Training athletes to be media savvy
A staff writer at The Times-Picayune, James Gill, noted that Ari Fleischer is making the rounds to every NFL team as part of the NFL’s requirement for pre-season PR classes for its players. For those who don’t know, Fleischer was George W. Bush’s first White House press secretary where he had a mixture of good and bad moments. Gill finds it amusing that Fleischer advocates telling the truth when he didn’t really live that out in his post in the White House.
Anyways, the point I want to talk about is the media training of sports athletes. Fleischer started his own sports communications firm and now spends his time training sports athletes and executives on how to effectively deal with the media. After spending a year in a PR department for a professional sports team and then the past summer at a PR agency with media training specialists, I definitely see the value in media training.
PR agencies frequently train CEOs and other top executives at a various sized firms with the same purpose in mind. The goal is to be able to be interviewed by a print, radio, or TV reporter and effectively answer their questions while getting your message(s) out. Honesty is always emphasized in these trainings.
To be honest, I don’t know how many teams have PR training sessions with their athletes. Personally, I think it should be a requirement. It’s not that many athletes stray from the basic cliches following a practice or game, but when something unexpected comes up this training can help guide an athlete. In a time of crisis, there may not be enough time for the PR staff to remind the player(s) which statements need to be avoided or which answers they can’t answer (ex. the player or team could be fined for certain remarks).
The benefits of, say, a media-savvy offensive line may not be immediately obvious, but NFL owners seldom take an initiative without a financial motive. Loose-lipped players can stir controversy and tarnish the image of one of the greatest money-making machines in the country. Owners are not here to play games.
As a fan, I want to see a player’s personality shine through in an interview and the consequential article. I love seeing players say something outside of the importance of executing their game plan or the need to stay focused. And I’m not saying that media training should strip a player of their chance to show some personality. I just think it’s an important investment for teams to make sure that their players know which topics can be approached, which areas they need to avoid, and why all of this is important to them. Not only could the team be hurt by a poor statement, but the player could lose potential endorsements and other opportunities.
For that reason, PR classes for athletes can also help them with any potential image problems that could arise for the team or league. Imagine if someone had advised Michael Vick of the negative hit his image would take if people were to learn of his involvement with dog fighting just as Vick started dabbling in that “sport.” I don’t think some athletes realize how much their extracurricular activities can affect the player’s own bottom line and these PR classes could try to raise an athlete’s awareness of this critical issue.
Additionally, I think media training for athletes would be particularly beneficial to leagues like the NHL with such an international involvement. I always feel awful for the foreign-born players who barely know English and struggle to make it through an interview with the media. Appropriate training (and even an English tutor) could make these high-class athletes more comfortable with dealing with reporters and reduce stress they may have about these kinds of interactions.
Case in point, Sidney Crosby versus Alexander Ovechkin during their rookie seasons in the NHL.
On paper, the battle was close — Ovechkin edged Crosby in points (106 to 102) and goals (52 to 39) last season – but off the ice and under the intense glare of the media spotlight, Crosby was miles ahead. Ovechkin never looks quite comfortable with the press because, as he admitted in September on TSN’s Off The Record, “my English no good.” Crosby, on the other hand, has become quite media savvy during his young career. Richer says that Crosby has had media training that “probably made him a lot more comfortable” when surrounded by the press.
I remember reading or hearing somewhere that the Washington Capitals, the team Ovechkin plays for, did hire an English tutor and engage the Russian in some media training. Perhaps, it wasn’t until after the first season when it was evident that the Caps were missing out on media opportunities because their star wasn’t comfortable with the language. Nowadays, Ovechkin shines in the media spotlight as his personality certainly shines through and I always seem to read quotes of his filled with humor and spunk. According to an article in the Toronto Star, Ovechkin’s struggle with English hurt him in obtaining endorsements like his rival Crosby. But now that he is much more comfortable with English and he was the league’s MVP this past regular season, he is “poised to break into the endorsement business.” Ovechkin can act as a case study for how media training can make a positive impact on an athlete’s career.