Sports Leagues, Teams, Athletes and their Much-Needed Public Relations

In a nation where professional athletes make millions of dollars playing for multi-million dollar sports teams, public relations is needed more than some may think. The fans of these sports teams are brutal - happy when the team is bringing in wins, but angry and calling for heads when they're losing. Fans expect nothing but the best from the players and the team that they support. These fans are what keep the team and sports league afloat; by paying for tickets and souvenirs, they can cause, or ruin, the success of a team or league. This is why PR is an important aspect for not only the sports teams themselves, but the leagues that they are a part of, and the players that help bring in the money.

Each professional sports league hosts upwards of 30 teams. Each individual team is a representation of the league itself. In today's world of corporations and branding, each sports team has gone out of its way to brand itself to the nation. The nation holds these leagues to the elitist brand that they sell themselves as; these are the best players, playing for the best teams, in the best league. The support for these leagues is so strong that even the smallest slip-ups are scrutinized and criticized.

The NFL (National Football League) has been running into a PR nightmare as of late. Football is known to be the roughest and toughest sport in the nation, with its hard hits and massive, built players. The league, however, is careful to avoid an image that is too harsh and severe. With the amount of players who have found themselves in trouble with the law recently, the league is struggling to promote a positive image. To help show its commitment to holding players accountable, and to show that the entire league does not follow the stereotype, it has started to impose bigger sanctions against players. Here are a few of the biggest suspensions of the last few years, as composed for USA Today (Bell):

16 games "Pacman" Jones, 2007, violating NFL's personal-conduct policy

16 games Ricky Williams, 2006, violating NFL's substance-abuse policy

16 games Koren Robinson, 2006, violating NFL's substance-abuse policy

16 games* Darrell Russell, 2004, violating NFL's substance-abuse policy

10 games Josh Evans, 2003, violating NFL's substance-abuse policy

8 games Chris Henry, 2007, violating NFL's personal conduct policy

5 games Albert Haynesworth, 2006, on-field behavior

When considering the fact that the NFL season is only 16 games long, these suspensions show that the league is using the suspensions to show it's displeasure with the particular players. Whether it be substance abuse, or trouble with the law, the league does not want to perpetuate this image as its own, and uses suspensions as a way to send a message to its publics (player, and fans).

The NBA (National Basketball Association) had a similar issue; the league has set up a certain image for itself that is constantly threatened by players being involved in a negative way with the law. The league has instituted the smallest of rules, including a game-day dress code, in an attempt to raise the professional image of the league. This came in the wake of what is known as "The Brawl at the Palace". During a game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers, a fight broke out between the two teams. After the fight was cleared, a fan threw a full cup of beer at Pacers player Ron Artest. A fight then broke out between the players of the pacers and the Pistons fan, resulting in players going into the stands, punching fans, and fans coming onto the floor, punching players.

This was a nightmare for the league. Not only was the image of the league somewhat tarnished, but the fans and players questioned the security and safety of both parties. This required an immediate PR reaction, and it was nothing more than damage control. The PR surrounding the event was aimed at not only promoting how the league was making the games safer for the fans and players alike, but how the league was reprimanding the players involved. The beefed up security was promoted, and fines and suspensions were handed out, showing that the league was doing whatever it could to distance its own image from the situation in an attempt to keep the image damage at a minimum. As far as the suspensions and reprimands are concerned, the commissioner of the league publicly denounced the situation. David Stern said: "The penalties issued today deal only with one aspect of this incident - that of player misconduct. The actions of the players involved wildly exceeded the professionalism and self-control that should fairly be expected from NBA players. We must affirm that the NBA will strive to exemplify the best that can be offered by professional sports, and not allow our sport to be debased by what seem to be declining expectations for behavior of fans and athletes alike." (NBA).

The NHL (National Hockey League) however, had a different problem on its hands. In 2004, the league found itself in the middle of a lockout. The issue revolved around the players and the league itself, and dealt with pay and labor contracts. Negotiations had only really begun once the season was canceled; the league wound up scrambling to regain their lost fans and the respect of the public. Chris Pronger, in an article for CBC, flatly pointed out the fact that the public would never sympathize with either side of the argument, and that any PR efforts would be lost. Pronger said that "if all the energy [they've] seen being wasted on public relations could be spent negotiating a deal," they could've ended the issue sooner (CBC Sports).

The NHL found itself in a tough situation; it needed to regain its fan base and the support of the public. The public and fans were disheartened at best. They had just lost an entire season of their favorite sport due to the fact that the players and the league could not agree on money. The leagues reputation took a hit, as money and pay got in the way of what the public found most important: the game. The league needed PR to keep itself afloat; when the league lost an entire season, it could risk losing a large part of its fan base the first season back. Communicating with its publics, as well as conforming to what they want and need from the league, kept the league from going under.

Each professional sports league is composed of teams across the nation. These teams an easily run into PR problems of their own. When a player is traded, the fans may be upset; this is the most important public for the team to communicate with. When a player is in trouble with the law, the team must take action to appease the questioning fan base.

