and league office employees; an A for head coaches; an A- for professional administration and assistant coaches; a B- for C-Suite executives and vice presidents; a C for team CEO/presidents and general managers; a C- for senior administration; and a D for majority owners/investors.
Carolyn Kindle Betz of St. Louis SC and Susan “Dee” Haslam of the Columbus Crew are the only women majority owners. MLS has nine women of color as minority owners.
Unfortunately, like in other major American sports leagues excluding the NBA, there is a disconnect between the diversity dedication in the MLS offices and team offices.
The percentage of head coaches of color in the MLS decreased from 42.9% in 2021 to 35.7% in 2022, while the assistant coaches of color decreased from 34.2% to 32.1%. People of color who held team senior administration positions in the MLS decreased slightly to 15.9% from 17.0% in 2021.
The reports, which was released in January, notes that MLS negotiated a $25 million loan from a group of Black-owned banks.
Lapchick said it is the first time any sports league has participated in a major commercial transaction exclusively with Black-owned banks. The nonprofit National Black Bank Foundation (NBBF) helped forge the partnership.
He also warned that European soccer leagues continue to struggle with racism in its crowds and on the field. Black players often face racist taunts, from not only people in the crowd but from fellow players on other teams.
“I believe leaders of MLS are steadfast in their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. I encourage them to be vigilant in addressing racist outside forces,” Lapchick wrote.
“In the meantime, I am encouraged by their progress on so many fronts for increasing the number of people of color and women throughout Major League Soccer.”
The Reid Roundup
Brandon Miller, a likely NBA Draft lottery selection, continues playing for No. 2 Alabama as the family of Jamea Harris prepares to bury her. According to police, Miller delivered a gun to former teammate Darius Miles on the night of Jan. 15. Miller allegedly fired the gun into a vehicle, striking Harris and killing her. Miles has been charged with capital murder along with another man. Head coach Nate Oates has embarrassed himself, his university and college basketball with his words and actions, following the tragic incident. Miller AND Oates should be benched for the remainder of the season… Portland Trailblazer Damian Lillard’s career-high 71-point effort Sunday night against Houston was mesmerizing. He shot 22-of-38 in just the 13th 70-point game in NBA history. His 71 points ranks tied for the eighth-most ever. is the first player in NBA history to record at least 60 points and 10 3-pointers in multiple games in a season…Count me among those that are disappointed that Eric Bieniemy left his role as Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator for the same position with the Washington Commanders. However, he says he had his reasons. “When it was all said and done with, when it was time to move on, it was time to accept this new challenge. You always envision it in a different way.”…With its flurry of trades, the St. Louis Blues have officially thrown in the towel. This would be a great time to make reasonably priced tickets [or better yet free] to young people of color and help get them interested in the sport of hockey.
