Th.growing controversy around the Olympic Torch Relay through Europe, as well as the growing negative sentiment with regard to the Beijing Olympics themselves, seems to be reaching crisis stage as evidenced by front page stories in most of the top 25 newspapers in the United States today (and will grow even more as the relay makes its only stop in the United States…in San Francisco…very soon). Although crisis with regard to Olympic participation effected both the Moscow Olympics (solid book about those gilted Olympians calle.Boycott. Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympics is now out and very relevant by the way) and the Los Angeles Olympics, the convergence of an American election year and the way the media can now cover and report such crisis where politics and sports overlap may be unprecendted.The best piece of “expert” advice on the PR side was featured in today's Toronto Star by industry experts Howard Rubenstein and Ari Fleischer, who offered thei.views to the IOC on next steps. Ironically, while Rubenstein likened the IOC's problems to the Berlin Olympics where Hitler got to showcase Nazi Germany for the world, Fleischer went the other way, showing that sponsors and television partners will have the opportunity to voice the opinion of the public by supporting the athletes outside of the political problems that will continue to fester.Although there really isn’t a “correct” answer to this situation right now as th.IO.worksg to find stability in a very fluid crisis, it will be interesting to monitor the issue and see how brands react or capitalize on the debate.
Also on the Nazi issue, we have Formula One head Max Mosley and th.continued saga of whether or not he should resign following pictures and reports that arose with the head of the largest sports circuit in the world and a number of Nazi-clad prostitutes.?Instead of speaking with one voice an.meeting to determine all actions to keep the sport unified, the heads of Formula One have chosen to delay and drag out the process, which has led to rising protest (as Mosley has said he will not resign) from such diverse groups as the AAA of America and racing legends like Sir Jackie Stewart. Now one can say that the theater this has created is much more damning for an American public that has grown more and more politically correct than it is for a more liberal European core base, and that the theater that has been created by the elongated response has actually RISEN the profile of Formula One (which is much bigger than such a scandal and has shown no signs of sponsor or fan exodus) for non-followers of the sport. However the biggest rule of thumb is that the lack of direction, and concise response, by those at the head of the organization is very troublesome. Whatever the outcome, the distraction this creates for all involved in the circuit, i.the biggest problem. Finding the unified voice should be the biggest goal for the long term.the critical stanc.toward drivers was shown again this week in an International Herald Tribune piece that has the drivers not being able to show their personalities…personalities which are the key for driving fan interest. NASCAR did a nice job of letting the drivers be drivers in addressing a similar situation earlier this year, and hopefully F1 follows suit.?
Back to baseball, where a very unique branding issue with regard to news coverage popped up yesterday with regard to the new Oakland A's stadium. The San Jose Mercury News’ Scott Herhold had a very interesting piece on the History Channel's series of America's great ballparks, which turned into a three minute infomercia.(sponsored by Cisco Systems) on the new ballpark.?The series, which has been outstanding in covering some of the great stadiums in America, took a hit for blurring historical news with the three minute piece, although it was a very organic blend. Nice catch by Herhold, but also a nice try by the History Channel to create mor.ROI for the sponsor.? Lastly, as the Mets open at Shea today, great piece in today's New York Times on Shea Stadium namesake Bill Shea, and the way the Mets will honor his memory even as they move to new CitiField next season.
