PR Damage Looms for NCAA If It Doesn’t Act Now

One of the most popular sporting events in the United States is March Madness, the annual NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.

Since the mid 1980’s, when the tournament expanded to include 64 teams, March Madness has jumped into the same class as the Super Bowl, World Series, Daytona 500 and the Masters as, arguably, one of the top five American sporting event.

So when rumors began to surface recently that the NCAA is considering expanding the tournament to 96 teams, thus tinkering with the enormously successful formula that’s made March Madness so beloved, a reaction of anger and extreme disapproval from most fans and media has surfaced – making it clear that the masses do want their tournament messed with.

But despite fan and media opinion, the NCAA will, most likely, take a proven and successful product and alter it in order to generate more revenue. That’s just a fact of life in big business.

So along with an extra couple of hundred million dollars, the NCAA’s decision will result in anger and dismay from fans and heavy criticism by the media.

Aware of the rapidly growing negative reaction, the NCAA has already begun a spin campaign to neutralize some of the backlash.

Jim Isch, the NCAA’s interim president, made himself available for a cushy interview with CBS analyst Seth Davis to discuss the impending tournament expansion.

The interview, aired a few hours before the first game of the Final Fouron Saturday, was a softball-style Q&A session where Isch was able to fire off a host of public relations messaging points without any challenge or follow up from Davis – which makes sense since both the NCAA and CBS will profit from the tournament expansion.

The interview was a good start for the NCAA. But the organization must continue to build its PR campaign in order to ease the transition of the new tournament format.

It’s very wise for the NCAA to lay some PR groundwork before the official announcement, softening up the fans and educating the media on the “positives and benefits” of the expansion.

The NCAA should also encourage its bigger name coaches to speak out in favor of the expansion to develop some stronger credibility for the change (which we’ve already seen from Florida’s Billy Donovan and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim).

The NCAA will want to keep an open dialogue with media and fans about the expansion. The plan should not just be: Make the announcement; endure the criticism; move on.

However, an important part of its PR strategy should also include avoiding awkward exchanges with the media, like the one that occurred earlier this week.

During a press conference at the site of the Final Four in Indianapolis, Washington Post columnist John Feinstein peppered Greg Shaheen, NCAA senior vice president of basketball and business strategies, with questions about the expansion and how the longer schedule will affect the student-athletes’ class schedule.

It was clear during the exchange that Shaheen was not prepared to address that specific issue and, as a result, may have hurt some the NCAA’s credibility and image with regards to the expansion.

It’s absolutely essential that the NCAA media trains its executives and spokespeople to properly communicate important messaging points and avoid embarrassing mistakes with media.  

There’s no way the NCAA can avoid enduring some degree of negative publicity and bruising to its image by expanding the tournament. But by integrating a solid PR campaign through careful planning and strategy, the NCAA can take control and significanly reduce the damage.