Joon Lee

NEW VIDEO: For decades, America treated soccer like a joke. Then something changed. For Americans under 35, soccer is as popular as the NBA, and more popular than MLB. So how did a country that spent decades mocking soccer suddenly embrace it? youtu.be/uyY9J_KY-u8?...

Why did Taylor Swift become one of the biggest figures in sports? Why did fans start acting like detectives over Mike Vrabel & Dianna Russini? And why does sports suddenly feel more like Hollywood than Hollywood? Feat. @thewilderthings.bsky.social + @madelinehill.bsky.social youtu.be/og_v3EyxPe4

NEW VIDEO: Sports video games used to feel like the future. Every year they looked better. Felt bigger. More ambitious. Then somewhere along the way, they stopped trying to become better games. To find out why, I talked to @kofie.bsky.social youtu.be/G7gDTy9o7t0?...

NEW VIDEO: 15 years ago, a pitcher throwing 100 MPH felt almost superhuman. Now the best pitcher in baseball throws 100. The closer throws 100. The random reliever in a blowout throws 100. So how did baseball learn to manufacture velocity? www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxA7...

NEW VIDEO: A decade ago, people were rioting for Jordans. Now the coolest shoes in the world look like something your dad wore to Costco. How did that happen? www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJwx...

NEW VIDEO: For a decade, people thought baseball was dying. And then … it wasn’t. How that happened, with @cespedesbbq.bsky.social, and how it's about more than just a few rule changes and Shohei Ohtani www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F6L...

NEW VIDEO: How did sports debate shows turn into the way we talk about everything? I went inside the rise of hot take culture, talked to the people who built it and traced how hot takes took over media. In collaboration with Vice Sports: youtu.be/ndGUBh3EjJw?...

NEW VIDEO: “Sports are rigged” used to sound crazy. Now it’s just … normal discourse. What changed? youtu.be/kzREwFhpCHU

If Wemby can’t defend a shot, it can’t be defended

NEW VIDEO: Every sports fan has heard it. "Sources say..." But what does that actually mean? I talked to Jeff Passan -- one of the most trusted insiders in sports -- to break down how reporting really works -- and why it can be so confusing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_EX...

NEW VIDEO: The rise of private equity, gambling, ticket prices and sports team valuations is no coincidence. It's leagues realizing sports has a ceiling in the US, and they need to everything possible to make the leagues go global: www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8aL...

Prediction Markets claim you’re betting against other users, but you’re really betting against Wall Street investors Prediction markets are sports gambling with a better PR strategy

NEW VIDEO: What started in sports is spreading everywhere. Over the past year, I've been reporting on how gambling became embedded in sports -- and how it's changing the way we experience the world far beyond the games themselves. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBBn...

Surreal hearing the GOAT Bob Costas say this about my independent sports journalism on YouTube. He's a huge inspiration for what we're building.

NEW VIDEO: Sports logos used to be chaotic, colorful and weird. They used to look like this 🦖 Now they look like this ⭕️ That didn't happen by accident, and I tried to figure out why: youtu.be/pOj5gTodXeU

NEW VIDEO: Why are sports owners suddenly so comfortable losing? Some blame tanking, some blame analytics. But an answer increasingly is private equity. www.youtube.com/watch?v=taaj...

NEW VIDEO: Kevin Durant has two Finals MVPS, is a 16-time All-Star and one of the greatest basketball players ever. He's still arguing with strangers on the internet. Why? www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3ui...

NEW VIDEO: LeBron is still too good to retire. But the Lakers can't fully build their future around Luka Doncic while he's still there. Why watching sports legends age can be so complicated: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgsb...

Bill Belichick is the greatest coach ever … and didn’t go first ballot Hall of Fame. It's not just Jordon Hudson drama, but what happened when he stopped controlling the story. With the Patriots in the Super Bowl, time to revisit what his legacy means www.youtube.com/watch?v=21nX...

NEW VIDEO: Youth sports doesn't look like Little League anymore. It looks like Wall Street and private equity. Youth sports has quietly turned into a $40 billion pay-to-play arms race, and nobody is in charge www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjwv...

Victor Wembanyama on Minneapolis: "Every day I wake up and see the news and I'm horrified. I think it is crazy that some people make it sound like it's acceptable, like the murder of civilians is acceptable."

Victor Wembanyama says that being a foreigner in the United States makes him hesitant to speak up about Minneapolis. “I know I’m a foreigner. I live in this country. I am concerned.” Q: “Is part of your hesitance being a foreigner?” “For sure.”

Because the Dodgers went bankrupt, MLB agreed to tax their TV money as if they were still a broke. That lets the Dodgers keep about $66 million more every year than they otherwise would. This exception runs through 2039, according to a league source. youtu.be/7xPt9AuxEAM

One reason the Dodgers can spend like this: MLB agreed in court to cap their TV revenue sharing payments after the team went bankrupt. According to league sources, that exception doesn't expire until 2039. It's unprecedented in sports history www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xPt...

Sports gambling isn’t killing sports in one dramatic moment. It’s all of these small moments adding up, slowly changing how fans trust what they’re watching. On @newsnation.bsky.social:

I’m trying to understand what the hardest thing in sports actually is. So I went to explore NASCAR, where the legendary @jimmiejohnson.bsky.social showed me how this world really works. And then I drove a race car myself. youtu.be/lMzjIPIq9aA?...

I've never been this terrified while reporting a story. New video on my YouTube tomorrow:

Sports gambling is not just corrupting our trust in sports, but America. Thank you to @amanpourcopbs.bsky.social, @michelmartinnpr.bsky.social and @camanpour.bsky.social for the platform. Our full conversation: youtu.be/uiomTi50pS8?...

NEW VIDEO: More teams are slashing payroll—even championship contenders. I asked Mark Cuban why. His answer? “Teams do many more money when they have a low payroll and lose.” We live in an era where losing is more profitable than winning. youtu.be/sAJH7Bx-BV4?...

Went on CNN with @smerconish.bsky.social to discuss how the increasing cost of paywalls in sports is hurting community in America

Knockoff jerseys are getting better. Real jerseys from Fanatics are getting worse. I bought a $30 TikTok bootleg, a $130 eBay fake, and a $190 Fanatics jersey to figure out how this happened — and what it says about being a sports fan today youtu.be/R50ghOfQPXY?...

NEW VIDEO: The slide of Sheduer Sanders set off a circus People blamed Deion. Scouts cited tape. An NFL exec told me Shedeur didn’t want to talk to teams outside the Top 5. But the fall was more than football. It was about what the NFL expects a QB to be youtu.be/LFI_c2Ifveo

NEW VIDEO: LeBron is a billionaire, but even he’s out here watching sports on StreamEast. Watching sports was simple. But blackouts (inc. playoffs!), too many apps and rising prices are the tip of the iceberg. New video on why it’s so hard to watch sports: youtu.be/9fgkmIanDkk?...

When Lionel Messi joined MLS, he launched an energy drink, signed a revenue-share streaming deal and did publicity stunts. The playbook was familiar — Jake and Logan Paul wrote it. New video on how creators are rewriting the rules of sports stardom: youtu.be/d92b5qzjrQU?...

NEW VIDEO: I’ve spent years dishing hot takes everywhere from the cafeteria to ESPN. But I never stepped into the shoes of a pro athlete … until now So I faced social media’s favorite reliever Adam Ottavino, and it changed how I watch sports youtu.be/yfSDLaLu21U?...

So I’m starting something new: an independent sports journalism YouTube channel No gambling sponsors, so you can trust that I’m telling you the truth and holding nothing back. Storytelling, curiosity and reporting making sense of everything happening in sports

The irony: we’re living through one of the most exciting times in sports history! Ohtani, Mahomes, Wembanyama, Clark, Reese, Mbappe! Global growth, NIL, the rise of the creator economy! But instead of celebration, all we see is anger, noise and burnout

Gambling isn’t the only thing warping sports. We’re overloaded with hot takes. I love a good hot take, but as more and more reporters get laid off and more journalism gets put behind a paywall, the only thing we’re left with is arguments. The same debates. Every. Single. Day.

Watching sports as a fan made me realize something: Sports media is broken Fans are angry. Gambling is inescapable. Blackouts everywhere. The joy is gone. Trust is at an all-time low. And storytelling? It’s disappearing. Here’s how we got here:

In June 2023, ESPN laid me off from my dream job For two years, I wasn’t allowed to write, appear on TV or start a YouTube channel So I sat back, and watched sports as a fan And what I learned about the state of sports shocked me 🧵Thread