The world of sports endorsements

Athletic endorsements have an allure that other industries don’t have; fans feel connected to players and their successes through their endorsed products. This makes the field extremely lucrative, raking in millions of dollars for athletes and even more for endorsing companies.

Lebron James / Serenity Forbes / Flikr.com

Adding an athlete's name to a product instantly draws fans to buy it. Fans look up to these athletes in one way or another, so these products make them feel connected to their heroes. Consider the popularity of Lebron James’ basketball shoes; not only is he a great player on the court, but he’s also a role model to many aspiring athletes. In 2012 Lebron's shoes earned Nike $300 million which was a 50% increase from 2011.

“There’s an emotional connection that fans make when they see their sport heroes endorsing a line of shoes,” Robert Passikoff said in a 2013 Forbes article. “It’s something that they both physically and emotionally identify with. Maybe they even think in their heart of hearts that the equipment will help them play a bit better.”

Both the brand and athlete benefit from these endorsements. When professional athletes are endorsed they increase the brand equity, or how well known the brand is. Popular athletes can expand the prestige of a brand because of how idolized and highly valued they are, in return athletes get to remain in the center of attention on and off the court.

Not only can athletes increase the brand’s equity, but they also get endorsed when their public image aligns with the values of a company. When athletes mess up their public image, they often lose lucrative endorsement deals. One example is Michael Phelps losing Kellogg’s endorsement. They cut ties with him after he was caught smoking an illegal substance.

"We decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and hero," the Kellogg's organization said in a 2009 NYTimes.com article.  

 Brands ride on the skill and image of popular players to make millions. It seems that this trend will continue due to the ever present reverence for athletes; however, some think with the influx of social media, athletes will become even more popular. In the future, athletic endorsements may increase dramatically because of greater fan to player connectivity.

By: Daniella Smith & Austin Carvey

Fired & Ice

Mike Woodson/ Chris J Nelson - Wikimedia

Who calls the Grim Reaper for the coaches at the end of the season? There has been six coaching changes in the NBA since the 2014 regular season has ended. They have been fired for either a poor record or the team does not like the coach.

The president of the New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, decided to fire Mike Woodson at the end the 2013 - 2014 season for their losing record. This season marked the first time that the Knicks did not make the playoffs since 2010. It was also the first time that Carmelo Anthony did not play in postseason.

“The move had been expected since Jackson's arrival, with the notion of a long and unexpected playoff run likely Woodson's only hope for being retained,” Sam Amick said in a 2014 USA TODAY article. 

Although a coach may do exceedingly well record wise, there still may be dysfunction among upper management or the other coaching staff. Coach Mark Jackson of the Golden State Warriors, was fired after the Warriors made it to the second round of the playoffs. Jackson brought the team to the playoffs the second time in a row since 1990.

“While Jackson was the Warriors' most successful coach since Don Nelson, tension between him and the front office slowly percolated over the last year,” Tyler Conway said in a 2014 Bleacher Report article.

The disunity caused the team to have a very powerful defense, but not the most coordinated offense. Management blamed Jackson for not finding a way to utilize All-Stars Steph Curry and Andre Iguodala’s skills to lead them further. They finished 51-31 in the Western Conference and yet Jackson was not able to salvage his job.

“When management and a coaching staff aren't on the same page, it's bound to end badly,” Conway said. “There is shared blame here, but it's much harder to fire an owner than a coach.”

NBA coaches were playing basketball before some of the players were even born, and yet, the players still get to call the shots. A coach can get the boot if the veteran players such as Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol don’t like the style of coaching. Mike D’Antoni, coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, was pressured to resign after the Lakers worst season in its history ending in only 27 wins. Gasol and Bryant both openly voiced opposition to the D’Antoni system, causing tension among the team and staff.

"It's more of a finesse game,” Bryant said in a 2014 ESPN article. "It's more small ball, which, personally, I don't really care much for."

