Riley Gaines Says 'ESPN Is A Joke' After Network Fired Sam Ponder
Riley Gaines is putting ESPN on blast after the network fired Sam Ponder.
Ponder was ESPN's lead NFL studio host and the anchor of NFL Sunday Countdown. The network claims she was let go due to budget cuts, but given that the NFL regular season is only three weeks away, the timing raised some eyebrows. Not to mention the fact that Ponder hasn't always toed the company line on political issues.
So on her Gaines for Girls podcast – new episodes drop every Wednesday on OutKick – Riley is calling BS.
"They said this was for budget cuts," Gaines said. "But it should be no surprise that Sam Ponder was the only current employee — the only current female employee — at ESPN who was willing to publicly declare that men do not belong in women's sports."
Ponder first spoke out against male athletes in women's sports in April 2023 when Gaines was attacked and held hostage after a speaking engagement at San Francisco State University.
"Just wow," Ponder posted on X at the time. "Yes Riley, so many of us are cheering you on. I imagine this has felt lonely at times and I’m genuinely sorry for my own cowardice in not speaking out sooner. Stay strong sister."
Riley Gaines Speaks Out In Support Of Sam Ponder
Since then, Ponder, like Gaines, has been an advocate for fairness and safety in women's sports. And, also like Gaines, she's taken plenty of heat for it.
She was even the subject of a hit piece last year by USA TODAY's Nancy Armour, calling Ponder a hateful bigot.
But Gaines — who says Ponder is "one of the most beautiful, kind, authentic, genuine, intentional people you could ever meet" — takes issue with that attack.
"[Armour] claimed that her views reflected bigotry and they were a sham," Gaines said. "[Ponder] went on to then respond to this article by Nancy Armour, saying that biology is not bigotry, and even went on to say that loving people does not require the absence of boundaries."
And for that, Gaines explained, she received "the Sage Steele and David Pollack treatment." Both Steele and Pollack are former ESPN hosts who also had the courage to speak out against men in women's sports.
Sam Ponder was ESPN's lead NFL studio host.
(Photo by Thaddaeus McAdams/WireImage)
But, ultimately, Gaines believes Ponder will be just fine.
"All of that to say, ESPN is a joke," Gaines said. "We absolutely stand with Sam Ponder — again, one of the most incredible women I've ever met. So it's ESPN's loss. No doubt she will land on her feet. She will be doing just fine for herself. But we absolutely stand with her."