This year there have been many off the field PR issues in the NFL. There was an article on ESPN that was titled: "Cleaning House" that talks about how the NFL is creating new rules and policies to try and promote better off the field role model behavior. The first issue that we all probably heard about was the Ray Rice beating his girlfriend in the elevator. This issue was the big start of the cleaning house issue. Rice was the foreshadowing for the vibe of the season. So how is the NFL suppose to act? Is it the NFL who should be held accountable or the players them selves? I personally feel the NFL should be held accountable because salaries that are offered are so high and there fore I think the expectation.
In a public relation aspect the NFL really has its work cut out for themselves. The first issue is they did not look into the Rice issue before the rest of the media did. This created major back lash on them and really killed the professionalism of the NFL. The other PR back lash was the Raven organization because they first put a statement out saying they supported Rice. After the video of the elevator issue came to main media the Ravens I feel handled the issue the best. The Owner came out with a statement in front of the press in person saying they took responsibility for not looking into the Rice issue further and failed to conduct a proper and professional investigation. He also said the fans deserved better from their football teams and that they will be better. This is what so many PR issuers do not do. The honest way to go was the best they made us as viewers see them as regular people who make mistakes.
http://www.newstribune.com/news/2014/sep/14/press-box-nfl-needs-clean-house/
http://www.baltimoreravens.com/
This is such a touchy issue. Can we really hold the NFL responsible for the poor choices of a player? Sure the players get paid a fortune, but that doesn't really mean that they condone this behavior. I think the most telling thing is how they handle it once it is brought to their attention. I think that domestic violence is an especially hard thing for them to crack down on because if there are no charges pressed, then they are really walking a fine line of meddling in private lives. When Ray and Janae's incident first came to light, there should have been an immediate and serious investigation into his actions to ensure that they have uncovered all the facts. They didn't do that, and are now battling against the fact that they are trying to punish him twice for the same crime. The NFL is cleaning up their mismanagement and trying to save face.
ReplyDeleteI feel this article lets me think of how or what public relations practitioners should do. Like this similar issues happen a lot for professionals. What I have usually seen was that sports team's or sports federation's spokesperson told that they have decided the player not to play several number of games or remained games for one season. When the player who has committed an immoral thing is out of field for a certain period, people usually forget the issue. However, this custom doesn't warn other athletes who would commit immoral things in the future. Thus, public relations practitioners need to think of better strategy for this kind of issues to maintain good reputations, to prevent potential crimes, and to provide good quality of games, attitudes, and entertainment.
ReplyDeleteThis is a giant issue for sure. There are so many players that have got caught lately that it kind of puts the entire league on egg shells. Players have to understand that there are thousands of people that look up to them that are easily influenced. Especially a player as big as Ray Rice likely has many kids that look up to him and beating women should not be expressed to them. As the NFL deals with each situation it’s important to set a standard and stick with it.
ReplyDeleteOf course the NFL's image will be hindered but what can they do to improve it? I think the NFL has done a good job by taking a stance and joining no more.org in an attempt to save face. Now, back to the issue. What if the NFL give lifetime bans? Would that not make players think twice about what they are going to do? I think Ray Rice got off a little light hearted. The next PR issue will involve the team that picks up Ray Rice.
ReplyDeleteRay Rice is our topic for the PR nightmare final and it has been really interesting looking into it in more detail. The fact that the full video from the elevator wasn't released until practically 7 months after the incident is incredible to me and the fact that none of the major players in Ravens Administration even demanded the full video to grasp the whole situation in its severity. The NFL has dropped the ball big time on this issue and honestly I'm glad that Ray Rice filed a grievance and got reinstated. The NFL was incredibly unorganized and the communication was not unified and communicated well.
ReplyDeleteFrom this article, really show me the important of PR team, a good PR team is not just hide the things in the past, but face the issues, and find a way to solve this issue, in order to rebuild the image of organization.
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