Crisis in Sports:
Boston College Today
but Who's Next?

"Gambling Scandal Rocks Boston College." It sure has. USA Today has it splashed on the front page. The scandal also became an extensive sports section cover story with a follow-up historical perspective of college gambling scandals. In addition, it was referred to again again in another sports article entitled, "Schools No Longer Wait for NCAA to Make Move." There it was linked to a UCLA scandal which has cost a basketball coach his job and subsequently thrust the university under an ugly media spotlight and a costly legal battle between itself and the dismissed.

My rule of thumb guidance to clients in crisis is "go for the quick bleed not the slow hemorrhage." As traumatic as that is to lay your sins (or suspected sins) in front of the world, an institution greatly increases its chance of survival and reduces long term negative effects as a result.

Both institutions are bleeding profusely today, however, they most likely will survive. Whether they will follow my next two rules of thumb remains up in the air. Will they: 2. do a thorough debriefing identifying "lessons learned" and if they don't already have one, create a crisis management plan (document) that will carry those lessons beyond the obvious and beyond the memories of the current generation of administrators. If they do, they'll be doing what an institution of higher learning and contemporary businesses should do, and they'll be much stronger for it. 3. will they institute consistent, well thought out "Issues Management" within their organizations as a crisis prevention tool.

For those not prone to breaking down a situation for criteria and crisis potential look at the following components of the BC situation. Each contributes to the magnitude and impact of the crisis.

• the large number of players involved
• the size of the bets (up to $1,000.)
• the bets were made with bookies , not a friendly wager among student friends
• BC's history of gambling and game fixing
• the NCAA's strong focus on gambling and costly policies already set
• the institution's cultivated image as a Jesuit, Catholic institution presumably holding it to a higher level of accountability than other institutions
• potential for extreme media spotlight due to the school, the major media market it's in and even when it happened, before their biggest game of the year-Notre Dame.

In terms of response, BC acted swiftly, initiated its own investigation and in fact, called in the District Attorney's office which goes beyond the normal scope of a response giving it even higher credibility, and it goes on and on.

Frankly though, BC is certainly not alone in it's travails. The other day the University of Rhode Island's President was quoted as saying, "If you're an administrator, no good crisis should be avoided. It's a chance to teach." That was his public response to a crisis recently facing his athletic department and having a significant impact on another. The college President said that, not the athletic director which communicates an obvious message. The crisis he referred to effected the entire school, not just the athletic department or specific team involved. He was the lead spokesperson which in itself spoke volumes about the perceived problem internally and externally. It was a true crisis, was costly and seemed to be handled with speed, confidence and competence.

Curiously enough, another Division 1A athletic department took a proactive stance recently by conducting an crisis desktop drill. The crisis they focused on was more than the scandal du jour, it claimed lives and threatened others. According to the associate AD, "it (the exercise) opened my eyes to the issues an institution may be faced with during a crisis. Like many organizations, although we've often thought about how we would react, we've never taken the time to formulate a true crisis management plan. Now it's one of our goals."

It has been five years since Magic Johnson announced, in a dramatic news conference, that he was HIV-positive. That day catapulted the business of sports into the same kind of crisis that corporations typically face.

On the back of that announcement and its ramifications, I introduced the concept of formal Crisis Management into my sports business. For years, I had been helping major corporations become stronger through strategic thinking and a planning process focused on crises. It required executives to anticipate and respond to crises and potential crises in a more systematic, thoughtful and deliberate manner. Ultimately, it enabled their organizations to respond faster, better, with greater confidence and even reduced liability.

It has been slow catching on within the sports world. Not because there's less at stake in human and financial resources for sports organizations versus traditional business and industry but for other reasons. The responses I heard and still hear: "that's them, not us" and "We deal with crises everyday! There's no time to create a formal document, policies, procedures, etc. Nobody would follow it anyway".

Since then, we've conducted two national Crisis Surveys to help gauge the readiness of organizations and areas that needed shoring up. They were also meant to prompt what I call, "Vigilant Thinking" in athletic executives.

So many things are drastically changing in society in general and sports specifically. The cost of crises has risen dramatically in time, money and human elements. In addition, the public scrutiny is rising in stifling proportions. Being prepared for crisis today is as basic in business today as labor, capital and cost containment; in athletics, the same holds true.

Kathleen Hessert
President

Sports Media Challenge