Aggregation missteps from Aug. 23-29. Aggregation missteps from Aug. 23-29.
NewspapersSoccerTwitterBy Andrew Bucholtz on

After a strong response to this column’s debut last week, we’re back to look at more bad aggregation. This week’s column will cover aggregation missteps (poor/no sourcing, misrepresentation, and more from Aug. 23-29. There are six entries this time around; we’ll modify them as needed week-to-week.)

6. DiscussingFilm, X, and CBS Sports Golazo says “Ted Lasso” was ‘renewed for season 4’

As discussed in our initial This Week In Bad Aggregation column, one of the big problems in this space is the telephone game that sometimes arises from aggregation. This is particularly important around specific terminology, and that can be critical in law, sports, TV, and more. This was strongly shown with the discussion about a possible Ted Lasso continuation last week, which all started with a Deadline exclusive from Nellie Andreeva and Peter White that the show was headed “towards a Season 4 greenlight” based on the pickup of options for actors Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, and Jeremy Kent (who were contracted under UK acting union Equity).

But, the pickup of cast options and “heading towards a greenlight” is important and specific language that is not a “renewal” or a confirmation of a fourth season. That story from Andreeva and White made it quite clear that while this is “a major step,” a fourth season is not yet locked in, and that the actors who came in under U.S. SAG-AFTRA contracts options had expired:

After securing the trio, the studio is expected to start reaching out to Ted Lasso cast members with SAG-AFTRA contracts whose options had expired, so they will need to make new deals, we hear. In addition to co-creators/executive producers Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) and Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard), that is believed to include Juno Temple (Keeley Jones).

…While the outreach to the cast is underway, early preparations are also being made to open a writers room. If all elements come together, we hear production on a fourth season is eyeing an early 2025 start.

Yes, it does sound like a fourth season is likely to happen, albeit without Phil Dunster (who plays Jamie Tartt) as a series regular. And yes, AppleTV+ definitely wants more of the show. But, as co-creator Bill Lawrence noted earlier this month, the show’s return depends on Sudeikis wanting to do it.

Deadline’s piece noted that “starting the process for a Season 4 greenlight indicates that the main Ted Lasso driving force on and off-screen, Sudeikis, is on board for a new installment as the studio would not have proceeded without his consent,” but it’s crucial to note that this is still “starting the process” rather than a greenlight. And that nuance got missed in a lot of relaying of this, including from popular X/Twitter accounts Discussing Film and CBS Sports Golazo, which went with much more definitive language with “will return” and “picked up” respectively. (Both also cited Deadline, but didn’t link the piece with its crucial nuance.)

Even X/Twitter’s often-inaccurate news summaries got in on the game of telephone, claiming the show was “renewed for Season 4”:

An inaccurate X/Twitter news summary on "Ted Lasso."
An inaccurate X/Twitter news summary on “Ted Lasso.”

It is absolutely quite possible, and maybe even likely, that Ted Lasso will be renewed for a fourth season. But that has not happened yet.

Rating: ***

5. “Dov Kleiman” brings up a three-month-old podcast quote on Chip Kelly without a date

Speaking of relaying things without context, the “@NFL_DovKleiman” Twitter account (and whoever’s behind it at this point) is notoriously bad at that, including with very old information presented as new. And the account did that again last Friday, sharing a three-month-old episode of a podcast (The 25/10 Show) from former Philadelphia Eagles players DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy criticizing Chip Kelly (the Eagles’ head coach from 2013-15, currently Ohio State’s offensive coordinator). The account also linked McCoy and Jackson’s show account, but not this specific show.

The citation is appreciated, even if it’s half-baked. But it remains rather bizarre that an account that instructs readers to “Follow For The Best and Most Accurate NFL News & Stories” tweeted a three-month-old podcast on a coach who hasn’t been in the NFL since 2016 as if it was new news.

