REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL INVESTIGATES THE SEXUAL ABUSE SCANDAL ENGULFING BRITISH SOCCER; PROFILES JAIME JARRIN, LATINO VOICE OF THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS; AND TELLS THE INSPIRING STORY OF A PINBALL WIZARD WHEN A NEW EDITION DEBUTS TUESDAY, MAY 23, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL, TV’s most-honored sports journalism series, with a record 18 Sports Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Sports Journalism, returns for more enterprising features and reporting when the show’s 242nd edition debuts TUESDAY, MAY 23 (10:00–11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.
For up-to-the-minute updates about REAL SPORTS, follow on Twitter at @RealSportsHBO or join the conversation using #RealSports.
Segments include:
Soccer’s Darkest Secret.
Former British pro soccer player Andy Woodward blew the lid off the largest sexual abuse scandal in soccer history last November when he revealed the abuse he had suffered from his longtime youth coach. More than 500 other former players have since emerged with similar allegations, claiming they were sexually abused while playing for youth teams associated with some of the biggest clubs in pro soccer.
REAL SPORTS correspondent David Scott travels to the United Kingdom to talk with several victims and even a former club official, who tells of having his warnings dismissed. The report examines why the governing body of English football and the many clubs implicated have remained largely silent while what some believe to be a system-wide cover-up persists.
Producer: Chapman Downes.
Latino Voice.
When the Dodgers descended upon Los Angeles in the late 1950s, they made it a priority to connect with the densely Hispanic-populated city, becoming the first pro baseball team to have nearly all their games broadcast on the radio in Spanish. The voice fans heard on the radio in 1959, Jaime Jarrin, is the same one heard today, 58 years later. Host Bryant Gumbel talks to the 81-year-old about his incredible journey from Ecuador to the Baseball Hall of Fame. To find out how Jarrin became the most-recognizable Spanish-language broadcaster in baseball history, REAL SPORTS also hears from his former English-language counterpart at the Dodgers, the legendary Vin Scully.
Producer: Jake Rosenwasser.
Pinball Wizard.
Robert Gagno was diagnosed with autism at three years old. Doctors told his parents he might never talk, and would likely never read or write. Over time, his parents saw their son develop many obsessions, such as spinning objects, bright lights and flipping objects like light switches. When he was five, they found the one thing that combined these passions and helped him channel his difficulties with autism: pinball. At 18, they realized their son was immensely talented at competitive pinball after entering him into a contest on a whim. Now, at 28, Gagno is ranked among the best in the world. REAL SPORTS correspondent Soledad O’Brien visited the Pinball World Championships outside Pittsburgh and went behind the scenes with the pinball wizard, who sought to defend his 2016 championship.
Producer: Maggie Burbank.
On May 9, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL received two Sports Emmy® Awards for production excellence in 2016. The series was honored for Outstanding Sports News Anthology for the third time in four years and Outstanding Sports Journalism for the 18th time, more than any other sports journalism television program in history. REAL SPORTS has now won 31 Sports Emmy® Awards for production excellence during its 22 seasons on HBO.
The show received the Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism for its acclaimed exposé on the International Olympic Committee, which debuted last July, just days before the start of the Summer Games in Rio. The win marks the third significant journalism honor bestowed this year upon REAL SPORTS for this comprehensive report.
Last month, REAL SPORTS won a 2016 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for its IOC coverage. In March, the show received the inaugural Peter Jennings Award from the Overseas Press Club, which honors the best TV, video or documentary on international affairs.
Follow REAL SPORTS updates on HBO.com/realsports and facebook.com/realsports.
The executive producers of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL are Rick Bernstein and Joe Perskie.
Follow @HBOPR for more news and information.