Mark Jackson (l.) / Matthew Addie - Flickr

Many general managers say that it is time to move the team in a different direction in regards to firing a coach. This is the case with the ex-coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Mike Brown. In 2005, Brown started a five season saga with the Cavs, went to the Lakers for a year, and then back to Cleveland. The GMs have the power to treat these coaches like baseball cards. They can be used, traded or dismissed. The GMs and president will not give an actual reason to why the coach was fired.

“Although, there was some progress from our finish over the few prior seasons, we believe we need to head in a different direction,” Dan Gilbert said in a team release. “We wish Mike and his family nothing but the best.”

At the end of the 2013 regular season, 11 coaches were fired. Most of them were because of a lack of wins, but some coaches have been doing it right.

“The San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich and Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra are two of the league's three longest-tenured coaches” Amick said in a 2013 USA TODAY article.

These two veteran coaches are able to find an effective strategy utilizing their many all stars. Popovich and Spoelstra currently control two of the best teams in the NBA and they will continue to do so. They know how to run their offense and defense to the best of the abilities of their players.

With coaches getting let go left and right, there is a lot of speculation on what makes a good coach besides producing wins. This trend of a third of the leagues teams’ looking to pick up a new coach after a mediocre season will likely happen for several years to come.

By Willy Herman & Shawn Watts

Misconceptions of Tommy John Surgery

Tommy John / Roger Dewitt / Wikimedia

In the past decade there has been a recent spike in the amount of players having Tommy John surgery. Last year 19 MLB pitchers alone had this surgery. As the demand for faster pitchers increase, the amount of surgeries have increased as well. 

MLB teams expect fast hard speeds consistently from their pitchers. As the pitchers throw harder the bigger possibility of their UCL tearing. To repair this doctors remove a ligament from either a hamstring or forearm and replace the torn UCL.

The human arm is not designed to throw a ball overhead at 90 mph. This stress is equivalent to holding a 12-pound bowling ball. Even at amateur level players are expected to pitch faster and harder because thats what professional leagues expect.

“That means more young pitchers must throw more, trainer harder, and test the limits of their own health more often,” former MLB pitcher Dirk Hayhurst wrote in a 2014 SportsonEarth article.

These limits that are being pushed by these young athletes are the root causes of this surgery. Preventing this surgery could be as easy as limiting their pitching. Coaches are pushing their players to throw countless pitches for consecutive games which prevents the ligament from rest and growth. Dr James Andrews, the man who developed this surgery, is giving advice to these young athletes to help prevent injury.

“One coach will pitch a kid for five innings one night and then the next day the same kid will go throw five more innings for a different coach in a different game," Andrews said in a 2012 ESPN highschool article. “These pitchers should not be playing in more than one league at once. You have to rest to prevent these injuries.”

This surgery is thought to increase the speed of a pitcher’s throw. In reality players just return to their normal pitching speeds. This misconception has influenced parents wanting to have their kids obtain the surgery prior to any injury. There hasn’t been any evidence that this surgery increases the skill of any pitcher.

"It doesn't make someone faster or, well, anything," Cincinnati Reds surgeon Dr. Tim Kremchek said in a 2014 BleacherReport article. 

It is not certain that the surgery will be successful, in many cases players were forced to get a second surgery because they had injured themselves during the rehabilitation process. There is an 80-85% chance that the surgery will be successful, meanwhile if their ligament tears again the chances are as low as 40%.

This surgery has been very controversial over the past three decades. Many pitchers have been able to continue their careers from getting this surgery. They get it in hopes that their performance may increase on the field. Young athletes looking at this demand for the surgery on the pro level, influences them to want to get the surgery. These young athletes are trying to achieve what their role models achieve. In reality this surgery is more of a necessity than a privilege.

By Adib Islam and Nicholas Bohan

Least vs. West

“The NBA's Eastern Conference stinks,” proclaimed USA Today writer Jeff Zillgitt.

Nba Logo / Michael Tipton / Flickr.com

The achievement gap between the Eastern and Western Conference is huge. Since 2000 there has been nine years where a team from the West won the NBA championship. During the 2013-2014 season the top eight teams in the West had a combined 436 wins compared to the East whose top eight teams only had 375.

