ESPN To Test All-Female ‘SportsCenter’ To Spotlight Women’s Sports Instead Of The NFL

Thursday night ESPN will test an all-female SportsCenter at 11 pm. Women will make up the entire on-air and behind-the-scenes staff.

The network says the test is an opportunity to spotlight women’s sports and focus less on male sports, like the NFL and college football.

Just what sports fans clamor for during the start of NFL training camps: coverage of women's sports.

OutKick asked ESPN which women would host the all-female edition of SportsCenter. Unfortunately, we have yet to hear back.

Still, we don't expect it to be any of the top women at ESPN like Sage Steele or Laura Rutledge. Perhaps ESPN will trout out Elle Duncan and Malika Andrews or maybe even Sarah Spain.

On the other hand, Steele and Rutledge have more important roles to fill than a special that is sure to garner only minimal viewership.

Update: ESPN says Elle Duncan and Nicole Briscoe will host the special. Gross:

Women's sports are niche. Whether they experience growth or decline, they remain a niche.

And while it's fine to spotlight a niche, notice how ESPN chooses female sports over far more niche sports like boxing, MMA, NASCAR, and NHL --- all of which receive less coverage than the WNBA and female college hoops.

This Is Not Unexpected From ESPN

ESPN no longer programs for its audience. Rather, it programs for its critics. The network anticipates its all-women show will generate great praise on social media.

It likely will.

Speaking of women's sports, the press release reminded us that ESPN has yet to address or correct a video in which it deceptively edited to frame Fox News host Will Cain as a sexist. This month, ESPN not only took Cain out of context, but cut out a passage from the middle of what he said:

The premise of Thursday's special is also disingenuous. ESPN does not empower female athletes. It never has.

If it did, it would give a voice to the many female athletes too frightened to speak out over having to change naked next to a "female" with male genitalia.

Instead, ESPN honored trans athlete Lia Thomas for Women's History Month.

The inclusion of males in female competition is the greatest threat to the future of women's athletics since their inception. Yet, ESPN would rather highlight that some WNBA games saw a 2% increase in ratings.

ESPN only focuses on females when it's politically advantageous, such as speaking out against women not having the right to have an abortion on-demand in any state any any time:

#GirlPower.

Will you be watching tonight?