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 [...]

In the most recent chapter of Tiger Woods’ public relations saga, the embattled golfer granted interviews Sunday to ESPN and the Golf Channel that were aired simultaneously.
The interviews were arranged by Woods’ new PR representation, Ari Fleischer Sports Communications, and included two unique and (most likely) unprecedented parameters that each network had to agree on in order to receive the tasty media treat.
Woods’ reps insisted that the interview last no longer than five minutes and could not be promoted or announced publicly until one hour prior to airing. The networks, it was reported, were allowed to choose who conducted the interviews [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

As we reach Day 7 of Tigergate – the bizarre early morning car crash Tiger Woods was involved in that was apparently triggered by a domestic dispute – the consensus seems to be that Woods is mishandling the public relations side of the incident.
Both the media and general public perception, to this point, have been very critical of Woods’ reluctance or refusal to address the situation publicly.
And they’re right!
Woods has issued a pair of vague statements on his Web site regarding the incident. The first statement acknowledged the car accident while the next statement, three days later, acknowledged his “transgressions” [...]