Review by Jordan Callis in SRM 334 (section 3)
The article that we chose to use for our presentation is one that covers what is quite possibly one of the most fraudulent and misleading icons of the sports industry in the last 20 years: Lance Armstrong. To summarize, the article discusses a few of the potential financial ramifications that Armstrong has brought onto not only himself, but also the entire industry in regards to how sponsors treat their athletes in the future. Howard Bloom explains that not only is Armstrong facing probable lawsuits from various businesses including SCA Promotions and The Times of London, Amaury Sport Organization is also prepared to ask for $3.6 million back from Armstrong for winnings he was paid during his seven Tour de France titles in a row. While these companies would like to think otherwise, Bloom explains that it is unlikely any parties will see much of their money back because of the legal situations, which is most likely why none of Armstrong’s former sponsors will be filing lawsuits against the now shamed cyclist.
What all of this means for the future of sponsorship agreements between companies and athletes is that the morality clause, which protects companies from athletes who conduct themselves in a way that is detrimental to the company during the life of the contract, will be an absolute necessity and will be strictly enforced. This will most likely lead to more strife between endorsers and endorses in the future. When discussing relevancy to sports media, topics like these are exactly what the major outlets such as ESPN and other affiliates thoroughly enjoy, especially in circumstances like The Times of London are facing because they get the so-called “last laugh” after the allegations they wrote against Armstrong proved to all be correct, thus adding validity and credibility to the reputation of the newspaper. Controversy is always a great seller for the media, and the sports media industry is never shy in exploiting unfortunate stories such as this one. With the amount of viewership that has accumulated throughout the coverage of the Armstrong events, it is likely that sports media will continue to seek out controversy in the future, and when athletes like Armstrong give them reason to, it seems to be a never-ending “viscous cycle,” no pun intended.
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Review by Joel Simms in SRM 334 (section 3)
One of the world’s most inspiring stories of a man who had battled cancer and won seven Tour de France titles, seems to have turned from an inspirational story, to a story where a man has cheated in his whole career. Lance Armstrong had won the seven titles back to back from 1999 to 2005, which is very amazing for any athlete to accomplish in his or her career. Just a week ago, Lance Armstrong confessed on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that he had used performance-enhancing drugs every year when he won the Tour de France titles. This was big news for the media because after years of denying the fact he used PEDs, he finally came out and told everyone that he used PEDs to win the titles. Now, a lot of people will view him differently and the media coverage of Lance Armstrong confessing he doped to win is going to broadcast everywhere.
What Lance Armstrong accomplished in his bicycling career was something I admired. I was one of the people who had believed that Lance Armstrong had never used PEDs to win the titles and that he was an inspiring figure for those who battle cancer. Since he has admitted to doping, I have put my feet in his shoes to see how hard that would be. After his confession, I thought to myself, “That must have taken a lot of courage to admit that he used drugs after all of these years.” I still believe that Lance Armstrong is a nice person and that he wants to prove to the world that he can win without cheating by competing in the top-level sport again some day. I think he deserves a second chance to prove himself although it is going to be very hard to gain his trust again from society.
This current event is important to the course because it deals with several aspects of media broadcasting. Since the interview was conducted on a famous television show, a lot of people were tuned in to watch the confession. Other networks such as ESPN and NBC were covering the event as well. With winning titles, there comes big responsibilities and people begin to look up to you as a public figure. For instance, Lance Armstrong lied for several years about not using performance-enhancing drugs, and the consequences of doing that were the loss of millions of dollars in sponsorships and the trust of the people that admired him. This relates to the course because the goal of the media was to get the answer of whether or not he used drugs and broadcast it on television to have everyone know the truth about him.
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