SPORTS PUBLIC RELATIONS

Corporate and Specialist PR

SPORTS PUBLIC RELATIONS
Module Leaders: Gerard Choo and Gyorgy Szondi

MA Public Relations
Student name: Uma Datye Student id: 77102166

(Word Count: 4427)

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Index
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 4 2. Public Relations and Communications in Sports ................................................. 5 3. Sports Marketing Public Relations ........................................................................ 7 4. Crisis Management in Sports .................................................................................11 5. Cross Cultural Sports Public Relations and Communications .......................... 16 6. The business of sports Public Relations and Cross Culture Communication ..................................................................................................... 20 7. Media and Sports Communication ....................................................................... 21 8. Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 27

SPORTS PUBLIC RELATION

Introduction:
There is no doubt that sports have transformed over the last 30 years, but there is still a need to develop the public relations and communication strategies of sport. While at the elite end, sports has become a complex commercial enterprise, at the participation end it had become quite sophisticated in marketing its activities to local communities. With lots of universities worldwide offering sports management degree, the area of sports marketing is gradually gaining more recognition and is becoming one of the rapidly developing sectors. But although sport marketing is developing, the field of sports public relations and communication is still underdeveloped (Hopwood et. all, 2010, Sports Public Relations and Communication). Public perceptions about sport PR have been tainted by its past propaganda and its many connotations with spin. A co-ordinated implementation of sport public relations through proper sort communication channels can minimise the negative perceptions about sport PR in the minds of the public. Even though sport public relations and sport communication is all about relationships, Hopwood (Hopwood et. all, 2010, Sports Public Relations and Communication) defines sport public relation as a separate form of sport communication since the former is the activities by which relationships are managed and the latter is the modes of media that are chosen.

Public Relations and Communication in Sports:

What is Public Relations? Broom, (2009, p.21) defines Public Relations as The management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organisation and the publics on whom its success or failure depends According to CIPR, (2009, online), Public relations is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics.

Hopwood et al. (2010, p. 17) defines Public Relations as Everything you say, everything you do and everything anyone says or thinks about you

A quick summary of what Public Relations is: The management of relationships The management of reputation The management of goodwill and mutual understanding The eyes and ears of the organisation The instigator of two-way communication between the organisation and its publics It helps the organisation (or individual) achieve its full potential
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Sports Communication: Not all sport public relations is composed of communication-based activities. Sports communication is a generic term which needs to be given its individual identity. Therefore, it is suggested that the term sport communication be used to refer to the techniques and media which are used in the sport communication process. Pedersen et al. (2007, p. 76) defined Sports Communication as a process by which people in sport, in a sport setting, or through a sport endeavour share symbols as they create meaning through interaction The symbols mentioned in the above definition refer to the components which are used in the communication of the sport message, for example, word signs, images, sounds, logos, songs, chants in the stadium or venue and so on. These symbols are hugely important in both, sport communication and sport public relations. In terms of sport communication, they help build a feeling of identity towards the team and in terms of sport public relations, they build a strong emotional and relational attachment between the team and its publics.

Sports Marketing Public Relations:

Sports Marketing Public Relations (SMPR) is a new concept which is an attempt to address the unique requirements of sport public relations and communication. Cotemporary sport is much more than purely making money and this is one of the reasons why SMPR has such an important role to play in todays sport business. Another important reason is the strong, potentially lifelong relationships that people develop with their favourite sports. Whether as supporters, participants or administrators, individuals expend huge amounts of time, money, emotions, energy in the pursuit of their sporting love. SMPR is an innovative concept which utilises the best practises from sports marketing; sports integrated marketing communications and sport public relations. This is illustrated in the Rugby Ball diagram.

__________________ Figure cited in Sports Marketing and Communication, 2010, Chap. 4, pp. 58

The SMPR Rugby Ball has been designed to show the position of the SMPR within the sport organisation. It represents the potentially powerful collaboration of all sport communication practices and creates the opportunity for true relations communication in the form of relationship creation and management, promotional communication and transactional communication which meets the unique needs of the sport organisation. The outside edge of the rugby ball symbolises the boundary between the sport organisation and their publics. The internal SMPR environment includes all internal publics to the organisation and is the place where the sport communication functions and operations originate. The external SMPR environment includes all the external publics with which the sport organisation or entity wants to engage for purposes of long term, mutually beneficial relationship building in all its many forms. The whole range of sport communication tools is techniques can be used to achieve the SMPR objectives. However, the key to successful SMPR is being able to successfully encourage publics and other intermediaries including the media, to communicate the SMPR message on the sport organisations behalf. Morgan (2000, cited in Marketing the Sports Organisation, 2009, pp. 97) identified 3 steps in the evolution of an organisations relationships: Creating a relationship Building resource based competitive advantages Developing an maintaining valuable networks.