One team that has had a sudden need for PR is the NFL Atlanta Falcons. The team's star quarterback, Michael Vick, was charged and convicted with dog fighting. While this is not something that is normally prosecuted heavily, Vick has been caught in what has been referenced as an "illegal shift" (McCollam). This is when someone in a prominent light is being heavily prosecuted for something that usually is not; some in the public make a huge deal about the issue, where others complain that they are just being prosecuted because of their celebrity status (McCollam). Regardless of this, the league itself barred the quarterback from attending the team's training camp (Schmidt). Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons, has stated that he feels betrayed by Vick; this shows that the team is distancing itself from the player, in an attempt to keep the teams reputation. The team needed PR (through press releases and team official comments) to keep the respect of the fans. Without this PR, the team could lose some of its fan base; fans want to know that teams are holding their players to a high standard. They want to know that their team is doing whatever it can do be the best. If a team fails to disassociate with a player that loses the respect of the fans, the fans quickly lose the respect of the team.

When the brawl at the Palace happened in the NBA, the league itself was not the only entity that needed PR; the Indiana Pacers, as well as the Detroit Pistons, needed heavy PR. The Indiana Pacers had multiple players suspended after the altercation; the team needed to use PR to assure the fans that the season was not lost (NBA). This required not only official statements from the team, but quotes from other players, and the coach, to assure the fans that the team would still do the best that it could.

The Pistons, on the other hand, had the same issue that the league itself had. The Pistons needed to assure the fans that their safety was not in jeopardy. When players come into the stands, it can worry fans that attend the game. The players in the NBA also needed to be reassured that the fans would not toss objects from the arena to the court. This also required official statements, as well as quotes from team officials, to calm the fears of the fans. This was complete damage control.

Another NBA team that found itself in an interesting situation was the Los Angeles Lakers. The team's star, Kobe Bryant, found himself in the middle of a sexual assault case. While Bryant was going through court dates, as well as tough personal times (he admitted to consensual sex with the accuser, which was an issue for his marriage), the team stood behind him. The team allowed Bryant to play while he was going through everything, allowing him to miss practices and team functions to tae care of his legal issues (Harris). The team had to be careful with the official comments that it sent through its PR means; it had to show support for the justice system while supporting their star player. After the ordeal was over, the PR for the Lakers was still in full force, commenting on the situation by releasing a statement, through John Black, that said, ''We're pleased for Kobe and his family that this issue has been resolved.'' (Johnson).

This highlights another aspect of PR in the sports world; player PR. The superstars of the league need PR, and many PR practitioners thrive off of their needs. When a player wants a trade, they send official messages through their PR representative. When the player is traded, and is unhappy, or is trying to communicate to their new fans, they send official messages through that representative. When a player is in trouble with the law, they need their PR representative to help keep up their reputation.

Kobe Bryant, in the above mentioned case, needed careful PR to promote his innocence and keep his fan base (for himself and for the team). It was noted that Kobe kept relatively quiet during the case, but made multiple statements through his PR representative. Bryant also utilized press conferences to get messages across to the publics that he needed to reach. By using the PR professionals that he surrounded himself with, he could make sure that the image he was conveying to the public was helpful to his case and to his reputation. He could also assure that he was not making any mistakes, and that he was not saying things or giving information that could hurt him in any way.

Trade requests in any league are abundant; a superstar can easily become unhappy with the team that he is currently playing for. If the player is actually traded, then this is not a problem for the player in any way. If the team refuses to trade the player, however, this causes blatant PR problems. If a player seems unhappy, fans become unhappy with that player. A trade request can be seen as disrespectful to the team and fans if not done in the right manner. This is where PR comes in; a player, through their PR professional, can silently request a trade. If the request becomes public, the player can, through PR, release a statement, or be quoted in the media to downplay the request or market it in a manner that does not anger the fans. Through PR, the player can keep its fan base, and help the team keep its fan base. It can help the player gain support in a new city. Any bad publicity causes extra stress on the player and team, and could affect their performance.

The entire sports world relies on PR to reach its multiple publics; its own players, the fans, and the public in general. Without PR, the NHL might not have bounced back from its lost season. Without PR, players might lose the respect of the fans, and in turn, lose their standing with their own team. PR in the sports world can be preventative, but often finds itself in a damage control situation. To continue as a business, the players, teams, and leagues all must utilize Public Relations to ensure that they are successful and profitable. Unknowingly, fans rely on PR to stay interested in there favorite players. Fans rely on PR to continue to follow and support the teams that they love. Fans rely on PR to respect the leagues that give them the sports entertainment that they often crave.

References

Bell, J (USA Today). Conduct unbecoming: NFL sets new standard with suspensions.

Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-04-10-pacman-henry-suspensions_N.htm

CBC Sports, (2004, October 22). Less PR, more talk could break hockey impasse:

Pronger. CBC Sports, Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2004/10/21/Sports/chrispronger041021.html

Harris, D (ABC News). PR Is Key for Kobe Bryant. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Story?id=129529&page=1

Johnson, K (2005, March 3). Settlement is reached in Bryant case. The New York Times,

p. A6.

McCollam, Douglas. "Michael Vick was caught in an 'illegal shift'." New Jersey Law

Journal (Sept 7, 2007): NA. Academic OneFile. Gale. Grand Valley State University. 18 Nov. 2007

NBA. NBA Announces Suspensions From Pistons-Pacers Game. Retrieved November

18, 2007, from NBA.com Web site. http://www.nba.com/news/pacers_pistons_041121.html

NFL. Retrieved November 18, 2007, from National Football League Web site:

http://www.nfl.com

Schmidt, M (2007, August 22). Vick's guilty plea puts career at risk; . International

Herald Tribune, Sports, 16.