"Great crises tend to bring profound social change, for good or ill," wrote Lawrence Wright in a July edition of The New Yorker. "The consequences of wars and economic depressions have been amply studied; the consequences of pandemics, less so."
In Wright's column, he explores how plagues and pandemics of the past served as a catalyst for massive shifts in society and culture. As an example, the Bubonic Plague, which decimated Europe during the 14th century, was a tipping point for what we refer to now as "The Renaissance." Wright interviewed Gianna Pomata, a retired professor at the Institute of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, and she told him, “The Black Death really marks the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of something else.”
“What happens after the Black Death, it’s like a wind—fresh air coming in, the fresh air of common sense,” Pomata said. “After the Black Death, nothing was the same,” Pomata said. “What I expect now is something as dramatic is going to happen, not so much in medicine but in economy and culture. Because of danger, there’s this wonderful human response, which is to think in a new way.”
Fresh Thinking in Our Industry
There is no question that the individuals, teams, and organizations which make up the sports industry have had to think differently this year to keep their businesses afloat. With scheduled sporting events shut down for several months, the organizers of said events have had to scramble to fulfill obligations to sponsors, to pay their staff, or to simply try and save their businesses. Like many other business sectors, including travel and tourism, sports was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
From what I can gather, most of the new and different thinking about the sports industry has been about survival. At best, if sports-related businesses can tread water this year and perhaps through next year (until the end of the pandemic is clearly in sight), many business leaders will consider that a success. I can't and won't blame anybody who is responsible for payroll budgets for thinking merely about how they will maintain the status quo. The status quo is ensuring that your people have a job at the end of the week or month.
However, if we let the fresh air in for minute, I see no reason why we can't start to think about new and different ways to organize and operate the business of sports in the future. It's often been said that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. So, if we feel like there are things that could be better about our industry, perhaps the middle of a massive global health crisis isn't the worst time to share those ideas.
Growth Worship
Let’s talk about growth.
Is it just me, or is the entire business world obsessed with growth? C-suite executives and stock traders alike are constantly thinking about, monitoring, analyzing, and talking about growth. Revenue growth, growth in daily-active-users, share of market growth. It makes me want to create a growth Bingo game for frequent MSNBC or Fox Business viewers to fill out as they glue their eyes to the latest stock earnings reports.
I get it. Growth is a crucial metric to understand the health of businesses today and their potential future value down the line. The growth of a company over time, and the rate at which that company is growing compared to how they performed in previous quarters helps us to predict winners and losers in the stock market. For business leaders, it also demonstrates when it's time to double-down on a winning strategy, or to pull back, evaluate, and change course in the hopes of righting their company's ship.
We know that growth is an important part of business. It is one of the leading indicators of success and failure. But is it the most important thing for businesses to focus on?
If we weren't all obsessed with growth rates, what else might we put our energy into? Would businesses think more about sustainability and addressing climate change? Would executives have more time to improve their companies' cultures around equity, representation, and inclusion? Would we find a way to pay more people a living wage?
The more that I thought about the growth worship that exists in today's business culture, the more that I realized that the conversation happening around socially responsible business and the perpetual conversation about growth do not have to take place in separate silos. It seems to me, that if we really think about it, and we analyze the data and evidence that exists today, that we could make sustainability and social impact a primary driver for business growth.
As former Unilever CEO, Paul Polman has said, "We cannot choose between growth and sustainability - we must have both."
So, dear friends, if Mr. Polman is correct that we must focus on sustainability and growth; indeed, that we might achieve growth through sustainability, how do we go about doing that? Going a step further, how in the world do we do that in the sports and entertainment industry?
Growth Through Sustainability and Social Impact
There's no time like the present for all players in the sports and entertainment industry to re-calibrate and orient towards impact. For the purposes of this column, however, let's focus only on the idea of growth through sustainability for a professional sports franchise.
If a pro sports franchise in North America wanted to shift its business to operate with impact at the core of its day-to-day, how might it do so? Here are my recommendations on how to undertake this process.
1. Get clear on your purpose
If you don't know where you are going, how can you expect to get there? The first step in transforming your franchise's growth strategy is to get crystal clear on your purpose. This will not be easy. It won't be accomplished in one big brainstorming session with your executive teams. However, a clear vision on the positive impact you want to make on your community will inform how you do everything else going forward.
Consider every stakeholder in your franchise: Players, coaches, employees, and staff. Fans, alumni, local citizens, and government. Perhaps there are others to consider as well. As part of the process of determining your organization's purpose, engage with each of these stakeholders. Talk with them about your purpose. Ask about the problems in the community that they believe need the most resources and attention. It's all well and good to pick a purpose that means something to you, as a franchise. But if you neglect the other stakeholders surrounding you, your purpose will fail to resonate.
You may even wish to survey your stakeholders on their attitudes towards various purpose statements and plans that you lay out. It's difficult, or maybe even impossible to please everyone. However, the process of genuinely engaging with everyone will make it more likely that your stakeholders feel heard and seen.
Clarity of purpose will come when you are able to define in concise, simple terms, why your franchise exists. By the way, this will not include anything having to do with "winning championships" or "providing world-class entertainment to our fans." It's assumed that every franchise has those two goals in mind, so, why does your organization exist above and beyond winning and entertaining people?
2. Build your network of impact partners
Once your organization has developed a clear vision for the impact it wants to create in the world and in its community, the next step entails going outside of your building to identify and partner with impact organizations who can help you get there.
Many franchises have foundations, whose primary purpose, it seems, is to write checks to charity organizations. This is great, and I encourage this. However, when we are talking about building impact partners, we are not talking about simply writing checks and wishing the non-profit on the receiving end well. Instead, the idea here is to find partners that you can work closely with in pursuit of your common impact goals.
