June 12, 2025
(Washington): The United States’ national sports teams have exploited their prominence to promote divisive political activism over athletic excellence and representation of the country as a whole.
Jennifer Bryson, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), is the author of a new report, “Reclaim Team USA Sports from Activism,” which highlights how the USA’s national sports teams use symbols of LGBTQ, gun control, and other partisan causes on national uniforms and social media. Bryson criticizes this misuse of sports and recommends reforms to refocus American sporting culture on athletic excellence and national unity.
From the U.S. men’s soccer team wearing pro-gun-control armbands, to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) promoting DEI and LGBT+ “Pride,” Bryson outlines the failures of American sports governance in detail.
“Greatness in American sports comes from excellence in athleticism, not from hijacking sports to promote activism. Our national sports teams should represent the entire nation, not niche activist causes. What belongs on the uniforms of our national sports teams is the American flag.” – EPPC Fellow Jennifer Bryson
Bryson outlines concrete steps the Trump Administration and Congress can take to correct this problem, including establishing a commission on “Governance and American Excellence in Sports” (GAmES), limiting symbols and imagery to our flag and national colors, and ending the promotion of partisan political causes.
She concludes that “the 250th birthday of our nation should be celebrated with great national sports teams pursuing a focused mission of sports excellence—not political, social, cultural, or other causes. Achieving this goal will require leadership and sound structures of sports governance.”
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Media Inquiries:
Hunter Estes
Director of Communications
Ethics and Public Policy Center
[email protected]