It has been a good run for Strasburg and Nationals.
2-2, 2.27 ERA, 48 strikes outs in 5 games. He is a super star. He is the iPhone and the Android in Baseball.
Hype worked and the story was spinning accurately. Many times, high expectation brings a big disappointment. So, people hate spins and many times, they hate Public Relations, and call them “spin doctor”.
As a PR professor, I hate the word, “spin doctor”. I always teach students not to “spin”, and use facts. When I observed “hype” of the BIG Strasburg, I thought I might be wrong about the “spin doctor”, at least in Sports.
I was just curious, so, I visited “google trends” site and compared web traffic of Washington Nationals and New York Yankees.
Comparison between web traffic of Washington Nationals and New York Yankees
Red graph shows traffic of New York Yankees and Blue graph shows traffic of Nationals. And, of course, red graph beats blue graph almost every time, except for the beginning of 2005 season, when Nationals played its first game at RFK stadium. And, finally, Strasburg beat New York Yankees in Web Traffic.
I was also curious about attendance before and after Strasburg.
Before Strasburg, average home attendance of Nationals was 21,336.
After Strasburg, average home attendance of Nationals was increased to 28,467 (130%).
I also calculated home attendance without the games Strasburg did not start after Strasburg, and it was 23,942. It was little bit better than before Strasburg.
It was little bit surprised even Strasburg’s the most recent home game draw just 31,913. It was not full.
Did “hype” work? Well, after I observed one-month of Strasburg, I don’t want to say it worked. It might work if Nationals won many games after Strasburg. What was their records? 7-13 (0.350), which is worse than before 0.465 of winning percentage.
So, now I am more confident to say that the hype did not work. Then, what is Sports public relations? I strongly believe that public relations is a mouth of organizations. And, when whole body does not do a right thing, the mouth is useless. Whatever it says, it is meaningless. If the mouth does not have any words, still, it is meaningless.
James Grunig, a famous scholar in Public Relations, talked about Excellent Public Relations, which is, sometimes, criticized by practitioners, because of its unrealistic nature. His first and the least effective public relations model out of four models is press agentry, so-called, “hype”.
Bruce Berger, also a famous scholar in Public Relations, said Public Relations works only when the organization is doing a right thing. Is it too common sense? Is it too ideal? But, it is true.
Arthur Page society suggested seven principles of public relations http://www.awpagesociety.com/site/about/page_principles. Its second principle is “prove with action”.
Strasburg’s hype worked, because Washington Nationals proved with action. He was indeed a good product. But, in sports, what do fans want? One hero? Or a good team? Especially, in team sports, what do fans want? Chicago Bulls might not be that popular, if they did not win NBA championships, even though they had Michael Jordan.
In a book, “Examining identity in sports media (Edited by Hundley and Billings), Jennings Bryant and Glen Cummings, scholars in entertainment communication, surveyed University of Alabama and Auburn University College football fans. Their answers indicated they felt more self-confident when their team won. There exists the secret of sports public relations. What do sports fans want? They want something to be proud of. Can one hero be a pride of whole team? I really doubt it.
Did Nationals tried to make Strasburg a hero of Nationals? Or hype super star? Did Nationals think about a great opportunity for fans for a short period time? Did Nationals think about a community, which may need something to enjoy in this bad economy? Did Nationals think about other players? Can Strasburg win a game without other players? Can Strasburg win 162 games?
Public Relations is a mouth of an organization. Professional sports organizations are filled with very expensive organs. But, regardless of the price of organs, the body only works when the organs are intimately connected and work harmoniously. Then, mouth can say something good. Can mouth control brain? Well, sometimes, it can.
Can hype work? I, again, sit back and will say, it won’t. “Prove with action” is a golden rule of Public Relations. Can Public Relations do more than hype? Well, if organizations want them to say something good, they may need to listen to their mouths.
Public Relations, Social Media, and Sports 