We are certainly in a time when the voice of the athlete, and the ability for an athlete to use his or her platform as a medium to invoke change, has never been louder. With that in mind, can athletes, teams and leagues look to the quieter month of January, and one holiday, to ramp up the noise in 2016? The day would be the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
The NBA does the best job of any sport in using the values that Dr. Martin Luther King espoused and taking the Monday holiday as a platform to showcase those values to a larger audience. Day games, special events in Washington and other cities and a national television audience all have Dr. King’s messages intertwined, with the idea that basketball, and sport, can be a common ground for conflict resolution.
While it is a solid one day or weekend platform, the real win would be for a national governing body, or the USOC, to take that platform and Dr. King’s messages and extend to a full day of service in a quiet January period. Engage athletes who are looking for exposure, especially in an Olympic year, to use MLK Day as the selling point for sport and conflict resolution. Even better would be to have all competing sports on the day…NHL, college sports and the NBA…also work together to have a unified positive platform for peace and sport, and then carry that platform through February, Black History Month. this would give brands an opportunity to engage not just for a day but for at least six weeks in programs, and give casual fans a greater feel for all the good that can come from sport. It is tough for baseball, in the midst of an offseason or MLS or even the NFL to truly engage in January, but the possibility does exist for smaller programs from even those sports.
However to start with the USOC and then spread the MLK message far and wide would be a big step to honor a leader we lost way too early and ramp up messages of hope and unity that ebb and flow with the latest crisis.
Just a thought to start the year.
