What a bitter time for sports. The Tour De France is getting nailed with doping allegations, the NFL is dragged into the Michael Vick dog-fighting case, nobody wants Barry Bonds to break the home-run record and don’t even begin talking about Kobe Bryant.
Scratch that, let’s begin with Kobe and his deal with Nike. With their “swish” of a deal with Michael Jordan it seemed to make sense to executives at Nike that Kobe Bryant, the self-ordained heir to Jordan, would fill his shoes. Get it, his shoes? Moving on. There are some differences between Jordan and Bryant but none became more clear than in June of 2003 when Kobe was charged with sexually assaulting a 19 year old hotel employee in one of the most publicized trials ever. In the end charges were dropped and a civil lawsuit was settled but the image that Nike had hoped to leverage was damaged. In fact, Nike waited 2 and a half years before airing their first commercial for Kobe. Hardly an ideal situation for their $45 million deal.
Major League Baseball doesn’t have it easy either. Leading the charge with how NOT to handle illegal doping allegations, the MLB has a dilemma on its hands with Barry Bonds ready to break the all-time home run record. In fact Bud Selig, the commissioner of MLB, couldn’t even decide on whether or not to support this monumental event because there is so much controversy surrounding Bonds and steroids. Most recently Selig decided to attend Bonds’ games but not necessarily root for him. Corporate America is sitting on the same fence. MasterCard, Inc. gave Barry a walk off of a different kind by breaking off talks for Barry to promote their product because of the steroid allegations.
The NFL? They don’t exactly have a collective group of role models either. What sports fan hasn’t heard something about “Pacman” Jones getting arrested which tally’s six times so far, more than his career total for interceptions (4). Would it surprise you to find out that the latest scandal with Michael Vick has forced Nike to suspend their contract with him? Probably a smart move to try and distance themselves from anyone involved with murdering “underperforming pit bulls by hanging, electrocution or other brutal means”. Allegedly, that is.
The uniquely odd sport of cycling (for American fans, that is) was once the latest craze as all sports fans cheered for Lance Armstrong to dominate like no one had before. Even though Lance himself was repeatedly accused of doping he was never found of any wrong doing. That can’t be said for this years cyclists. Some very high profile athletes, and their teams, were recently kicked out for failing blood tests. Nothing could be more of a flat-tire for the Tour than having the race leader, Rasmussen, kicked out of the race by his own teammates! Ouch! These scandals have T-Mobile and Adidas rethinking their involvement in the Tour De France.
These major sports aren’t alone, how about the millions spent on Michelle Wie who hasn’t won a golf tournament yet? Even NASCAR, with it’s loyal fans, isn’t a guarantee for sponsors. Before spending millions of dollars on multi-year deals companies should re-evaluate whether sport sponsorships really pay off in the long run. If there is some extra money floating around there are probably some hip marketing blogs looking for a little bit of venture capital.
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Brian Wilke · July 30, 2007 at 9:18 am
Add this to your “strangeness” of “professional cycling.” Those “in-the-know” refer to the last placed cyclist as the lanterne rouge… or red latern… essentially bringing up the rear. This is actually a good (yes good) place to be for sponsors… as their name is mentioned the longest, kinda like a back cover to a magazine. This is also why you see breakaway attempts from the peloton. Usually… it is financially motivated… not that they don’t hold out hope to beat the other 180 cyclists… it is to score air time.
Money makes the world and the wheels go round.
Rik · July 30, 2007 at 9:28 am
Unfortunately, it’s not just the athletes who are in trouble. The FBI is investigating allegations that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on basketball games over the past two seasons, including ones in which he officiated. According to a law enforcement official, authorities are examining whether the referee made calls to affect the point spread in games on which he or associates had wagered. Now there are rumors that Mr. Donaghy has a little gambling problem. So bad, in fact, that he sought out professional help — not from a 12-step program — but rather from organized crime figures. Imagine betting on the New York Knicks KNOWING that one of the game’s referrees is in on the jig! Who wouldn’t bet the farm on that kind of action? Finally, let’s not forget the “2006 Tour De Farce” where Floyd Landis, the little-known American cyclist who captivated the nation with his come-from-behind victory in the Tour de France, failed his drug tests that showed suspicious levels of the steroid testosterone. Floyd, say it ain’t so! With all these sports figures in the news, I almost forgot about Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, et al.
cmgollatz · July 31, 2007 at 9:27 am
As a whole of course sponsorships pay off. A bad year maybe but that’s all. Sponsorships wouldn’t exist if they didn’t. Companies don’t have time to mess with stuff that is inefficient.
I’d question who is choosing to contract losers.
CG