In an expected move announced late last week, Michael Jordan and his ownership group, MJ Basketball Holdings LLC, have purchased a controlling interest in the Charlotte Bobcats.

Already a minority owner and the team’s head of basketball operations, Jordan bought out current owner Robert L. Johnson to take total control of the financially struggling franchise (pending league approval).

Since the team’s inception in 2004, the Bobcats have struggled mightily to put fans in the seats and turn a profit. The organization has ranked near the bottom of the league in attendance each of its five seasons and has never come close to posting a .500 record (although they have a shot this year).

Desperate for a strong boost in their marketing and promotional efforts, the Bobcats will receive a gift from the basketball gods when MJ takes full control of the reigns.

Jordan, of course, is not only one of the greatest NBA players of all time but is the single greatest marketing machine in the history of sports. Period.

No athlete has ever been marketed and promoted more successfully or has reached a higher level in sports advertising and sponsorship than “Air Jordan”.

Simply put, Michael Jordan revolutionized the world of sports marketing. The whole thing changed when he came onto the scene.

So what an incredible opportunity for Jordan, whose name still carries the awe-inspiring power and prestige it had during his playing days, to use his influence and invoke some much needed buzz into the floundering franchise.

It seems like a logical and necessary PR move by the team, right? Don’t be so sure it’s going to happen.

Since his “final” retirement from the NBA as a player in 2003, Jordan has maintained a relatively low public profile.

After his dismissal as Director of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards, Jordan has devoted the majority of his time to charitable engagements, celebrity golf events, his clothing line and, oddly, a motorcycle road racing team.

Even when he joined the Bobcats’ front office staff in 2006, Jordan stayed out of the limelight and remained behind the scenes with virtually no public presence – you can’t even find his name or face on the team’s web site.

Of course Jordan has the right to remain as anonymous and inconspicuous as he wants. And maybe as a minority partner of the Bobcats he preferred to focus on just the basketball operations and stay away from the team’s marketing and PR.

But now as the sole owner of the franchise it would be an absolute travesty for Jordan not to step out from the shadows and use his name and face to promote the team and dramatically turn the organization around.

Of course Jordan will focus on the basketball side of things. There’s no more effective way to put fans in the seats and drum up interest and publicity than winning.

But there’s more to running a sports franchise than just the performance of your team, especially in today’s pro sports world. Marketing, advertising and PR are vital to promoting your product and generating revenue.

By stepping into the role of team owner Jordan has to be prepared to meet with fans, do commercials and be extremely accessible to the media.

Bascially, get involved on a public level.

Think about how awesome it would be if you’re a sports fan, living somewhere in the Charlotte metropolitan area, and your phone rings one night with Michael Jordan on the line asking you to become a season ticket holder with the Bobcats.

Who’s going to say no to His Airness?

Michael Jordan has been an enigma since his playing days ended close to 10 years ago. Jordan has certainly earned the right to do what he pleases and doesn’t owe the sports world a thing.

But the news of his purchase has launched Jordan back onto the national sports scene…and he knew that would happen.

So let’s hope he does the right thing and allows himself to become a major part of the Bobcats marketing and PR efforts and, as a result, return to the sports world where he is sorely missed.

The two weeks every two years that the Winter and Summer Olympic Games, respectively, takes place is an exciting time for the world of sports. Along with the world-class athletic competition we generally don’t get to see otherwise there are always a couple of unknown athletes who breakthrough and become well-known media stars (Lindsey Vonn, Bode Miller, Hannah Teter, Apolo Ohno, Angela Ruggiero to name a few).

But there’s also always an extra buzz in the sports public relations industry because the Olympics offer a very unique opportunity to generate major publicity and brand recognition for your client or product. Unlike the other major sporting events (like the Super Bowl), the Olympics are a two-week international event that offers an extended time frame to develop and execute a campaign that reaches a world-wide audience.

Usually we see some smart and creative PR minds leverage the Olympics to garner strong media coverage and brand recognition for a client or product. A strong PR campaign can align your client with all that’s special and wonderful about the Olympic Games (Coca-Cola, Visa, Samsung, Proctor & Gamble, etc.).

