Chapter 5 Public Image

Chapter Overview Lesson 5.1 Public Relations Lesson 5.2 Fans Lesson 5.3 Publishing and Speaking Engagements

Lesson 5.1 Public Relations

Image is Everything! Public Relations: Creates a favorable public opinion of an individual or organization. Game & Player

Action Plan Acquire letter of intent that details the firms services. Should answer: Which forms of media are most appropriate? What will be used to create a favorable image? How will the public relations firm promote it? Public relations publicize and enhance the events and athletes.

The Big Picture Importance of a positive image extends beyond the athletes and events to include: Location of event Attractive presentation Business reputation Community reputation

Special Events Promote goodwill Willingness to work with or assist a person/organization based on positive relationship. Keep the customer happy What were the problems with Atlanta during the Olympics? Make public relations work Listen to complaints & problems and find ways to fix them

Athletes and Public Goodwill Oct NBA contract negotiations Baseball player strikes Multimillion $ contracts for athletes Look greedy Overcome this by donating money Fans/Cities can get bad images too Reassure fans by bringing in extra police to control unruly fans

Lesson 5.2 Fans

Fan Clubs What attracts you to an athlete? What do fans give: Loyalty Positive media attention Ticket and merchandise buyers Offers the opportunity for an athlete to build a positive image.

Benefits of Fan Clubs Charge a small fee to join; some free What do you get???? Discounts on merchandise Special outings or seminars

Licensing & Merchandising Multibillion dollar industry License sports merchandise to 3 rd party companies Produce, distribute, and sell Team Licensing Business (TLB) magazine Purchased through: Fan clubs Licensed department stores Magazines At sports events Fastest growing product line Collectibles and electronic games

Evergreens Remain valuable from year to year Trading Cards Baseball Cards used to promote sales through: Addition to cigarette packs Addition to Bubble gum packs What effects trading cards: New athletes Change teams Retirement of highly regarded player

Predicting the Market Very unpredictable Licensing are expensive Oakland Raiders took risk by adding black to color scheme Fans liked it; increased sales Successes Starter, Rawlings, and Champion have consistent record Upper Deck has done well Kodak boosted sales by becoming Olympic sponsor

Lesson 5.3 Publishing and Speaking Engagements

Motivational Speaking People enjoy listening to speeches by well-known individuals Athletes cannot plan on a lifelong career in their sport Range from giving motivational talks to small training seminars

Speakers Success Speakers success and the price they charge depends more on: Excellent speaking and communication skills Well-written speeches Ability to handle unexpected questions Message that the audience is interested in hearing Sense of humor, sincerity, people skills

Aids to Success Rely on strong marketing and promotional campaigns An agent to book engagements Specialists paid % of fees charged for the speech Promotional Sports Stars, Inc. Grooms its speakers Top speakers: Rick Pitino Tommy Lasorda Mia Hamm

Price of Motivation Rick Pitino receives $20,000 and round- trip, first-class plane trip Talk about team building and coaching Uses “TEAM” as an acronym Superstars earn between $7,500-$25,000 for single speaking engagement Other related careers: sports broadcasting

Writing their Stories Well-written biography will sell well Leads to national publicity tour Broadens the audience because of the themes and concerns.

Publishing Process Ghostwriters or sports reporters write Prices are determined by public demand Author receives a royalty 10% or more of the price for each copy sold Can make several million dollars on best seller