CNN’s Ed Lavandera Reports in “Bad Sports: When Fans Turn Violent” for The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper
EPISODE PREMIERES SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11 AT 8PM ET/PT
NEW YORK, NY – (September 8, 2025) – The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, a six-time Emmy® Award-winning CNN Original, returns with a harrowing look at the rise in violent incidents at sporting events around the world. “Bad Sports: When Fans Turn Violent” with CNN Senior National Correspondent Ed Lavandera premieres Saturday, October 11 at 8pm ET/PT on CNN.
70% of professional stadium security officials surveyed said they felt sports fan behavior is worse now than it was five years ago. Lavandera investigates how the adrenaline and frustration of sports combined with the extreme hive mentality that comes with team fandom can lead to violent conflict.
“There’s nothing quite like finding yourself in the middle of an exhilarating sports drama. The passion. The energy. But all too often there is a dark side to these moments,” said Lavandera. “This journey explores the violent consequences when the action spills off the field.”
In “Bad Sports: When Fans Turn Violent,” Lavandera speaks with sports lovers, local authorities, and stadium officials who have been impacted by poor fan behavior across the country, from AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas, to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. He reports from Detroit during the NFC Divisional Round of the 2024 NFL playoffs, and even crosses the pond to London, the most notorious city in the world for rabid fans.
The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper is a collection of unique and immersive single subject, one-hour episodes from CNN’s Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning longform storytelling team showcasing character-driven stories, special interviews, and investigative deep dives featuring reporting from CNN’s anchors and correspondents. The series is executive produced by Susan Chun.
The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps on Saturday, October 11. “Bad Sports: When Fans Turn Violent” will also be available on demand beginning Sunday, October 12 to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps, and Cable Operator Platforms. Past episodes of The Whole Story are available to stream on demand now on Max.
The Whole Story is also available as a CNN Podcasts showcast. Visit CNN.com/audio or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
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About CNN Originals
The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Flashdocs, and CNN Studios. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 60 multi-part documentary series and 70 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 120 awards and 450 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films’ first Academy Award® for Navalny. Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid directed by Matt Tyrnauer; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico; the Emmy® Award-nominated “Decades Series”: The Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, The 2000s, and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars, directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; the Emmy® Award winning Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés; Luther Vandross: Never Too Much, directed by Dawn Porter; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television, executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight in partnership with the BBC; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy; This is Life with Lisa Ling; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle; the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell; the American version of the long-running UK comedy series, Have I Got News For You, hosted by Roy Wood Jr; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, the CNN Originals FAST channel, and for pay TV subscription via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.
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