31 August 2020
Trump Is Bad for Sports
Trump’s supporters and
Biden supporters alike are sports fans.
Many of them probably
didn’t vote in 2016. The Biden campaign must find a way to get its message to them—particularly how important it
is just to vote.
Among the channels to
tap are of course advertising for all sporting events. Also the Biden campaign should sponsor sports talk shows, both on
radio and TV. Moreover, social media sites that target athletic competition
provide a way to approach the youngest sports fans.
The Biden campaign must
have a team that focuses specifically on sports media advertising and
commentary. I suspect that the combination of conventional media (like ESPN,
FOX SPORTS, MLB, and many other specialized channels) as well as a multitude of
sports social media websites and, of course, print media (starting with Spots
Illustrated) reaches the an overwhelming majority of this segment of eligible
voters. It would be surprising if this group did not account for a large number
of customarily apathetic voters.
The mission of the Biden
campaign’s sports marketing team should be to motivate these potential voters
to cast their ballots in November and, of course, that the future of their most
cherished human activity is also at risk if they don’t vote and support a
change in Washington.
There will, of course, be many consequences of another four
(or more?) years of a Trump presidency.
However, one can point to specific ways that Trump will harm the
vibrancy and preeminence of American sports.
These include the following:
A.
Injury to American sports caused by isolationist
immigration policy or by disregard of professional scientific and medical guidance.
- · Continued antagonism between star minority as well as Caucasian competitors and professional team owners.
- · Retaliatory exclusion of American athletes from international competitions and boycotts of American competitions by international athletes and sponsors.
- · Possible other international retaliations, including boycotts of American athletic equipment
- · Ultimate refusal of star foreign athletes to pursue their careers in the U.S.
B.
Long-term harm to the sporting environment as a
result of egotistical “America First” policies.
- · Deterioration of outdoor weather conditions suitable for human athletic endeavor owing to Trump’s dismissal of measures to slow or reverse climate change.
- · Reversal of trend towards depoliticization of sports competition by Trump’s obstruction of world-wide collaboration, like the transpacific trade and the Iran nuclear agreements.
- Trump’s refusal to marshal effective and timely measures to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Reelection of President Trump will directly cripple the
sports world much more than only by compelling
the insertion of additional asterisks in the record books to mark the
impact of his administration’s mistakes. Athletic careers will be stunted, lives of
potential competitors will be lost, and the excitement and enjoyment of
witnessing and engaging in team sports could be seriously diminished for a long
time.
Comments:
Post a Comment