Does it even matter who the top 16 teams are in the regular season? It was obvious early in the season who would be in contention for a title in both conferences and who would not.

“Thirteen of the West's 15 teams have records good enough for one of the top eight spots in the East,” said Zillgitt.

During the regular season the Indiana Pacers, who were considered the best regular season team in the East, were winless against the Phoenix Suns who were the ninth seed in the West at the end of the season.

Some may argue that the East isn't really awful because they have the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers. The teams that were predicted to fight for the third seed were struggling during most of the year.

"The biggest problem is the Knicks, Nets and Bulls," TNT analyst and former Phoenix Suns general manager Steve Kerr said. "Those were teams who were supposed to be pretty good. In fact, I thought Miami was going to be challenged in every round of the playoffs coming in because of the Nets, Knicks, Pacers and Bulls.”

The notion that the two conferences are even has been inadvertently changed. Since the 1999-2000 season there has been only two seasons where the East had more overall top five seeded teams than the West. Throughout the NBA’s history there has been almost an even amount of seasons where one conference dominated the other. Historically it is suggested that the East will regain control over the West, but it is questionable whether or not this equilibrium will be returned in the near future.

By Yoni Pechter and Sadeon Martin

Do fans take it too far?

Dani Alves eating a banana thrown by a fan | LaRed.com

Modern sports fans are getting involved with players beyond the usual boos and jeers, some going to the point of physical abuse. Fans feel as if it is their right to do what they want at major sporting event by virtue of purchasing a ticket, and athletes feel insecure about their safety as well as their families’ well-being.

Some of the most popular cases of player harassment have been reported worldwide. In 1994, Nancy Kerrigan, skating star and Olympic medalist, had just finished a practice routine when she was struck on the knee by an assailant, bruising it. A member of the audience threw a banana at FC Barcelona soccer player Dani Alves in 2014. It seems as if there is no way to protect athletes from such scenarios, as fans are still able to harm them.

“Athletes perform in huge ballparks and arenas,” Mark Hyman said in a 1994 BaltimoreSun.com article. “They travel through airports and are as recognizable as any Hollywood movie star. Is there any way to protect them from obsessed fans determined to reach and maybe hurt them?”

One might ask, why do fans boo athletes? Although not many answers have been given to this question, some possible theories are to teach their team a lesson for playing poorly, or to show the other team how much they are hated. One fan believes that booing and harassing players is their right, since they paid to see them, and will only support athletes when they perform well.

“Why do we do it?” Hunter Davies said in a 2013 NewStatesman.com article. “It’s our right, innit? We have paid our money, we can do what we like. We want them to do good things, then we’ll cheer. We love the club dearly, always hoping for better things, so feel personally let down when they play rubbish.”

Some fans have even gone so far as to invade athletes’ social media. From personal insults to death threats, fans see no boundaries to the hateful comments and tweets.

“SANCHEZ BETTER HAVE ARMED SECURITY WEDNESDAY AT PRACTICE!!” Twitter user @BraveGrancru said to New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez in 2012. “YOU THINK IMMA SIT HERE & WATCH THIS [expletive]?? TUHHH!”

With all the threats received from fans, players cannot help but worry about their families’ security. If an athlete’s primary concern during a game is the safety of his relatives in the stands, he/she will not be able to focus on the match.

“The last thing a player wants to be concerned with while playing in a game is the safety of his family inside the stadium,” Akbar Gbajabiamila said in a 2012 NFL.com article. “As players, we are all too aware of the security threat that fans of the opposing team pose to our families.”

Policymakers are stumped as to how they can reduce the threat posed by fans, and as to what means they can use to prevent situations of fan abuse in the future. Despite increased security implementations, fans have continued to find ways to get up close and personal to players.

Written by Muhammad Abid Hasan & Ismail Elomri

Coaches and administrators opinions on football union

On January 28, 2014 the College Athletics Players Association petitioned that the players on athletic scholarships at Northwestern University are employees of the university. If the claim that the students are employees is supported, the players can unionize. This will allow the players to manipulate the hours they practice reducing the coaches control over the player's schedule.

Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald does not support the unionization of his football players. He believes that this will have a negative result on the realationship the university has developed with the players. He urges his players to vote against the union. He does not see the need for others to intervene with the relationship the players have with the university because the university will provide everything the players need.

“I just do not believe we need a third party between our players and our coaches, staff and administrators. ... Whatever they need, we will get them,” Fitzgerald said in a 2014 Huffington Post article.

Stanford football coach David Shaw also questions the need of a player union in college football.

“I think Northwestern does a phenomenal job providing for their kids, and it's weird to try to unionize but still compliment Northwestern and compliment their coaching staff on being taken care of. Those things don't seem to go hand in hand," Shaw said in a 2014 ESPN article.

The Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner Beth DeBauche participated in a conference discussing the commercialisation of college sports on Tuesday, April 15, 2014. She participated in this conference to give her input on how the NCAA business plan may change to give student athletes what they think they deserve. The student athletes believe they deserve a portion of the large revenue the NCAA receives.

"The landscape as we know it for Division I is going to certainly change in some form or fashion," DeBauche said in a 2014 Associated Press article.

DeBauche admits there must be a change in the format of the business plan in the NCAA. She sees this situation to change the business plan of the NCAA into a positive direction. Many administrative influences on the NCAA like the Big Ten do not see a need for change.

"I have a really hard time envisioning what it would be," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in a 2014 Chicago Business article.

The opinions on unionization of these two coaches and administrators are mostly negative. They believe this idea of a union will conflict with the university’s preparation of the players and it will not fit into the business plan set by the NCAA.

How will college football change if Jeffrey Kessler's antitrust lawsuit succeeds?

Northwestern’s effort to unionize college football players will cause major changes to college football should it succeed. Unionizing will result in the scholarship players becoming employees and will cause financial issues to arise for the NCAA and colleges associated with it.

Many of the changes to college football will stem from the financial issues associated with the new employee status of the players. With the hundreds of football players in the NCAA, there will be a lot of extra money being spent if they become employees; however, it is still unclear how these financial issues will impact college football for the NCAA.

If student-athletes become employees, then the schools will have to pay extra expenses for them. These schools that are going to maintain Division I football teams are going to have to pay 20% in excess of the student’s tuition because of health care, pensions, disability insurance, and unemployment insurance. This is going to lead to a decrease in the amount of money that can be spent to maintain football teams across all divisions in the NCAA.

For the student-athletes, the status change from player to employee will also have its own effects. Colleges can offer its own financial backing plan for each athlete and players can choose which plan is best for them. As a result of that, colleges that have more of a financial backbone can pay for better players than those that do not.

“If you're USC or even Rice, you could say to a recruit, 'I know you're talking to these other two schools, but if you come here we'll pay your medical insurance for five years, plus you can collectively bargain for other things you want, plus if you graduate early you'll get extra dough in a trust fund, and perhaps you can capitalize off marketing value if you become our star quarterback,'” SMU athletic director, Rick Hart, said in a 2014 CbsSports.com article.

Taxes are also another problem that has to be considered. An athlete receives a scholarship to play for a team and study at school as a student. If they are going be employees of the school, the scholarship and wages that they will receive is taxable by the IRS. It would make it increasingly difficult for college football players to pay for and attend college because of the taxes they will be responsible for on both accounts.

"The fact that the players were not considered employees in the past is essentially the reason why their scholarship or parts of it weren't taxed before,” Garret Higgins, a partner of the Exempt Organization Tax and Advisory Services group, said in an ESPN article. ”The IRS may be able to make the argument that the scholarship is really payment for services, and therefore compensation, and is now taxable to the athlete.” 

Financial issues are only part of the reason as to why the changes are coming to college football in the NCAA, but its impact is going to be felt immediately. Smaller universities may not be able to pay as much as larger ones, widening the skill difference across Division 1 athletics. Some student-athletes may find it harder to attend college because of the taxes they are required to pay.  If this lawsuit passes, the NCAA will find their profits cut by a large margin if they want to continue college athletics.

Written by Allan Lee and Sean Santiago