The Sports Industry's
"Albertross"

Forecasting the potential impact of any scandal is dangerous business. It seems that some indiscretions are more quickly forgiven (or at least forgotten) than others. The world of sports marketing has taken some very direct hits recently. The task of making sports more appealing to a broader audience of future ticket holders and merchandise buyers has become a business as concerned with spin doctoring as it once was with educating potential fans about the games themselves.

Professional sports are aggressively marketed to a greater audience, focusing attention on the previously untapped female population. This year, NFL Properties introduced its first line of women's apparel. We witnessed the emergence of two women's professional basketball leagues and several magazines targeted at female athletes and fans. We will see that as the NFL, NBA and other major sports aggressively go after women as fans and consumers, sports marketers cannot use the same strategies and attitudes that have prevailed in the industry's male-dominated history.

With the recent plea bargain of sportscaster Marv Albert to sexual battery and the too frequent allegations of spousal abuse, rape, sexual misconduct and infidelity rocking the sports world, what impact will it have on the marketability of sports in America? Particularly it's salability to women? "Boys will be boys" probably won't cut it.

I have had the opportunity to speak at length with many women about this issue in the wake of Marv Albert's trial and subsequent plea. Marv Albert's actions, as bizarre as they were, would not, on their own, keep any these women from watching a game Albert was broadcasting or have any lasting effect on their view of athletes. However, as part of a trend, Albert's actions may have been the proverbial straw breaking the camel's back. One woman said, "Sports once represented something sacred, something pure and good. Now, sports are as corrupt as politics." I asked her to elaborate and her disdain went back as far as the day when the Olympics officially became a professional event. Others talked about the "inflated salaries" and seemed concerned that sports figures now feel a sense of entitlement that is very unhealthy.

Sports figures have become mega-stars, often shining brighter than those in Hollywood. Professional sports has recognized its role as part of the entertainment industry, athletes replaced both movie and music idols as the focus of our society's attention and adoration. Sports marketing firms and professional leagues are beginning to recognize the potential of women as fans. Since the earning power of women is at an all-time high and the world of sports would love to take advantage of it.

Will society, particularly American women, continue to forgive sports figures their indiscretions? Can marketing firms forever spin each new allegation into a harmless case of misunderstanding and mistaken identity? How many Jose Mesas, Michael Irvings, Mike Tysons or Marv Alberts will it take to alienate a segment of the population critical to the sports industry's continued success and growth? We may soon find out.