ESPN, Dodgers Falsely Accuse ICE Of Trying To Enter Dodger Stadium Parking Lot

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a serious public relations and communications problem, and it manifested itself yet again on Thursday.

Early in the afternoon, Pacific Time, the Dodgers official account on X posted that agents from ICE had come to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots around the facility. The Dodgers, doing their absolute best virtue signaling, said they "denied entry" to ICE agents.

Except that's not what happened. But by the time multiple government agencies debunked the organization's misinformation, the post had been seen by tens of millions of people and garnered hundreds of thousands of "likes' on X. Not to mention being repeated, uncritically and inaccurately, by other sports media outlets. One of the most prominent being ESPN.

How do they keep getting things so spectacularly wrong?

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 21: General view of the interior of Dodger Stadium from an elevated position during the Los Angeles Dodgers game versus the New York Mets on April 21, 2024, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Dodgers Misinformation Repeated By ESPN

The official account of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement account posted a simple response: "False. We were never there."

And the Department of Homeland Security clarified that there were no ICE agents at Dodger Stadium. Instead, several cars from the Customs and Border Protection agency were very briefly in the facility's parking lot.

"This had nothing to do with the Dodgers.

"CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement."

ESPN initially posted a report about the Dodgers' actions that did not include information that ICE and DHS had debunked the team's misinformation. Finally, the story was updated to inform readers that there were no ICE agents at Dodger Stadium today.

Yet the post remains up.

OutKick reached out to Dodgers Vice President of Communications Jon Weisman (he/his) to find out if they intended to remove the misleading information, as well as get answers as to why the team misrepresented what happened Wednesday morning. As of the time of publishing, Weisman had yet to respond.

This isn't the first time the Dodgers have proved how bad they are at communications and public relations. Despite a competently run front office and exceptional on-field performance, they've frequently turned off huge portions of their fan base, most specifically at their 2023 "Pride Night." At that event, they honored the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence," an anti-Catholic group of drag performers who wear nun costumes and mock core tenants of Christianity.

The team initially withdrew their invitation after being informed that handing out an award to an extremist, anti-Christian group was offensive. But they demonstrated extreme cowardice, bowing to pressure from far-left sportswriters in Los Angeles and activist campaigns by progressives and reinstating the award. 

Star players like Clayton Kershaw and Blake Treinen publicly disagreed, though that wasn't enough to sway key decision-makers who operate out of fear from the political left. 

The Dodgers have been under similarly intense pressure over the past few weeks, though have mostly avoided it. Until now. And they messed it up again.

How do they not verify which organization the cars in the parking lot belong to without posting on social media and whipping people up into a frenzy? How did they get this so wrong? We'll never get an answer, because the Dodgers only care to appease those who share their political beliefs. It's another embarrassment for an organization that does so many things right. And can't stop getting easy things wrong.