Fox & Friends blames NFL protests for routine StubHub discount

Fox's Steve Doocy uses misleading claim from far-right blog The Gateway Pundit to assert NFL is “starting to panic” over protests

Written by Media Matters Staff

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Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy hyped a misleading story about a StubHub discount on NFL tickets from the far-right, serially incorrect blog The Gateway Pundit. Doocy, while claiming that “the NFL is starting to panic” as players protest police brutality and racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem, said, “StubHub is advertising 10 percent discounts on NFL tickets.” Doocy’s claim comes from a September 27 Gateway Pundit article headlined “It Begins: Stubhub Advertises 10% Discount on NFL Tickets.” As Business Insider’s Brett LoGiurato noted, the 10 percent discount is “a routine StubHub promo.” Furthermore, the discount also applies to NBA and NHL tickets. Doocy’s source, The Gateway Pundit, which Fox & Friends has repeatedly cited, is linked to the “alt-right” and often dabbles in conspiracy theories. From the September 29 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends:

STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): Look, the NFL is starting to panic, as well they should, because America wants people to stand, according to the polls, during the national anthem. NFL ticket sales are down 18 percent since this started. StubHub is advertising 10 percent discounts on NFL tickets. DirectTV is giving refunds on their Sunday tickets. So there are a lot of people who are seeing the writing on the wall.