ESPN Bans 'White Lives Matter' Fantasy Football Team Name, 'Hamas Lives Matter' Is Allowed

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Fantasy football players on ESPN noticed something very interesting. Apparently, the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" has some rules about what you can and cannot name your fantasy football teams. 

And one of the phrases on the banned list is "White Lives Matter." However, if you'd like to name your team "Hamas Lives Matter," that's perfectly fine. 

As, of course, is "Black Lives Matter." In fact, as far as I could tell from doing some trials on what ESPN did and did not allow, "White Lives Matter" was a very specifically banned phrase. 

"Jewish Lives Matter" was allowed and "Blue Lives Matter" was accepted, as well. 

What's interesting, though, is that they do not ban the word "Hamas." But ESPN does ban the word "Nazi." 

Assuming that the idea is that some fantasy football players on ESPN might be offended by the phrase, "White Lives Matter," what must a Jewish fantasy football player think if they see a team named "Hamas Lives Matter"? 

See, this is the problem when you start going down the slippery slope of banning speech. ESPN also bans many singular words, most that you probably could guess. 

They don't allow any racial slurs and most of the words that George Carlin said you can't say on TV. 

OutKick reached out to ESPN for comment and to ask if they could provide us with a list of words and phrases that are banned from use by fantasy football players. 

They did not immediately return our request. 

ESPN bans certain words and phrases from fantasy football team names and that includes "White Lives Matter" but not "Hamas Lives Matter."

ESPN bans certain words and phrases from fantasy football team names and that includes "White Lives Matter" but not "Hamas Lives Matter."

(Getty Images)

Yahoo fantasy football – arguably the second-largest fantasy football league hosting website – has no banned team names. If you want to name your team a racial slur, you are free to do so. 

Now, people might judge you a certain way for doing that, but you aren't BANNED.

Quite frankly, I'd rather live in the Yahoo world than the ESPN world (only in this specific instance, though, Yahoo produces some truly outrageous radical-left-wing lunacy). 

Allow people to say whatever they want and name their fantasy football teams whatever they want. 

If it offends people, so be it. Don't associate with people whose fantasy football team names offend you. 

It's not that hard. 

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.