CELEBRATING 20 AWARD-WINNING SEASONS,
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL
COVERS THE LACK OF HEAD TRAUMA PROTECTION IN GIRLS’ YOUTH SOCCER;
EXAMINES GOPRO’S IMPACT ON EXTREME SPORTS COVERAGE; AND
REVISITS ITS EMMY®-NOMINATED PROBE OF QATAR’S 2022 WORLD CUP
WHEN THE SHOW RETURNS JUNE 23, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL, TV’s most honored sports journalism series, returns with more enterprising features and reporting when the show’s 219th edition debuts TUESDAY, JUNE 23 (10:00–11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
For the up-to-the-minute updates about REAL SPORTS, follow on Twitter at @RealSportsHBO or join the conversation using #RealSports.
Segments include:
*Girl Interrupted. While football is the leading cause of concussions in sports, soccer runs a close second, and has become the biggest cause of concussions by far for girls. Although the headlines about concussions in the NFL have led many major sports to institute rule changes to protect the health of children, the leaders of girls’ youth soccer in the U.S. have done little. REAL SPORTS correspondent Mary Carillo spotlights this growing concern among parents, coaches and players, speaking with two stars of the 1999 Women’s World Cup-winning team, who believe one simple rule change could drastically reduce head injuries and protect the health of all players.
Producer: Jordan Kronick.
(Correspondent David Scott skiing with GoPro Founder and CEO Nick Woodman.)
*GoPro. When Nick Woodman wanted to capture video of his surfing conquests up-close – something other sports had enjoyed for decades – the result was GoPro. This compact high-definition video camera is small enough to go anywhere, durable enough to survive the most devastating accidents and advanced enough to produce breathtaking images. An overnight success and now a billion-dollar business, it’s been dubbed the ultimate tool for the “selfie” generation and has been integral in revolutionizing extreme sports coverage. In this visually striking segment, REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel goes heli-skiing with GoPro founder and CEO Woodman to learn about his groundbreaking invention and meets athletes who have used GoPro to share their view with fans as they strive to reach new heights in extreme sports.
Producer: Chapman Downes.
(Correspondent David Scott with the parents of a young Nepali man who died working in Qatar.)
*The Price of Glory in Qatar. In July 2014, REAL SPORTS correspondent David Scott investigated the 2022 Qatar World Cup, showing how this tiny but fantastically wealthy country has recently conducted an obsessive campaign to achieve glory through sport at seemingly any cost – in dollars, ethics, rights and even human lives. Now, REAL SPORTS revisits this eye-opening story in the wake of the resignation of FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the arrests of many other high-ranking officials at FIFA on corruption and bribery charges.
In the Emmy®-nominated 2014 segment, Scott spoke with men who were imported to Qatar to build up the country as it prepared to host the World Cup and witnessed the deadly conditions they faced daily, while also meeting with officials who seemingly turned a blind eye toward these abuses. Now, Scott learns that in addition to alleged bribery scandals and dangerous working conditions, Qatar’s 2022 World Cup is plagued by the country’s suspected ties to terrorism in the Middle East and around the world.
Producers: David Scott, Josh Fine, Jake Rosenwasser.
Throughout 2015, REAL SPORTS features three-to-four-minute segments spotlighting a different comedy star from the HBO family, who closes each show with a personal, unfiltered take on an element of sports. This month, Wanda Sykes, who appeared on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and has starred in two solo specials on the network, offers her twist on gender equality in sports today.
Other HBO playdates: June 23 (4:10 a.m.), 26 (11:30 a.m., 4:45 p.m.), 27 (11:00 p.m.), 28 (9:00 a.m.) and 30 (2:45 p.m.), and July 3 (4:45 p.m.), 4 (9:30 a.m.) and 6 (8:00 p.m., 3:50 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: June 25 (1:30 p.m., 8:00 p.m.) and 29 (4:00 p.m., 2:15 a.m.), and July 9 (11:45 p.m.), 11 (1:00 p.m.), 13 (8:45 a.m.) and 19 (4:00 p.m.)
On May 5, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL captured two Sports Emmy® Awards, in the Outstanding Sports Journalism and Outstanding Sports News Anthology categories. REAL SPORTS has won Outstanding Sports Journalism Emmys® 16 times and earned 28 Sports Emmy® Awards overall since debuting in 1995.
Follow REAL SPORTS updates on HBO.com/realsports and facebook.com/realsports. Immediately following the debut of this month’s show on June 23, log on to HBO.com/realsports for a special overtime session hosted by Bryant Gumbel.
The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Joe Perskie is senior producer.
###
Recent Comments