Rating: ***

4. Fan Recap claims Nick Saban could be the next Ohio State HC due to “whispers around the sports world”

A particularly strange kind of aggregation leaves doubt on if it’s aggregation at all versus original thoughts or reporting. A non-bylined story at Fan Recap headlined “Nick Saban Could Be The Next Head Coach For Ohio State in 2025” Sunday offered a claim of “whispers around the sports world suggesting Nick Saban as a potential successor” for Ohio State head coach Ryan Day if Day loses that job. Maybe the anonymous author was out there listening to these whispers themselves!

Except…this came after several similar stories at other sites, including the bolder claim of “Nick Saban Will Return To Be The Next Ohio State Head Coach in 2025” from “alamedad” at TWSN.net Saturday night. (That piece does not do much to back up its headline, an apparent running theme for that site.) It’s unclear if that was the specific “whispers around the sports world” Fan Recap was going off of, but they should have provided at least some level of citation for where those whispers were.

Rating: ****

3. “Spotify_Swift” relays Travis Kelce rose story with no link

Some of the worst aggregation comes from accounts that don’t cite a source at all, forcing those looking for more information to try and find where in the world something came from. The latest example of that was the @Spotify_Swift Taylor Swift news account on Twitter, which offered a “reportedly” on a story about Travis Kelce buying Taylor Swift roses while not indicating who reported that.

This was from The U.S. Sun (oft-controversial British newspaper The Sun‘s American edition). And it got picked up in a lot of places. But at least most offered them some credit.

Rating: *****

2. ML Football claims “breaking news” on Brazilian wildfires, then gets ripped off by Sportskeeda Pro Football

Speaking of no source, here’s @_MLFootball making wild claims on Brazil Thursday and citing only “local health officials”:

Sportskeeda Pro Football completely ripped off this tweet themselves a couple of hours later (removing the “crime everywhere also,” but keeping the rest):

At first glance, São Paulo “dealing with fires in over 30 cities” seems wrong, but the distinction is that São Paulo is a state as well as a city. And yes, wildfires were affecting 30 cities in the state, as per a Reuters report last Friday. Meanwhile, the health officials’ claims appear to be taken word for word from an AFP report Thursday. Neither of these accounts provided any sourcing for these claims, though, and the wildfires definitely were not “breaking news” Thursday. The Sportskeeda tweet at least didn’t do that, but it was rather funny for ripping off another aggregator.

Rating: *****

1. CBS’ “Golazo America” takes DeAndre Yedlin’s quote without source or context

Speaking of providing no source, a more prominent Twitter account did just that this weekend. That would be CBS Sports’ @GolazoAmerica (the American men’s soccer-focused account based on the company’s Golazo FAST channel)  taking a quote that DeAndre Yedlin of FC Cincinnati provided to Pat Brennan of The Cincinnati Enquirer after a 2-0 loss to Inter Miami Saturday and making it into a graphic Wednesday with no source, link, or context. Brennan then called them out for it Thursday:

And he got support for that from Yedlin:

This was particularly poor from the Golazo America quote to take this days-old quote and turn it into a graphic with no accompanying citation, link, or context.  That’s failing on a lot of levels. And while the Golazo America account is a different one from the main CBSSportsGolazo account mentioned above in the Ted Lasso discussion (and thus, is tracked separately in the standings below), it’s not ideal for two accounts from the same network to show up here in a week:

Rating: *****

Aggregator standings (these are bad): 

@NFL_DovKleiman: 11
@SKProFootball: 10
@_MLFootball: 10
@GolazoAmerica: 5
@Spotify_Swift: 5
Fan Recap: 4
@DiscussingFilm: 3
@CBSSportsGolazo: 3
X: 3
@BR_Betting: 3
@jasrifootball: 2

Aggregation subject standings (these are not bad):

Pat Brennan: 5
AFP: 5
Reuters: 5
The U.S. Sun: 5
Mark Craig: 5
Mike Florio: 5
Mike Silver: 5
TWSN: 4
The 25/10 Show: 3
Deadline: 3
Ryan Michael: 3
Tom Fornelli: 3
Clarence Hill: 2

Thanks for reading This Week In Bad Aggregation! User submissions are always welcome via e-mail or Twitter.

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

View all posts by Andrew Bucholtz