Scopes and techniques of SMPR: Scope of SMPR Raise awareness Inform Interest Excite Educate Generate understanding Build trust Encourage loyalty Generate relationship management outcomes (Hopwood et al. 2010,) Techniques of SMPR Media relations Publicity Publications Corporate Communication Public affairs and community relations Lobbying Sponsorships/donations Events management Crisis management Research and analysis

_____________________ Table from Sports Public Relations and Communication, 2010, chap 4, p. 60
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Different between SMPR and Sports Marketing: SMPR is a healthy offspring of the two parents: sports marketing and sports public relations. SMPR extends beyond the boundaries of sports marketing, combining certain elements of that function with sports public relations. Mullin et al. (2007, p. 11) defines sports marketing in the following manner Sports marketing consists of all the activities designed to meet the needs and wants of sports consumers through exchange process. Sport marketing has developed two major thrusts: the marketing of sports products and services directly to consumers of sports, and the marketing of other consumer and industrial products or services through the use of sport promotions The marketing of sports and marketing through sports as highlighted in the above definition have become familiar with people over time. It is an American sports marketing model which has been widely adopted by sport organisations in the UK, Europe and all around the world. But the omission of any mention of relationships or any publics beyond those of consumers is very obvious. This is where SMPR differs from sport marketing. SMPR is grounded in relationships and communications while sport marketing is grounded in monetary transactions and promotions.

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Crisis Management in Sports:

Stoldt and al. (2006, p. 169) define crisis as an occurrence that possesses the potential to significantly damage a sport organizations financial stability and / or credibility with constituents. Some argue that crises possess three basic characteristic: 1. They are unexpected 2. They are disruptive 3. They lead to allegations against sport organisations

Heath (1997, cited in Stoldt et al., 2006, p.31) has given for essential aspects of crisis management: 1. Anticipate and analyse issues 2. Develop organisational positions on issues 3. Identify key publics affected by the issues 4. Identify the desired behaviour of those publics Sport organisations have been susceptible to crisis for almost a century now, but even the most comprehensive risk management plans failed to protect them against any potential crisis. It is only recently that crisis management has emerged as an important area of sport public relations.

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Sports Crisis Plan:

FORECASTING POTENTIAL CRISIS

ASSESSING THE CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN

DEVELOPING A CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN

UTILIZING THE CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN

______________________ Table from Sport Public Relations, Managing Organizational Communication, (2006, p. 171)

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Flow of information to external publics:

SPORT ORGANISATION

PERSONAL CONTACT

NEWS RELEASES

WEB SITE

MASS MEDIA

FAMILY MEMBERS

DONORS, FANS, ETC

COMMUNITY MEMBERS, STUDENTS, ALUMNI, ETC.

__________________ Table from Sports Public Relations, Managing Organisational Communication, (2006, p. 178)

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Main types of Crisis Communication Strategies: The main types of crisis communication strategies are Apologia and Image Repair discourse theory. Apologia: Apologia seeks to defend an organisations or an individuals alleged offensive actions while re-establishing organisational legitimacy. In cases of organisational or individual transgressions, the accused typically use apologia. Hearit (1996, cited in Hopwood et al., 2010, p.128) says that apologia does not involve an actual apology, but rather, a defence. It defends the behaviour and denies the actions of wrong doing, followed by attempting to differentiate the organisation or the individual from the charges. Hearit defines 3 strategies of apologia that are commonly used: 1. Mortification which is an admission of guilt 2. Victimage which is scapegoating to direct the blame elsewhere 3. Transcendence which entails defending ones actions through appearing to be morally above reproach Hearit also examined a form of apologia, counter kategoria-apologia whereby organisations use disassociation and wage counterattacks on their accusers. The aim of disassociation is to separate an accused organisation or individual from charges and claim that the charges are but an appearance and do not represent reality. Image repair discourse theory: Benoit (1997) is the originator of the image repair discourse theory. The theory is predicted on the fact that image is essential to organisations and individuals. Once an organisation is held responsible for an act that is viewed to be offensive, the need for restoration comes into the picture. It makes no difference whether or not the accused is

