Public Relations Review 34 (2008) 108–115 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Public Relations Review Unique crisis response strategies in sports public relations: Rugby league and the case for diversion Toni Bruce a,* , Tahlia Tini b,1 a Department of Sport and Leisure Studies, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand b P.O. Box 66-160, Beachhaven, Auckland, New Zealand article info Keywords: Crisis communication Rugby league Sport Diversion Australia abstract Sport is a unique ‘product’ in that most of its messages and images are conveyed through media coverage rather than through advertising or sales campaigns. While the coverage is usually positive, media interest becomes more problematic in high profile scandals which can be very damaging. In this paper, we propose that the culture of elite men’s sport and its interdependence with mass media creates a situation in which sports public relations personnel have access to crisis communication strategies not previously specified in the existing literature. Based on textual analysis of media coverage of an Australasian men’s rugby league salary cap scandal, we argue that, in certain situations, a sports organisation may draw upon a crisis response strategy that we term diversion in order to successfully limit the damage to the organisation’s reputation. In particular, we suggest that the often intense ‘relationship’ that fans have with players may allow team sports to focus attention on players (and fans) as innocent victims with the result that negative publicity for the sport overall is reduced. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. The unique arena of sports public relations Despite a lack of research there is little doubt that professional sport is a unique realm of public relations (L’Etang, 2006). First, much of its publicity occurs through media coverage and is, therefore, much less controllable than paid advertising or sales campaigns. On the positive side, the high levels and credibility of media coverage help create and strengthen strong bonds with fans and feed an “insatiable appetite for sport material” (McGregor & Harvey, 1999, p. 251). On the down side, however, ‘negative’ stories can seriously damage the reputation and popularity of an organisation and affect the bottom line in areas such as attendance, merchandising, sponsorship and endorsement deals (see Shilbury, Quick & Westerbeek, 1998). It is generally accepted that professional sport and the media are involved in a symbiotic, interdependent relationship where “each depends on the other for its commercial success and its prominent place in the popular culture” (Coakley, 1998, p. 380). Although this relationship is primarily available to male, professional and globally mediated sports, the value of sport to the broadcast media in particular should not be underestimated as it has led to exponentially increasing amounts paid for broadcast rights to major events. Live broadcast sport thus becomes a key arena for positive public relations for sports organisations, in large part because broadcasting rights holders “are not in the business of casting aspersions on the event for which they have forked out large sums of money” (Barnett, 1990, p. 164). * Corresponding author. Tel.: +64 7 838 4500; fax: +64 7 838 4555. E-mail addresses: tbruce@waikato.ac.nz (T. Bruce), tahllulah@hotmail.com (T. Tini). 1 Author is an aspiring fiction writer who has just completed her first novel. 0363-8111/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2008.03.015