But for the XXI Olympic Winter Games, that kicked off this past Friday in Vancouver, British Columbia, a brilliant PR effort was launched a few months prior to the start that’s generating unprecedented media coverage for both the product and the sport.

They’re both leveraging each other!

The Colbert Report is a satirical late night television program hosted by pseudo political commentator Stephen Colbert that’s aired on Comedy Central.

During a show in earlier November, Colbert, along with speedskating legend Dan Jansen, current U.S. Speedskater Katherine Reutter and U.S. Speedskating executive director Robert Crowley, announced that “Colbert Nation” is stepping in as primary sponsor for U.S. Speedskating.

The team’s previous sponsor, the Dutch bank DSB, went bankrupt and could not contribute the necessary $300,000 to finance the team for the 2010 Winter Games.

So Colbert promised to raise the money via an online pledge drive (click here) for his viewers and fans. The drive has already reached the $300,000 goal and counting.

Since the historic announcement The Colbert Report and U.S. Speedskating has been all over the media including the cover story for the Dec. 21 issue of Sports Illustrated (the cover appearance alone is worth millions of dollars in PR exposure).

The PR campaign has also, inadvertently, brought American speedskater Shani Davis into the public eye when the introverted star told the media he thought Colbert was “a jerk”.

Colbert turned the comment around and had some fun with it, challenging Davis to a race.

Davis wised up and got on board by racing Colbert at the team’s Olympic training site in Salt Lake City for a hilarious segment that aired on a show in December. The race and subsequent show segment earned Davis and U.S. Speedskating additional PR exposure. Without Colbert, Davis would never of had that chance (and vise versa).

Colbert has even parlayed the partnership with U.S. Speedskating into a media credential for himself. Dick Ebersol, NBC Universal’s Chairman of Sports and Olympics, went on Colbert’s show and offered him the elusive media accesses to the Games with an on-air invitation. So now Colbert can stretch his media and PR coverage for his show and the U.S. Speedskating team even further.

The Colbert-U.S. Speedskating PR effort should serve as a terrific example and reminder to sports PR executives (including myself) that there are limitless avenues to utilize when developing a campaign.

When you think about how brilliant the Colbert-U.S. Speedskating campaign is you can’t help but wonder why nobody has done something like it before.

Then again, you could say that about most great ideas.

One of the most effective ways sports organizations or pro athletes can promote themselves is through community relations. Donating time, money, resources or other types of assistance to worth-while causes can garner significant media coverage and improve your overall brand and image to sponsors, fans, customers, clients, etc.

But the approach and manner taken in aligning yourself with an important cause can be tricky. Any hint of insincerity in your motives can backfire PR-wise and cause severe damage to your brand.

A community relations or charitable program by a sports entity must be designed so that its sole purpose appears to be only assisting the people in need. Any positive PR gained from the program should only seem as an accidental by-product of the nice gesture.

Wasserman Media Group, a major sports and entertainment agency based in Los Angeles, CA, recently launched an outstanding PR plan, focusing on community relations, when it partnered with the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (click here) to help raise money for the earthquake victims in Haiti.

Wasserman announced that for the rest of the season each of the 47 NBA players it represents will contribute either an x-amount of money for every point they score or a one-time large donation, promising a minimum of $500,000 in dontations.

The initiative was officially announced last Friday (January 22) by President Bill Clinton during an interview that was braodcasted live to the arena and on ESPN at halftime of a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.

I don’t think you can deliver a more powerful PR punch than having a U.S. President announce to a huge crowd in the world’s most famous arena, and also aired live on the world’s biggest sports network, that you and your clients are doing a wonderful thing for people in need.

The exposure from that five-minute interview and subsequent media coverage is worth 10 times whatever amount of money that’s eventually donated.

Not only does Wasserman’s PR plan polish and strengthen its image in the sports industry but it also generates a ton of positive media coverage for its NBA clients.

This is not to suggest that Wasserman has no interest in helping the people of Haiti. Any money or assistance raised and delivered to the earthquake victims is a wonderful gesture for an extremely important cause.

