Sporting crises :: essays research papers

Sporting crises lay sponsors most valuable assets, their posts, assailable to an associated fallout. How they can minimise its impact?Sport is never far from controversy. Whether it be alcohol-fuelled misbehaviour, allegations of drug abuse or inappropriate public musings on a thorny political issue, the national press is filled to the brim with sports stars drag the image of their employers and the sports they represent through the proverbial mud.Such crises can exact a major knock-on effect on existing sponsorship partners and the potential for attracting newborn income to the sport. The medium has only begun to prove its commercial viability in terms of exceed on investment over the past five years, and some deal that brands are being scared off by the inherent risks of sports sponsorship deals.football is the most obvious sport whose commercial value has been tainted by the actions of its players. While the game still attracts multimillion-pound investment from brands du e to the massive media dapple it enjoys, mevery are questioning the wisdom of their associations in light of a seemingly never-ending stream of negative headlines.The guilt of the player tough in many of these cases can be irrelevant. As one sponsorship perseverance expert says A sports star may be cleared of any wrongdoing following the emergence of a scandal, but would you put him back on the road for your brand? I know I wouldnt.The flip office of any sponsorship deal is the knowledge that the sponsoring organisations most valuable marketing asset, its brand, is undetermined to the risks that are inherent in professional sport. The key issue is the force out of the link between shocks, crises and general bad behaviour of top-profile sports people, and the image and brand equity of sponsors. In short, when the mud flies, does it stick to the brands?According to David Abrahams, senior vice-president of fen Risk Consulting Practice and an expert in brand risk, there is ofte n a demonstrable link between the way in which a crisis is handled by a company and what happens to that business and its associated brand. The way in which any crisis is handled becomes a visible test of management capability, he says. If that crisis arises from a primeval breach of trust or performance, the compound effect of the bad treatment can be devastating.Crisis management The size of the problem faced by sponsors relates closely to an incidents shock value in media terms.