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actually responsible. The only thing that matter is that the public view the accused as responsible. There are 5 strategies to the image repair discourse theory. The first strategy is denial, which is simple denial. The second strategy is evasion of responsibility, which consists of provocation, defeasibility, accident and good intentions. The third strategy is reducing offensiveness, which consists of bolstering, minimisation, differentiation, transcendence, attacking accusers and compensation. The fourth strategy is a corrective action, which repairs damage caused by the offensive act and proposed steps to ensure that the act will not happen again. The fifth and last strategy is mortification, which communicates responsibility for the offensive act, an apology is made and forgiveness is asked for (Benoit, 1997, cited in Hopwood et al., 2010, p. 128-129)

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Cross cultural Sport Public Relations and Communications:

Cross-cultural issues in sports tend to emerge in broader discussions of globalisation, ethnicity, international politics, role of international organisations or in a country-specific or area-studies approaches or reports of research world-wide. Public relations scholars and practitioners have been aware of the importance of global interconnectedness for their work. Sriramesh (2003, p. xxv citied in Sports Public Relations and Communications, p. 154) pointed out that

It is difficult to overstate the importance of a global perspective of public relations practice and scholarship because this profession had truly become a global enterprise. I question whether there is such a thing as domestic public relations anymore because of the internal outreach of organisations of all sizes and types as a result of globalisation... every public relations practitioner must have a multi-cultural and global perspective to be effective.
Public Relations in Society: Public Relations is present at all political, economic, socio-cultural and technological change in contemporary, post-industrial cultures in a globalised world. Public relations is not just about promotion of media relations, although they are the most visible parts of the work. Public relations practitioners seek feedback from stakeholders, publics and opinion leaders and endeavour to get their organisation into relevant public conversations. Public relations is a way of giving voice and identity to an organisation. In the course of their work, PR practitioners engage with cultural beliefs and practices, communicative actions, discourse ethics, organisational cultures and climates, formation of public agendas and debates and interest group activism. Within sport, public relations work is needed by

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international sport organisations such as International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Cricket Council (ICC), on behalf of sport stars, sport associations, sport corporations, sport sponsors and sport media. Culture: Culture is the term used to explain shared patterns of behaviour, common values and assumptions about daily living within a particular community. Barnett and Lee (2002, p. 276 cited in Sports Public Relations and Communications, p. 158) says: Culture consists of the habits and tendencies to act in certain ways but not the actions themselves. It is the language patterns, values, attitudes, beliefs, customs and thought patterning. The emphasis in this definition is laid on the language, because it is languages that shape interpretive framework. Language and symbolism are central to public relations practice since the function is responsible for the articulation of organisational views. Culture is not a term that applies solely to nations, states or ethnic groups but can be applied much more widely to organisations, specialised activities, generations and to elite or distinct groups. Culture distinguishes one group from another as expressed through shared behaviour, speech and body language, rituals, discourse practices, jargon, references points, degrees of formality or informality, social intercourse and personal relationships, atmosphere of climate. Culture in public relations: The connection between public relations practice and culture is fundamental (LEtang, 2009, cited in Sports Public Relations and Communications, p. 166). Within organisations, public relations is involved in the management of corporate culture. A careful distinction

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should be drawn between the notion practice of corporate culture and organisational culture. Public relations is involved in intercultural communications between different organisations, media and international publics located in various countries. The concept of culture is of central importance to the operation of public relations practice. Culture in Sports: Each different sport has its own culture arising from its history, practices, values, etc. Thus, cultures of no two sports are alike. For example, the rugby culture and cricket culture are different to each other. Sport is also a sub-culture or micro-culture element of national, ethnic and organisational cultures. National leaders use sport to enhance national identity and to endeavour to unify national culture. Organisations, both public and private sector, also utilize sports as a form of public relations to enhance employee relations. And since sports reflects many of the dominant cultures features, current issues and debates will also be mirrored in sport, some of which may require public relations management. Cross-cultural communication: Gudykunst and Mody, (2002, p. ix cited in Sports Public Relations and Communications, p. 169) say

Cross-cultural communication is the comparison of face-to-face communication across cultures...and grew out of cultural anthropological studies of communication processes in different cultures.
Cross cultural communication is a specific form of anthropology that explores how specific cultural environments influence communication. Cross cultural communication needs to be separated out from some other similar terms like international communication, intercultural communication and development communication. A cross cultural communications approach to sport public relations requires us to understand political,
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economic and social history and international relations which frame the emergence of sport in different cultural contexts. Bramam, (2002 cited in Sports Public Relations and Communications, p. 170) believes that International communication describes communications, which arise as a part of international politics, state diplomacy and public diplomacy a feature of international relations. In other words, sports may be used by political ends, to boost a nations pride and confidence and also to enhance the national identity and unify the country to a common cause. International organisations or movements may also seek to communicate their messages through sport. One example of this has been the second Sports and Peach Conference held in December 2008 in Monaco, which, according to Kevin Roberts (Editor of Sport Business International) was life affirming, gut-wrenchingly frustrating and hugely moving. Corporations may use sport as a means of corporate diplomacy, as a way of enhancing relationships with external groups in areas of strategic business or marketing interest. Both public diplomacy and corporate diplomacy are terms which describe a strategic form of public relations where public relations actions is driven by management policy to prioritize reputation management and embark of hearts and minds campaigns.

