From ESPN.com
Review by Zachary Graham in SRM 334 (section 1)
Lance Armstrong is one of the most prolific athletes of our generation. Lance Armstrong was known for dominating his competition over the course of a decade. He was then known for his epic battle with testicular cancer and his overcoming of it. Finally he was well recognized for his marketing ability with many companies, but specifically his Livestrong bracelets, for cancer research. Recently Lance has been in the news for his famous doping scandal. On January 17th 2013, he publicly decided to admit to his PED usage, blood doping, on the Oprah Winfrey show. All of his Tour De France medals were stripped, and was sanctioned a lifetime ban from the sport of cycling.
Even more recently Lance is back in the news as he is being sued from multiple people and organizations. Acceptance Insurance Company is asking Lance to commit to his first sworn testimony. Acceptance believes Lance Armstrong is guilty of committing fraud of to earn $3 million in victory bonuses. They would like Lance to testify about all the people involved who knew of his doping scandal. The judge has ruled in Acceptance favor, and he will talk in 2014 at his trial. Acceptance is not the only organization-suing Lance, he is currently being sued by the Postal service for $30 million in endorsements, along with 100 people suing to be reimbursed for purchase of his book.
This is a public relations nightmare for Lance and his staff. Lance was a national hero, role model, cancer survivor, and just a very polarizing figure. Lance is now in a position he has never been before he is now the villain, the scapegoat, and the same polarizing figure for PED’s throughout sports. Lance was a media star with his own brand of Livestrong, his own book, and with constant commercials Lance was everywhere. With cycling being such an international sport, he was the main figure of the sport internationally as well. Lance Armstrong was the equivalent of the cycling version of Michael Jordan, and it would similar to hearing that Michael was a cheater as well. Lance will have the most media impact of any professional cyclist for a very long time.This article is relevant to this class because this is a sports marketing class. Lance Armstrong was one of the highest sponsored athletes in our country. The article is relevant because he is now being sued by those same sponsors; and they are asking for their money back. This article is relevant to this class because as future professionals when dealing with marketing disasters such as this, it may be helpful to look back and see how his PR team handled this situation.
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Review by Chris Walker in SRM 33 4 (section 1)
Lance Armstrong is in the news once again, and back in court. Earlier this week, Armstrong was ordered by a judge to provide documents and written answers to questions posed by Acceptance Insurance Holdings, an insurance company that provided Armstrong with millions of dollars in victory bonuses. Now, Acceptance is trying to prove that Armstrong was committing fraud against them during those years, and is seeking damages against the disgraced cyclist. The questions focus primary on Armstrong providing the names of people who knew about his doping, when they knew, and in what capacity they helped to cover up Armstrong’s years of doping. The article mentions this is just one of several lawsuits Armstrong is currently fighting.
Lance Armstrong is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. Not only was he an American athletic hero, he won races on almost every continent in the world, making him a familiar name among sports fans internationally. This fact alone means that anything that happens to Armstrong has the potential to be worldwide news. Add the fact that this story is the direct fallout of one of the biggest falls from grace any athlete has ever taken in the history of sport media coverage and it is obvious why Lance’s court case is a front-page headline on the largest sport news outlet in the world. Lance’s story will always garner coverage. I think that people will always tune in to follow the trajectory of Armstrong’s giant fall. With years of lawsuits to come, and so many unanswered questions about Lance’s secret operation, the media will have no difficulty finding fresh angles to report to the world. Lance’s story has all the makings of a media reporter’s dreams: a sports hero, drugs, courtroom drama, corruption scandals, and Oprah Winfrey. It will be a while before Lance Armstrong and the stories surrounding him disappear from the headlines.
