Dale Earnhardt Jr. fires back after Olbermann takes gratuitous cheap ahots
Welcome to the media, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
As a champion NASCAR driver, Earnhardt is no stranger to feuds. But now that he’s retired and has a new career as a NASCAR analyst, Earnhardt finds himself in a new feud — one that he did nothing but appear on TV to provoke.
Earnhardt currently works as a NASCAR analyst for NBC, which is scheduled to cover multiple NASCAR Cup Series races this summer.
So, during NBC’s coverage of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night, Earnhardt got some studio airtime with NBC host Mike Tirico.
Earnhardt talked some hockey and also promoted NBC’s upcoming coverage of NASCAR, which will feature Junior in the broadcast booth.
.@DaleJr joined @MikeTirico at the @NHLonNBCSports desk! #StanleyCup
Looks like he's getting some practice in before @NASCAR returns to NBC on July 1st! 😉 pic.twitter.com/56kX7Qkx9S
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 5, 2018
That sort of cross-promotion is certainly nothing new. You see it all the time when networks use one event to promote another, like, for example, using the Preakness Stakes to encourage viewers to tune in to the Stanley Cup Finals.
At the @PreaknessStakes today. Surprised some of the athletes in the stables first thing. @NHL #StanleyCup @HockeyHallFame pic.twitter.com/hFPwcnXWfF
— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) May 19, 2018
But there was one media member in particular who took exception to NBC’s cross-promotion — ESPN’s Keith Olbermann.
“There is some kind of retired stock car or cab driver or something in the middle of NBC’s Stanley Cup Final pregame show. It’s not that NBC doesn’t take hockey seriously; it’s that it seems convinced it is necessary to make its hockey telecasts about other sports,” Olbermann tweeted Monday night.
There is some kind of retired stock car or cab driver or something in the middle of NBC’s Stanley Cup Final pregame show. It’s not that NBC doesn’t take hockey seriously; it’s that it seems convinced it is necessary to make its hockey telecasts about other sports #WatchNHLNetwork
— Keith Olbermann⌚️ (@KeithOlbermann) June 4, 2018
Olbermann later said it wasn’t so much the cross-promotion that bothered him. Rather, it was the futility, in his eyes, of cross-promoting two sports that don’t share a fan base.
It’s not just that @NBCSports has trotted out Dale Earnhardt Jr in its #StanleyCup pregame AND at the start of its 1st intermission, it’s the institutional tone deafness indicated by the belief there is any overlap between these two sports with utterly different demographics. pic.twitter.com/UJxn7wLL5r
— Keith Olbermann⌚️ (@KeithOlbermann) June 5, 2018
“It’s not just that @NBCSports has trotted out Dale Earnhardt Jr in its #StanleyCup pregame AND at the start of its 1st intermission, it’s the institutional tone deafness indicated by the belief there is any overlap between these two sports with utterly different demographics,” Olbermann tweeted.
Olbermann’s assertion was challenged by many users, though to be fair, the extent of the overlapping fan bases is not clear.
@KeithOlbermann wouldn’t know a NASCAR fan if one punched him in the throat. And I hope one does.
— Dave Moody (@DGodfatherMoody) June 5, 2018
Having grown up in a racing community here in Canada, I can assure you there is an overlap between the two demographics.
— Greg Sewart (@sewart) June 5, 2018
As for Earnhardt, well, one look said it all.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) June 5, 2018
Turns out, Olbermann’s tweet was counter-productive. If anything, it helped promote Earnhardt and NBC’s NASCAR coverage.
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