Social Media in Sports & Entertainment - When Will They Learn?

We live in a society where social media and its multitude of platforms have been omnipresent in our lives now for over a decade. During this time we have witnessed countless examples of egregious social media conduct by numerous celebrities on both sides the sports and entertainment spectrum, resulting in varying degrees of embarrassment, legal issues and damage to major brands. In fact, it has happened so often and to so many, one would easily be led to surmise that billion dollar properties in both sports and entertainment, would take every precaution to ensure that everyone involved in their organizations would be provided with the absolute best training on these very public tools that can make and/or break a career in seconds flat. If these industries and the leaders within them didn't understand the need for specialized social media training before Rosanne Barr, Josh Allen and now former Phildelphia 76's President, Bryan Colangelo, I suspect they never will.

In my work in the sports industry, I have had numerous conversations over the years with all levels of people within the industry about the need for specialized training in social media for everyone in their respective organizations, especially the athletes, coaches, team staff and executives. Most, if not all of these conversations have ended with an explanation that their organizations provide standard "media training," to their players and staff and they are good with that. My response is, seriously? To be crystal clear, anyone in positions of responsibility for sports or entertainment entities needs to understand that social media is not your grandmother's traditional media and needs to be treated as such. Generally speaking, social media puts an organization's brand reputation into the hands of people ill-equipped to understand the negative consequences of their online conduct. Given the sky-rocketing value of our most beloved sports & entertainment properties, it is simply shocking that stewards of these organizations are still turning a blind-eye to such a serious problem. In such ROI focused industries like those in sports and entertainment, it is simply unbelieveable and needs to change before we see another Rosanne Barr, Josh Allen or Bryan Colangelo.