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The business of sport and cross cultural communication:

Sport is a massive international business that sells sports events, products and services to sponsors, media and advertisers. Public relations is often seen as a part of marketing and integrated communications, but has an acknowledged role in the activation of sport sponsorship, in corporate hospitality and luxury PR, in celebrity media relations in even managements, corporate social responsibility and in media relations and promotional publicity (LEtang, 2009 cited in Sports Public Relations and Communications, p. 176). Sport PR has not yet reached its potential and is still limited in amny cases to the tactical technical level. Globalisation of the sport business also requires sensitivity in terms of local markets and the requirements to think global, act local. Long term strategic public relations has a considerable role to play in developing and enhancing business relationships well in advance of any propositions. To practice public relations in sport business requires a close knowledge of sport business and international business and not just of sport.

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Media and sports communication:

A challenge for public relations practitioners operating internationally is that media structures, ownerships, regulation and control, editorial freedom, gate keeping practices and source-media relations and practices vary across cultures. It is for this reason that effective intercultural communication draws on the combination of global resources and local knowledge, which has led to the mantra of think global, act local. Cross cultural variance in media practices depends upon political systems, levels of economic development, the legal system, the extent of activism or single-issue public relations activity. Digital TV and online coverage had widened the opportunities to view and download coverage, at least for those in developed nations. Sport media is a big international business and is driven by commercial imperatives and profits. International media are also crucial in the portrayal of different nations with developing countries being presented less favourably. In sport, international communication is instigated by international sport organisations but is realised through the global sport media market. New Communication Media for Sport: There has been an evolution of media in the context of Public Relations and Communications in sport over the last 20 years. The internet has created an entirely new communication alternative and accelerated the communications process drastically. It is a new platform for disseminating and accessing information in the blink of the eye. Most sport organisations now have an internet presence and maintain websites for variety of purposes. (Stoldt et al., 2006, p. 222)
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The media and SPRC connection: The role of SPRC is being more and more recognised as a major element in the overall strategy of sport organisations (Hopwood, 2007a cited in Sports Public Relations and Communications, p. 188). For many years, SPRC has traditionally been seen as a function limited to ensuring that the organisation gets favourable coverage in the press and television media and is the main reactive function when any crisis occurs between the sporting organisation and the publics. The SPRC function has been established very much as the public face of the organisation, and a first port of call for the media. The media have been cultivated and managed so that news about the organisation should be published, and the most favourable opinion created and maintained, thus playing a critical role in maintaining the symbiotic relationship between sport and public media that has now, lasted for over a century. Further, we look at the impact the internet has had on sports marketing with a specific reference to the SPRC role. The internet has become an increasingly important link between sport organisations and their constituencies. As a communication medium, it is only logical that the internet has potential as an important tool for public relations. The internets capacities make it a valuable asset for various public relations practitioners and they attempt to establish and maintain relationships with their publics. From the specialist PR view, the benefits of the internet are: Global reach Direct communication between organisations Greater interactivity and feedback Opportunities of interaction between real world and virtual world Lower cost of communication
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24/7 availability Speed of information provision and change Adaptability and customisability for different sectors of the market

From the sports marketing perspective, websites could be positioned to support: Product information and key messages Sport promotion Capturing customer information Database marketing Support of transactions and commerce such as tickets and merchandise sales Direct advertising Sponsor sales and relationships Market survey Cost reduction of marketing activities Customer service

Importance of social media: (Scott, 2007; Solis, 2008 cited in Sports Public Relations and Communications, p. 201) stated that the future of web 2.0 means the imminent collapse of marketing, PR and even customer service into a single integrated relationship focused communication path with customers. If the premise behind the growth of social media is that marketing can no longer be divided into functional areas of expertise, then the impact of SPRC management and practice will be profound. The arrival of the new web paradigm may be an opportunity for sport PR managers to utilise expertise and knowledge of how the media is evolving to take a

