15 Legal and Ethical Dimensions of Sport Public Relations Dr. Anastasios Kaburakis and Dr. Galen Clavio After reading this chapter, students should be able to • identify legal issues in sport public relations and the way in which those issues affect teams, leagues, and organizations; • anticipate emerging legal issues, particularly in relation to the development of digital media content; • understand the importance of legal analysis in sport public relations; • evaluate ethical dilemmas present in sport public relations; and • recognize the need for ethical decision making in sport public relations. Key terms discussed in this chapter include • Family Educational Rights and Privacy • intellectual property, Act (FERPA), • slander and libel, and • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), • code of ethics. 299 The legal dimension of sport black letter law or, in most contemporary situations, public relations grows in importance and influence by recent case precedent, as well as through policy each year. The process of maintaining favorable solutions that governing bodies reach after consid- relations between a sport organization and its pub- erable membership and constituent input leading lics often involves balancing the marketing effects to consensus (Kaburakis et al., 2009). of communication with the legal ramifications of both the topic in question and the method of com- munication itself. Legal Dimensions Closely tied to the legal dimension of sport public relations are the ethical ramifications of decision of Sport Public making and the process of relating those decisions Relations to an organization’s publics. Not all legally sound decisions are ethical, and not all ethical decisions The Duke lacrosse scandal stands as one of the are legal. Sport organizations must examine their most important and cautionary sport public rela- actions from an ethical perspective because of the tions tales of recent times. In 2006 three members importance of sport in the larger societal framework. of Duke University’s lacrosse team were accused Consider the following example. NCAA Division of raping an African American stripper at a team I football and men’s basketball student–athletes are party. Both the district attorney’s office and large featured in video games licensed through the NCAA sections of the Duke academic community rushed Collegiate Licensing Company and produced by to judgment on the case, declaring the players guilty game producer Electronic Arts in recent times, as before trial. The university even went so far as to well as by other companies in the past. This practice cancel the remaining games of the season and fire has been the object of considerable criticism and the head coach. analysis, and class action suits were brought against As the story began to unfold, however, it was it in the federal courts of California in 2009 and 2010 found that the accuser had manufactured her claims (Kaburakis et al., 2009). against the players. Worse still, the district attorney, The most recent and prominent of these lawsuits Mike Nifong, had withheld evidence to win indict- was filed by Sam Keller, a former quarterback for ments against the players. For that crime, Nifong Nebraska and Arizona State, against the NCAA, was disbarred and made to serve a short jail term the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), and for lying to a judge. The players were exonerated, Electronic Arts. The suit alleged that the NCAA, in and they eventually sued the district attorney and conjunction with EA and the CLC, purposefully cir- the county. The former head coach, who had been cumvented the prohibition on using student–athlete pressured into resignation in the initial wake of names by allowing users to modify and download the charges, filed suit against the university, as did rosters from an EA-hosted online server. Those other lacrosse players who had not been formally rosters are easily adapted to the real names of the charged. The president of Duke University, Richard players, and most “real” players have a digital ana- Brodhead, eventually apologized to the players logue present in the game (Kaburakis et al., 2009). and team, saying that the university had made the As with any intellectual property situation, families of the lacrosse players feel abandoned by several issues are at work. On the one hand are not reaching out to them during the process. the fundamental intellectual property rights of Furthermore, Brodhead was forced to address student–athletes, which frequently conflict with comments from faculty members at the univer- those of their institutions and the NCAA, and on sity, many of whom were venomously critical the other is the constitutionally recognized freedom and accusatory toward the players and team as a of expression, including commercial speech, that whole. Brodhead and the university were put into a communication professionals and industry execu- position where in effect they had to disavow those tives need to be aware of and incorporate in their comments, indicating that they did not represent communications and strategic planning. the sentiments of the university as a whole. At the same time, major corporations and athlet- The Duke lacrosse scandal highlights many of ics associations or governing bodies need to main- the pitfalls present when considering the legal and tain the balancing act between a positive public im- ethical aspects of sport public relations. Practitioners age measured against practical and mostly financial are often expected to respond to stories without considerations. Answers to the difficult questions knowing the complete story, and the comments posed by such conflicts often are provided by either and verbiage produced by the public relations 300 Legal and Ethical Dimensions of Sport Public Relations The Duke lacrosse team is a pe- rennial power, but the squad saw its season cancelled midyear in 2006 as a university response to a scandal. Peyton Williams/ICON SMI department are ultimately attributed to both the The most popular social networking sites, such individual and the organization. Numerous actors as Facebook and Twitter, allow athletes, coaches, are often at play in public relations scenarios, and and others to “be themselves” and interact with the added complications of technology, federal their friends and acquaintances. The vast majority law, and state statutes can serve to muddy already of athlete and coach actions on social networking unclear waters. This section examines some of the sites are innocuous and do not warrant concern. But major factors facing sport public relations workers incidents that occurred early in the development of in today’s digital age. social media and networking have created a great deal of caution among sport public relations profes- Social Networking sionals regarding these services. In 2006 the Northwestern University women’s Social networking represents a new and potentially soccer team became embroiled in a hazing contro- perilous frontier in the world of sport public rela- versy after several photos emerged that showed tions. The ability of athletes to maintain their own team members engaged in hazing-related activities publicly viewable web pages, filled with pictures, that the school and media considered embarrass- language, and interactive messages to friends, poses ing. Although no one is completely certain where quite a challenge for sport public relations workers, the photos were originally posted on the Internet, because of the potential exposure of damaging in- they spread like wildfire, ending up on several formation being uncovered by fans and the media. sport-related blogs. This incident, along with others 301 Sport Public Relations during the same period, caused sport public rela- from defamation of character claims, to libel, to tions officials to become increasingly concerned breach of contract in relation to sponsors. with athletes’ ability to post pictures and other To mitigate potential legal issues related to material on publicly viewable social media sites Twitter, sport organizations have taken steps to such as Facebook. minimize their players’ and coaches’ exposure. In the NBA, for example, players are not allowed to Dealing With Issues in Social tweet from 45 minutes before the start of a game Networking until after they have finished with their official duties. This no-tweeting policy includes halftime. Many sports information directors on the college The NBA has shown that they are serious about en- level have taken to putting on special workshops forcing this rule by fining Milwaukee Bucks player for their athletes to explain the potential pitfalls of Brandon Jennings $7,500 during the 2009–10 season social media. Beyond simply the fear of embarrass- for violating the Twitter rule. Other leagues, includ- ing materials being published, these institutions are ing the NFL, have instituted similar restrictions. also concerned with potential legal issues, including The sidebar titled The Legal Side of Sport Public libel, copyright violations, and other problems that Relations, written by John Koluder, offers advice on could arise from athletes under scholarship with using social media and other legal aspects of sport the school. Furthermore, the potential for liability public relations. issues exists, particularly with photographs of stu- dent–athletes engaged in behavior that violates local statutes and laws, such as those relating to alcohol Monitoring Social Networks consumption. There is no better way to prepare In addition, the