But Wasserman was brilliant in recognizing the unprecedented trend of people wanting to help the victims and seized an opportunity to raise awareness of its agency and clients.

Wasserman capitalized in a respectful and professional mannor and it’ll payoff tenfold.

Wasserman Media Group basketball players donating monies per points scored include:

Antawn Jamison – Washington Wizards
Derrick Rose – Chicago Bulls
Joe Johnson – Atlanta Hawks
Kendrick Perkins – Boston Celtics
Mike Dunleavy Jr – Indiana Pacers
Mike Miller – Washington Wizards
Pau Gasol – Los Angeles Lakers
Russell Westbrook – Oklahoma City Thunder
Spencer Hawes – Sacramento Kings
Tyreke Evans – Sacramento Kings

Wasserman Media Group clients participating in the donation efforts with generous contributions include:

Ben Wallace – Detroit Pistons
Brandon Roy – Portland Trail Blazers
Brian Scalabrine – Boston Celtics
Brook Lopez – New Jersey Nets
Dan Gadzuric – Milwaukee Bucks
Danilo Gallinari – New York Knicks
DeAndre Jordan – Los Angeles Clippers
DJ Augustin – Charlotte Bobcats
Dorell Wright – Miami Heat
Etan Thomas – Oklahoma City Thunder
Gerald Henderson – Charlotte Bobcats
Ike Diogu – New Orleans Hornets
Jamaal Magloire – Miami Heat
James Johnson – Chicago Bulls
Jarron Collins – Phoenix Suns
Jason Collins – Atlanta Hawks
Jason Kapono – Philadelphia 76ers
Jason Williams – Orlando Magic
JaVale McGee – Washington Wizards
Jermaine O’Neal – Miami Heat
JJ Redick – Orlando Magic
Jon Brockman – Sacramento Kings
Jordan Farmar – Los Angeles Lakers
Josh McRoberts – Indiana Pacers
JR Smith – Denver Nuggets
LaMarcus Aldridge – Portland Trail Blazers
Martell Webster – Portland Trail Blazers
Nathan Jawai – Minnesota Timberwolves
Robin Lopez – Phoenix Suns
Ryan Gomes – Minnesota Timberwolves
Sean May – Sacramento Kings
Sergio Rodriguez – Sacramento Kings
Shelden Williams – Boston Celtics
Tim Thomas – Dallas Mavericks
TJ Ford – Indiana Pacers
Tracy McGrady – Houston Rockets
Wayne Ellington – Minnesota Timberwolves

* List courtesy of SportsFeatures.com (click here)

One of the most difficult tasks as a sports public relations practitioner today is convincing professional athletes that they need someone to manage their PR and publicity-related interests. The same way a pro athlete may retain a lawyer, an accountant, an agent, a trainer or a business manager; today’s emerging technology has altered the sports industry to the point where athletes must have an expert, working on their behalf, monitoring the media and overseeing how their name and image is being presented to the public.

There are, of course, different levels of celebrity that pro athletes reach. But from the mega superstar ranks of LeBron James and Tigers Woods all the way down to third-string rookies on last place MLS and WNBA teams, all pro athletes, whether they’re aware or not, are fair game and potential fodder for the thousands of media outlets (much of them sleaze media) competing for salacious content.

And the list of those outlets gunning for athletes continues to grow as it was reported earlier this week that TMZ, the entertainment and gossip Web site and television show, has purchased the domain name TMZSports.com and will be launching a sports-specific site in the near future.

TMZSports.com will not be the first (or last) Web site or media outlet dedicated to embarrassing athletes. But if the new Web site is anything like its parent site, TMZSports.com will be more relentless in capturing revealing and humiliating videos, pictures and stories of athletes than all other media sources before it.

Since its launch on the Web in 2005 and TV airwaves in 2007, TMZ has been the leader in tracking and breaking news about celebrity deaths, arrests, break ups, divorces, lawsuits, fights and just about everything else that’s personal and private in the lives of famous people.

