Sports, Communication Failures
Kyle Bagin
Risk: World Cup Edition

World soccer’s angst over an unethical World Cup proves the increasing need for global organizations to strategize for a new era of communication crisis.

The start of this week’s World Cup in Qatar—marred by reported human rights abuses that have potentially led to the death of 6,500 workers; the host nation’s restrictions on rights for women and LGBTQ individuals; ongoing strife in participating nation Iran; and more—put a fine point on a dizzying year for the relationship between sports and politics.

Risk: World Cup Edition
Reputation Management, Sports
Kyle Bagin
What's in a Name?

After two years of handwringing and anticipation, the football team formerly known as the Football Team releases its rebrand—a term to be used loosely.

At the start of this process, I chronicled how the Washington Commanders, née Football Team, had allowed decades of off-the-field reputational crises to define them, and how their rebranding was an opportunity to strategically rebuild a connection with their audience.

Did they fumble the kickoff?

What's in a Name?
Sports, Reputation Management
Kyle Bagin
So You Think You Can Start a Super League

A look at the (ongoing) communication failures behind the European Super League's botched roll-out.

“I know one question people have is: ‘Is this legit, is this real, is this actually happening or is this a play?’”

This question came from James McNicholas, writer for The Athletic, on Arseblog’s Arsecast Extra Podcast, in light of the announcement Sunday that 12 of the world’s biggest soccer clubs were breaking away from current European competitions to launch their own “Super League,” exclusively closed to them and five guest teams of their choosing.

So You Think You Can Start a Super League

business

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The Other R-Word

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The Other R-Word

A running joke among D.C. sports fans arose in the late 2000s: The Washington Football Team were perennial “offseason” champions.

Year after year, Washington’s football team was known for making big money signings with big fanfare for big names, for players who were usually way past their prime: A 5-year, $23 million deal for 36-year old Bruce Smith; an 8-year, $56 million deal for 33-year old Deion Sanders; $8 million (and 2nd- and 6th-round draft picks) for 2.5 sacks from Jason Taylor; …Albert Haynesworth.

Shockingly, none of this ever panned out.

So it’s not surprising when, to much less fanfare, the franchise applied this same lack of strategy to snowballing reputational crises: From proudly maintaining their overall branding, protested by indigenous people as a racial slur, and maintaining a widespread culture of overt sexual harassment at the high-end of offense, to:

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Arsenal Update: Ö Boy

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Arsenal Update: Ö Boy

An information vacuum left by Arsenal Football Club gets filled by everyone on Twitter.

Earlier this week, out-of-favor Turkish-German midfielder Mesut Özil tweeted another chapter of his long-burning PR soap opera with his employers at Arsenal Football Club.

After seven years with the team, and with a year to go on a hefty £350,000 per week contract, the once-renowned creative mastermind was ultimately cut from the roster to make room for league-required “homegrown players.”

The tweet, in part:

“I’m really deeply disappointed by the fact that I have not been registered for the Premier League season for the time being. Upon signing my new contract in 2018, I pledged my loyalty and allegiance to the club that I love, Arsenal, and it saddens me that this has not been reciprocated. As I have just found out, loyalty is hard to come by nowadays.”

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The Arsenal Way (-Off Course)

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The Arsenal Way (-Off Course)

By genuine coincidence, I had just reached this passage in Amy Lawrence’s Invincible: Inside Arsenal’s Unbeaten 2003-04 Season, when Arsenal executives announced 55 redundancies at the club last week.

“Llungberg had been there only a week when Pat Rice pulled him aside for a pep talk. He said, ‘You know Freddie, at Arsenal we have certain principles of the respect that you’re supposed to show everyone else around the club. Everyone is equal, we show everyone respect, and that’s special, that Arsenal spirit.’

… It maybe sounds silly, but when I changed club afterwards, I would still go and shake hands with the cleaners every morning, or the receptions, whatever. A lot of players don’t at other clubs. And that was something I was taught at Arsenal: you show respect to everybody, everybody has the same value and brings something so this club can go forward. And I felt that was special.” (P92)

The firings came after high-profile negotiations between management and players, in which players, with the intervention of a new, well-respected coach, agreed to a pay cut on the condition it would save staff who were put under strain by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. (The announcement, for added effect, came three days after a euphoric cup win for the club, following the worst season in 25 years.)