Not all publicity is good:

Managing crises,

scandals, and

reputations

Introduction

Not all publicity is good

Bad publicity severely damage sports

organizations

Given the intensity of media coverage, it

is very difficult for sports organizations

to keep issues “confidential”

Argument that more sports

organizations need to be transparent

and just admit when they have issues

Introduction

Bad publicity ranges from minor

accidents to crises and scandals

Managing crises and scandals is not

about “cleaning up the mess” quickly

Managing crises and scandals is a day-

to-day process

Crises and Scandals

The term crisis is used freely and

signifies a range of incidents

Actions by sports organization leaders to

athletes’ private behavior

Crisis – “a threat to a system or

organization” (Offe, 1984)

Crisis suggests that an organization

must undergo significant transformation

Crises and Scandals

In sport, crises range from:

Sports teams reacting to scandals that

threaten the integrity of the sport

In sport, crisis means – “a problem that

a club, league, association, or individual

is experiencing, which typically has the

potential to cause a negative impact or

negative publicity”

Crises and Scandals

Scandals threaten status quo and

stability of sport organizations

Integral feature of contemporary sports

landscape

Crisis causes disruption without media

coverage

Scandal is caused by media attention

Crises and Scandals

Crises typically relate to institutional,

systemic and widespread dysfunction

Crises and Scandals

Scandals more often relate to individual

instances of personal impropriety

Scandal Criteria

Social Norms are transgressed

Widely circulated via the media

Scandals are attractive to media

Both crises and scandals can destroy

reputations of individuals and

organizations

Scandal Criteria

Sport scandals always external

Some try to hid moral transgressions

Is it better to suppress scandals or is

that unrealistic in today’s media age?

Crisis Types

Internal

External

Sporadic

Systemic

Internal Crisis

Limited to internal workings of

organization

No impact on public

Rarely require media management

For example, sports team recognizes

error in season-ticket holder billing

system

External Crisis

Have impact beyond the organization

Both public and media interested

Therefore, require media management

One becomes public, often out of

organization’s control (however, social

media mitigates this to an extent)

Example – Athletic Department dealing

with NCAA violations

Sporadic Crisis

Occur without warning, are isolated and

unique

Usually only dealt with once

Example – recent terrorism at Boston

Marathon

Systemic Crisis

Systemic crises have been growing and

festering

Often a result of organizational

mismanagement, cover-up

Most dangerous for sport organization

For example – Jerry Sandusky scandal,

PED use in Major League Baseball

Management

Without effective crisis and scandal

management, media management is

difficult

Must address not the problem, not

simply seek to minimize it

Sport teams have to be very mindful of

their reputation

Management

Sport organizations must conform to

social norms and expectations

Must demonstrate that organization and

societal values are aligned

If public perceives distance between the

two to be small, damage from crisis and

scandal is likely to be minimal

Management

However, if difference is perceived to be

great, crisis and scandal amplify

Actions of sports organizations = actions

of athletes, coaches, administrators

Crisis Communication

Strategies When a crisis or scandal occurs, it

threatens the reputation of the sports

organization

Sports Organizations enact image repair

to minimize the damage to the

organization and try and put the

organization back into a favorable

position with the public

Crisis Communication

Strategies There a variety of strategies that can be

called upon when enacting image repair

Challenge is to find the find strategy that

matches the situation

Denial

Consists of two types:

Simple Denial – denying any

wrongdoing

Shifting the Blame – Arguing that

someone/something else is responsible

for offensive act/transgression

Denial

Example:

Major League

Baseball player

Ryan Braun denying

he took performance

enhancing drugs

(PEDs) after a

positive drug test

Evade Responsibility

Consists of four types:

Provocation – action was caused by

someone/something else inciting the

accused

Defeasibility – action was caused due to

ignorance

Accident – action was not intentional

Good Intentions – Person had well-

reasoned motives for committing act

Evade Responsibility

Example:

In a press conference

discussing allegations

of taking performance

enhancing drugs,

Major League

Baseball pitcher

Roger Clemens

acknowledged he did

not know what he was

putting into his body

Reducing Offensiveness

Consists of six types:

Bolstering – Emphasizing positive

characteristics of accused

Minimization – downplaying the

significance of act

Differentiation – compares the act to

other more offensive acts

Reducing Offensiveness

Transcendence – Accused person

discusses how prior, positive actions

outweigh recent offensive act

Attack Accuser – attacking the person

making allegations against accused

Compensation – paying victim or making

restitution for actions

Reducing Offensiveness

Example:

When Lance

Armstrong was

accused of doping

he attacked the

other cyclists who

made the allegations

Corrective Action

Involves public declaration of steps to

ensure that act will not occur again in

the future

Corrective Action

Example:

Penn State

University

administrators

outlined steps the

school would take to

avoid another

situation like the

Jerry Sandusky

scandal

Mortification

Admitting Guilt and apologizing

Mortification

Example

Major League

Baseball Player

Josh Hamilton

admitted to an

alcohol relapse in

2012

Stonewalling

Re-directing attention to less significant

issues to divert public focus from the

alleged action

Stonewalling

Example:

Manti Teo used

stonewalling during

interview with Katie

Couric about fake

girlfriend to avoid

answering questions

about his

involvement in hoax

Conclusion

Sport organizations must be prepared

for scandals and crises

Media management of these incidents is

essential

How organizations learn from these is

also very important

Conclusion

Big decision for sports organizations –

admit or deny?

Generally, trend in sports has been to

deny, then admit when evidence comes

out

Will this change? Do sports

organizations need to be more

transparent?