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leadership role in the development of relationship-based approaches to the stakeholder base for the supporting organisation. Social media demands an understanding of how organisations will interact in a continuing dialogue between themselves and their stakeholders from fans to community to sponsors to internal staff. Expertise in this area will be less concerned with immediate exchange based objectives and more with long term nurturing and development of both the relationships between the organisations and the stakeholder. Deirdre Breakenridge, in her book PR 2.0 summarises what consumers believe they want form social media interactions with organisations: Receive direct unmediated communications Have easy access to information about the products and services on offer Be able to ask questions and get answers about products and services Get quick responses for enquiries Hear a voice form the organisation on issues which affect the organisations wider environment Believe they can trust the people from the organisation Drive and control their communications with the organisations Know how other people feel about the organisations products and services Interact with people who have same viewpoints Easily access and share information Discuss viewpoints and interests on a number of issues Create information and content within an open forum

The one thing that has changed about the sport marketplace is the rise of the youth which has grown up without experience of traditional TV and press dependence for sport.

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The 13-24 generation spend over 50% of their internet time on user-generated content sites while it is 35% for 25-41 generation and 27% for the 42-60 generation (GET FIGURES CHEKCED AS PER 2010 OR 2011). For sport this is both, an opportunity and a treat. The sport that manages to master social media to build and sustain relationships with their target audience will be better placed to enjoy the trust built up with that community. They will also be at the forefront of interpreting user needs and requirements as they change over time. Developing communication with the customers and stakeholders in the social media world has operational benefits over traditional media it is the preferred way for target customers to interact with the sport and it can be a far lower cost and wider reach medium that traditional promotional alternatives. This is true for sport organisations which do not enjoy major television coverage, or who are trying to reach out to the community at large to promote and develop sport participation. In these cases bloggers become journalists. An additional factor is that sponsor brands are far more advanced in the use of social media as they develop strategies for engaging competitively in the marketplace against other brands and seek to build up new and loyal brand value. SPRC and Social Media: The new media available to sport organisations provides a challenge and opportunity to harness and new mode of communication through a more direct and participative approach to building relationships. This does not mean that new media will replace traditional media. It just means that the ethos of social media will get integrated into how communications and interactions with stakeholders will take place in the future. For the sport organisations, the likely benefits of adapting to social media are: More direct interaction with fans and stakeholders Greater information on key issues faced by their audience
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Ability to gain knowledge about stakeholder base Ability to reach to people over a wider reach Ability to develop a fan following and fan loyalty Ability to link organisation and its massages to other websites Ability to generate greater coverage and awareness Allows organisation to consider differentiated and a more direct approach

Fake IPL player: For example, on 18th April 2009, the same time as the second season of the Indian Premier League, a blog was created named The Fake IPL Player. Originally, the blog was anonymous and the blogger claimed to be a member of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), a team in the IPL. The blogger would put write scandalous incidents about the players; he had nicknames for all the players and would usually try and portray the other teams in bad light. His posts were so realistic that it made the public believe that it was actually a member (player or staff) of the KKR group. This blog worsened the situation for KKR who was already having a bad season for 2 years. This blog gave rise to many problems within the team. The then coach of KKR, John Buchanan, under whose guidance Australia maintained its No. 1 rank for 10 consecutive years in world cricket, was accused of racism with the team members. Two of KKRs players were sent home mid way through the tournament which made the public wonder if they were the bloggers. The team was rumoured to have banned the use of laptops for any members. The blogger constantly kept blogging about all the incidences regularly. This was a huge PR and media crisis for the KKR PR team. This is one incident the KKR PR team will never forget. (Anonymous, 2010)

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Bibliography:
1. Fake IPL Player (2009) April 2009 April 2011 [Internet blog] Available from: <http://www.fakeiplplayer.com/> [Accessed on 11th May 2011) 2. Ferrand, A. and McCarthy, S. (2009) Marketing the Sports Organisation: Building networks and relationships. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 3. Hopwood, M. et al. (2010) Sports Public Relations and Communications. Elsevier Ltd. 4. Indian Premier League (2011) [Internet].. Available from: <http://www.iplt20.com/> [Accessed on 12th May 2011] 5. Leeds Metropolitan University (2006) Policy, framework principles and procedures for research ethics [Internet], Available from: <http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/research/PublishedPolicyFramework(res_Ethics).doc > [Accessed 13th May 2011]. 6. Stoldt, G. et al. (2006) Sport Public Relations: Managling Organisational Communication. Human Kinetics. 7. The Idol of Sports. (2010) [Online Image]. Available from: http://9u4rd14n4n93ls.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html [Accessed on 13th May 2011) 8. Waingankar, M. (2009). In a Hell called Kolkata Knight Riders. Open The Magazine. [Internet] 3rd May 2009. Available from: <http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/sports/in-a-hell-called-kolkataknight-riders> [Accessed on 13th May 2011)

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