And now that the paparazzi-style media giant is creating a special division to focus specifically on sports, pro and possibly amateur athletes, of all levels, will become even bigger targets of media attacks. TMZ is not going to create a sports spinoff and not find the necessary content.

And not only are more and more media outlets dedicated to proactively “sniffing out” celebrity and athlete scandals but these outlets are drastically extending the shelf life of the stories.

It’s not enough to report the initial news and facts of, say, a DWI arrest or a compromising photo. These outlets post daily updates on any story and dig up the smallest bits of information in order to fill space and provide as much content as possible.

So for those athletes who feel they don’t need a PR rep or that their agent or manager can handle their PR needs…beware. Wise up and secure a PR expert to monitor, anticipate and spin any negative publicity that may lurking around the corner.

As there appears to be little doubt among sports media and public relations experts that Tiger Woods’ silence has increased the already severe damage to his name and reputation, his sponsors seem to be split on whether to continue its support of the world’s most well-known athlete or to cut ties and hide.

Of Woods’ major endorsement deals to this point:
• Accenture has flat out dropped him
• Gillette, TAG Heuer and Gatorade have suspended its ads and stated they are reevaluating the relationship
• Nike and EA Sports has stated it is standing by him

So with such different reactions by the large corporate names, it poses the question: “What’s the right move? How should a Tiger Woods sponsor, or any sponsor in a similar situation, now react?”

As a corporation, deciding which athlete or celebrity to endorse your brand name is a lot like investing in a stock – You do the necessary research, invest the appropriate amount of money and hope for the maximum ROI (return on investment).

Sometimes the investment pays off and your spokesperson delivers big returns over a long period of time. While other times your spokesperson’s athletic performance declines or their personal life suffers a scandal, and your brand name gets hurt.

For almost 15 years Tiger Woods has been the IBM of celebrity endorsers. Since his professional debut in 1996, Woods has served as the premier name in celebrity endorsements – both nationally and internationally – generating billions of dollars for his corporate partners.

But with the recent scandal in his personal life, any brand connected to Woods has to take a strong look at its investment and decide if it should “ride out” the storm or “dump it” and cut its losses.

Just like a stock, there’s always a chance Woods can rebound and return his image to a remunerative level.

Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault scandal in 2003 sent sponsors running for the hills, knocking each other over in order to dump the Los Angeles Lakes superstar.

But remarkably, over time, Bryant has regained his status as a bankable athlete pitchman. Bryant has maintained, even raised, his level of play since the incident and the embarrassing episode is all but forgotten.

So maybe Woods will recover as well.

Or maybe not.

The scandal is still only a few weeks old so nobody really knows for sure how Woods will ultimately emerge once all the dust settles. But as the story gets seedier by the day and Woods continues to refuse implementation of any crisis management or basic public relations action, his image is sinking faster than stock in Enron.

The safest move for any corporate brand is to sever ties and no longer allow Tiger Woods to be involved with its image. When in doubt you error on the side of caution. A corporation’s brand and image is too important to gamble on a person who’s obviously led a reckless life.

But just deciding to drop Woods is not enough. The manner in which you do so must be handled carefully and professionally or you’ll end up with a public relations fiasco of your own.

Accenture, the global management consulting and outsourcing company, almost immediately reacted to the Woods’ scandal. The company announced it was ending its six-year relationship with him and quickly removed all images and mentions of Woods in its marketing and promotional materials.

By denouncing the golfer and acting swiftly Accenture garnered hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of dollars of positive publicity and strengthened its brand and image.

The one brand, however, that may want to stick with Woods is Nike. The undisputed leader in the sportswear and sports equipment industry has aligned itself with Woods since he turned pro. Nike has been, by far, the most recognizable corporate name associated with Woods.

The two have been wrapped together in the public eye for so long that the image of Tiger Woods sinking a thrilling putt is practically synonymous with the Nike Swoosh. With such a strong commitment and brand recognition, Nike will be associated with Woods in most people’s minds regardless of whether its sticks with him or not.

So Nike might as well support the embattled golfer and stay with him for the long haul. Although it would be wise for Nike to subtly and quietly curb any advertising or marketing which features Woods for the time being.