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.
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?
“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.
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?
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:
