Executive Rewind: Pro Sports in Crisis
The NBA Commissioner gets it right while the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons wait a week.
When you’re in crisis, your business is out of synch. Events are in control of you instead of the opposite. And, in today’s environment, especially, you cannot afford to lay low in a crisis before the story gets away from you. There are just too many media and other sources chattering away, creating impressions and expectations, and they likely are not impressions and expectations you want out there if it’s your crisis.
One professional league and a franchise are in turmoil at this writing. The National Basketball Association, is facing what its commissioner considers its worst crisis, ever.
As you probably know, the FBI is investigating allegations that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on basketball games over the past two seasons, including ones in which he officiated to shave points and protect his bets. This story broke late last week. And the NBA immediately put out a statement: "We have been asked by the FBI, with whom we are working closely, not to comment on this matter at this time."
But Commissioner David Stern clearly understood he needed to put an NBA face on this story. He called a Monday news conference to get his voice heard and, while not judging Donaghy’s guilt or innocence, Stern humanized himself and the NBA by calling this kind of activity both a betrayal and likely criminal.
Again, the airwaves, the Internet and newspapers were awash with reaction, third party conjecture and speculation about the referee and the FBI’s gambling investigation. Stern owed it to himself, his teams and the other NBA referees to state the association’s position and the league and its members with more than a written statement.
Then there’s the Michael Vick situation. The Atlanta Falcon quarterback, with a trail of missteps already on his public resume, was indicted by a federal grand jury for participating in interstate dogfights; if convicted, prison (and a heavy fine) could be his future playing field. The story broke on July 17, 2007. Yet, Falcons management was not visible for a week.
This story was big news nationally as well as in Atlanta, a lead story for days. Yet, Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank participated for a week via written statements. His first one expressed disappointment and an apology to fans.
Now, Arthur Blank has a great deal of good will and empathy in the Atlanta market. The former co-founder of Home Depot bought the team several years ago and immediately made the fans the focus of his marketing. Blank also is known for his generosity. He runs a foundation that makes large financial grants to worthwhile causes. He has been very accessible to, and visible through, the news media. For the Falcons, he put a likeable face on the team that it had not had in its history, ever since it joined the NFL more than 40 years ago.
Yet, Blank and the Falcons chose to huddle behind closed doors and let the sports talk radio stations (there are two in Atlanta), the rest of the local media, the all news cable networks and ESPN’s networks fill their time with third parties speculating on the next moves by both the league and the team. Impressions and expectations were being driven by others than Blank and his senior management.
Meanwhile, local and network media gravitated to anyone else they could find connected with the team; in other words, any players who would talk. And one local Atlanta TV station ran more than once footage and a sound bite of Vick from this past May, well after the dog fighting story had broken, but before the indictment. In it, Vick does not exactly endear himself to anyone. Arrogantly, he claims his public, worldwide, loves him and will continue to love him, no matter what.
Unfortunately for him, Mike Vick may have misjudged public reaction. At best, it’s mixed, and it gives a much different impression of him than Arthur Blank would like people to think. But recent negative events concerning Vick, the indictment and his own arrogance have spoiled any impression Blank would have liked to make for his $130 million quarterback.
But Blank waited a week to meet with the media along with his general manager and head coach. And while he did exactly what he could have, and should have, done days earlier: express his disappointment and his priorities, and his own impressions of Mike Vick.
His very human response would’ve given Blank and the Falcons a piece of this story much sooner.
The fact that Blank waited a week certainly was not a mortal blow to how the Mike Vick story has played out since the indictment.
In times of crisis, one of your primary goals is to get things back to normal as quickly as possible. And that requires getting critical messages to your most important audiences, the ones that can help you get things under control. The Falcons’ fans and the community were forced to wait to hear and see a human side of the team, while the pundits and “experts” were talking freely and often and probably helping to form more negative impressions and opinions.
|