When you find an organization whose mission aligns with your franchise's purpose, figure out how you can build a long-term partnership. This partnership may include some form of ongoing funding (writing checks), but it should also include integrated programming that can be embedded into the day-to-day operations of your franchise.
For example, you may find an organization that focuses on youth health and well-being that you want to partner with. A way of integrating with that organization would be to offer your practice facility or your stadium on a regular basis, at no-cost, so that kids can exercise and workout like the pros. The difference is that on the one hand you are only providing financial support, whereas in a program like the previous example, you are leveraging a multitude of your franchise's assets in service to the community.
Building impact partnerships will take some time as well. There will likely be interviews, requests for proposals, vetting, and contract negotiations. Plus, you will need to flex your team's creative muscles to figure out ways to activate with those partners and hit measurable impact goals. You will also have to figure out how to communicate these partnerships with your stakeholders. However, all of this hard work will put you in position to be a tremendous resource to your fans, your community, and your world.
3. Go first. Do the work.
So, you've identified and articulated your purpose, and you've built meaningful partnerships and created an ecosystem of impact organizations to pursue that purpose. What next?
This step is simple, yet challenging. Get to work. Begin the process of working with your partners to bring about positive impact. This can be documented with photos, videos, and written content. But consider whether or not to publish this content right away.
What this step is about is demonstrating your commitment to your purpose. I call it "Going First." Don't wait until the cameras are rolling and the press is praising you for looking good in the public eye, do the work first. Before you can tell the story of how much impact you are having, you have to actually do the work first.
You can tell if you are making progress on this step if your staff and your impact partners are hearing the words "Thank you," from the people and communities you serve. It's not sexy. It won't get you a ton of engagement on social media. Heck, it might not even help you sell a single ticket or piece of merchandise. But doing the work is a long-term investment in your community. It's not necessarily about growing your business today or this year. It's about building close connections with the people in your city, and investing in their well-being for the next five to ten years.
4. Amplify with corporate sponsors
OK. Now it's time to talk about money! More specifically, how you can invite in and include your corporate partners into your mission.
There's a ton of evidence that today's consumer will be more likely to buy products and services from a brand that supports a social cause over a brand that doesn’t. I won't hit you with those statistics here, but go ahead and Google "conscious consumers" and you will find a ton of information about this trend in customer behavior.
With that in mind, if and when your organization gets on the path towards being a positive force for good, your corporate sponsors will want to find a way to get involved. They are desperate to demonstrate to the public that they stand for more than just profits, and, done the right way, your franchise can help them do just that.
The way I like to think about this step, is figuring out ways that your corporate sponsors can serve as amplifiers, or force multipliers for your purpose. Sponsors can help your organization go from making a small impact on a few individuals to making a larger impact on many individuals. There's multiple ways that this could manifest.
As one example, if your franchise is investing a percentage of ticket sales or merchandise sales into a specific cause, a sponsor could come in and double or triple that investment. Or perhaps your franchise has developed a volunteer program to serve meals to individuals and families which have become food insecure. Your sponsor's employees participate in a joint volunteer day so that more meals could be served.
There's a lot of upside to be realized when you invite your corporate sponsors to do good with your organization. Not only when we are talking about impact, which is the goal, but also when it comes to driving business goals for the sponsor. Yes, there will still be social media posts, and in-game signage and activations which you'll have to deliver. However, by inviting your corporate sponsors to get involved in your purpose, you will take the relationship to another level.
Sponsors are demanding more out of their property partners. So, give them more in the form of community impact activations. Show them that they can build better connections with their target markets by doing good. Doing this will create wins for your sponsors, wins for your team, and, most importantly, wins for the community.
5. Invite all stakeholders to join in on the journey
The last step in the process is to get all of your organization's stakeholders engaged in the process of doing good. Invite your fans, local government officials, local citizens (who aren't necessarily fans) to get involved with your mission. Make it clear to them that you can't complete your mission without them. Develop clear and simple ways for your stakeholders to gain ownership in the mission, and then empower them take action.
What you are going for here is engagement. By inviting stakeholders surrounding your franchise into the mix, you are welcoming them to participate in something special. Something that's bigger than themselves. Almost everyone in your community is looking for this. A sense of purpose for themselves and their families. Give it to them. Invite them in and show them how they can do good for others as well.
Champions On & Off the Field
If your franchise is ever fortunate enough to climb to the top of its sport, and win a championship, it will feel incredible for a few weeks. Your players, coaches, and employees will be ecstatic. Your fans will be overjoyed. For a while, your entire city will feel like it is on top of the world.
However, in every sport, every year, there can only be one champion. Not only that, but eventually everyone will have to come down from that championship high. Life goes on, and the next season begins all too soon.
Some franchises can go entire generations without winning a championship (hello Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs). Others have never won a championship before! With this in mind, understand that pro sports franchises have to find something else to engage their fans and their community with on a daily basis. A higher purpose that is meaningful, even if your team is piling up more losses than wins. Something that will build deep, lasting bonds with everyone who interacts with your franchise.
This is the power of purpose. You can't promise your fans a championship every year, but you can promise them that your organization will be a powerful, positive influence in their lives. You can't always sell more tickets or merchandise, and grow your sponsorship revenue, but you can grow the good will of the people in your community.
If you want to grow, for the long-term, choose to do good. Choose to be more than a sports and entertainment business. Choose to be an agent for meaningful positive impact. If you do, you have an opportunity to be a champion for your community, every single day.