1. Not all publicity is good:
Managing crises,
scandals, and
reputations
2. 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
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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”
6. 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
7. Crises and Scandals
Crises typically relate to institutional,
systemic and widespread dysfunction
8. Crises and Scandals
Scandals more often relate to individual
instances of personal impropriety
9. 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
10. 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?
12. 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
13. 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
14. Sporadic Crisis
Occur without warning, are isolated and
unique
Usually only dealt with once
Example – recent terrorism at Boston
Marathon
15. 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
16. 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
17. 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
18. Management
However, if difference is perceived to be
great, crisis and scandal amplify
Actions of sports organizations = actions
of athletes, coaches, administrators
19. 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
20. 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
21. Denial
Consists of two types:
Simple Denial – denying any
wrongdoing
Shifting the Blame – Arguing that
someone/something else is responsible
for offensive act/transgression
22. Denial
Example:
Major League
Baseball player
Ryan Braun denying
he took performance
enhancing drugs
(PEDs) after a
positive drug test
23. 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
24. 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
25. 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
26. 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
29. Corrective Action
Example:
Penn State
University
administrators
outlined steps the
school would take to
avoid another
situation like the
Jerry Sandusky
scandal
33. Stonewalling
Example:
Manti Teo used
stonewalling during
interview with Katie
Couric about fake
girlfriend to avoid
answering questions
about his
involvement in hoax
34. 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
35. 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?