Help us investigate how pro sports responds to victims of abuse

We’re 10 years removed from a football star named Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée in an elevator, and the National Football League’s scandalous mishandling of a shocking, visceral assault. Rice’s abuse was bad enough, but the NFL’s lax, sloppy and avoidant response was much worse. The embarrassment triggered numerous reforms across American pro sports trying to evade similar scandals. But despite drawing enough controversy to provoke a Congressional hearing, we know very little about their respective processes, evidentiary standards, and whether agreed-upon best practices are employed to ensure survivors of violence are handled with dignity and care.

What we do know isn’t great.

Much of what I find missing within mainstream media—not just sports media, either—is close attention to how sports organizations handle players accused of harming women, and the means multi billion dollar institutions use to avoid transparency and enable abuse and violence to fester without consequence.

So I launched eyeblack this year to solve a problem: I wanted to create a sustainable platform for distinctive, critical, and revelatory storytelling. We believe sunlight is the best disinfectant, and we think sports is a valuable lens for examining an issue that, unfortunately, affects all of us. But, I need your help continuing to tell this story.

Through eyeblack, I revealed how and why Major League Baseball refused to discipline Mike Clevinger, a veteran pitcher accused by multiple former girlfriends of physical, verbal, financial and psychological abuse revealing, at best, major lapses in the league’s investigation.

Some of the women and witnesses I spoke put great effort into protecting themselves, their families and seeking a measure of justice—including reporting their claims contemporaneously to MLB and the police. Through my reporting, I was able to corroborate their accusations with court testimony, police reports, photos, videos, and social media posts.

eyeblack also published alleged footage of MLB executive and Moira Weinberg—the league’s leader of its Department of Investigations—blaming Clevinger’s alleged victim for her reaction to a player she said choked her. Moreover, I sifted through numerous leads Weinberg and MLB’s investigative unit knew but, according to multiple alleged victims and witnesses, did not review. We also obtained supporting evidence MLB could have known, including police testimony describing Clevinger’s abusive behavior, with basic due diligence.

Nonetheless, MLB said the league could reopen the investigation “with the receipt of any new information or evidence.” Not only has MLB not confirmed it was continuing to investigate his alleged behavior, Clevinger continues to pitch in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

Further, I’ve also shown how MLB has changed the intensity and rigor of its tactics from case to case. Through eyeblack, I’ve published messages sent by league officials who worked hand in glove with police to produce the evidence it wanted towards justifying a suspension. In one case, MLB went as far as partnering with police to persuade one athlete to waive his right to privacy during a criminal probe.

Last week, eyeblack extended our reporting into the NBA. I discovered another league investigation into sexual misconduct and domestic abuse that, allegedly, did not include the team employee who made the accusation. This is the second time an alleged victim’s attorney accused the NBA of failing to contact a victim of serious misconduct before completing an investigation.

Both alleged victims were women.

Neither the NBA or MLB have responded to eyeblack’s requests for clarification on how they handle these cases. But I’m still reporting, because I’m confident there’s more work to do.

My goal is to explain, reveal, and interrogate how professional sports leagues like the NBA, MLB and NFL handle (or ignore) serious allegations of misconduct. I also want to show how sports leagues, when confronted with serious allegations of abuse, assault or other forms of harm, engage with the people who try and seek safety or justice. I’m confident that robust reporting on how their processes work (and don’t work) can help victims of abuse and misconduct in sports by compelling transparency and needed oversight. At the very least, good journalism can help people who come forward navigate systems accused of protecting athletes and institutions at the expense of survivors. Ultimately, I want to prevent others from getting hurt.

Here’s how you can help.

I want to hear your story. I set up a Google form to easily receive, organize, and respond to information you want to share. But, if you believe the info you want to share could expose you to harm, retaliation, or legal risk, please contact me securely via email ([email protected]) or using the Signal Messenger App, (call/text 646.481.0859 or bwdsecrets.43)

However you choose to reach me, I can assure you that if you provide your contact information to eyeblack, I will respond if we want to publish any part of your story.

If you don’t have a story or a lead, you can still support this project by sharing this call for sourcing and leads directly with people who work or socialize in and around sports. Even a social media post² can really help. For those who can, upgrading to a paid membership financially supports the complicated, time consuming, and expensive labor of reporting sensitive stories.

Thank you for reading this far, and always, for helping me keep your eye on the ball.