Crisis Communications in Sports

On this episode of Crisis Communications in Sports, hosts Jim Rocco and Cris Bruce examine five separate hot-button crisis topics that are currently trending in the world of sports and offer their unique takes on where things went wrong and what can be done going forward. A hard five minutes is spent on each topic with this week's episode being devoted to football in honor of the NFL season getting underway. The action begins with frank discussions about Tyreek Hill's run-in with Miami police, the 49ers' injury report controversy, and Tom Brady's uneven debut as a TV analyst. The attention then shifts to Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders' unflattering comments directed towards his teammates and then wraps up with an analysis of the Browns' quandary in light of the latest sexual assault accusations against Deshaun Watson.

In this special edition, we speak with renowned sports television commentator Bob Costas about all of the new challenges related to sports betting that have arisen for leagues, commissioners, coaches, officials, the athletes themselves, and of course, fans. With the advent of smartphone technology and legalized sports betting now being allowed in 38 states and counting, we asked Bob about the ways he sees sports betting affecting the games we love to watch (11:06). Hosts Jim Rocco and Cris Bruce open the show by breaking down the three most interesting crisis topics that are currently trending in the world of sports, and offer their unique takes on where things went wrong, and what can be done going forward (01:18).

Every so often, there's more communication breakdowns in the world of sports than a person can keep up with! So on this episode of Crisis Communications in Sports, hosts Jim Rocco and Cris Bruce examine six separate hot-button crisis topics that are currently trending in the world of sports, and offer their unique takes on where things went wrong, and what can be done going forward. With a hard five minutes devoted to each topic, the action begins with a revealing discussion about player discontent towards the new Major League Baseball uniforms, then takes on the growing debate over court-storming in college basketball, and is followed by a look into the extreme public tactic that St. John's coach Rick Pitino employed in an attempt to motivate his team. The attention then shifts towards the flap over an on-air argument related to the 3-point contest between Steph Curry and Sabrina Ionescu, the high scoring-no defense NBA All-Star game, and finally the beef between two NFL players that got way too personal.

Questions and opinions about journalistic integrity began flying when NFL personality Charissa Thompson very casually mentioned in an interview that she had sometimes made up reports early in her career as a sideline reporter. We spoke to Michele Tafoya, one of the most respected NFL sideline reporters of the past 25 years, to help us break down the fallout. Michele explained why it rankled so many people both inside and outside of the television industry and also discussed the curious fact that the admission did not result in any official repercussions (07:22). Hosts Jim Rocco and Cris Bruce open the show with a conversation about the bizarre rumor that the Chicago Blackhawks were recently forced to address and how they deftly handled their public statement (01:12).

The massive contract extension former Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker signed in November of 2021 made headlines, both because it established Tucker one of the highest paid coaches in the sport, and because it was a fully guaranteed deal. The feel-good story, however, came to an abrupt halt less than 2 years into the deal when Tucker was accused by Brenda Tracy, a prominent rape survivor and activist, of engaging in a sex act without her consent. On this episode of Crisis Communications in Sports, we speak to Kenny Jacoby, the investigative reporter from USA Today who broke the story (09:44). Hosts Jim Rocco and Cris Bruce get things underway with a discussion about the recent video put out by one time Major League Baseball star Trevor Bauer who is seeking to clear his name and restore his reputation following a settlement in his own sexual assault case (01:00).