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02/15 2011

ETHICS: ESPN’S College Gameday Crew Had Super-Secret Nike Deals. Should We Be Concerned?

Posted by Dan Levy.

I’m not really sure how we’re supposed to feel about stories like this anymore. Richard Sandomir of the NYT with the dirty work:

Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso have deals with Nike that Corso described as a joint arrangement that largely involves speaking engagements for the athletic shoe and apparel company.

After an inquiry to ESPN about the announcers’ Nike contracts, Josh Krulewitz, an ESPN spokesman, said that Fowler, the host of “GameDay,” is “ending his minor association” with Nike “to avoid any potential perception issues.” Fowler was not made available for an interview.

Corso, Fowler and Herbstreit’s deals with Nike were never announced or disclosed to viewers. “We were unaware of these deals,” Krulewitz said.

There are two big reasons why this is news. First, a big deal was made about Erin Andrews signing a deal with Reebok, with some sports media types wondering if it could develop into a conflict of interest for the reporter. Second, and perhaps most importantly, nobody knew about these Nike deals? ESPN’s PR office didn’t even know? That’s crazy, isn’t it?

Or is it?

When I worked at Rutgers, we were forced to disclose any outside athletic income, something I vigorously fought because it’s not the state’s business to know how much side money I was making doing brochures for local summer camps. So by that logic — and considering ESPN is a private company and not a state-run institution of higher learning — nobody should care if Fowler, Herbstreit or Corso were endorsing a local window company, or the biggest shoe and sports apparel manufacturer on the planet, so long as it didn’t impede upon their day jobs.

Having said that, part of the reason for the disclosure I was forced to submit was so the state — and the athletic department — would know if there was any conflict of interest in my side work. If, for example, I was paid to design the Seton Hall basketball media guide on the side, that would have obviously fallen into the “conflict of interest” category. So is an undisclosed deal with Nike a conflict of interest for the Gameday crew? Or, more aptly stated, is there a question of ETHICS or dare-I-say “journalistic integrity” here?

I want to say no. I want to believe that one of the best studio shows in all of sports is above reproach when it comes to the integrity behind its reporting, commentary and opinions. But we can’t be sure.

We can’t be sure if Herbstreit or Corso have picked some Nike schools with their pre-game prognostications more out of brand loyalty than a fair assessment of the talent on the field. We want to believe they’d never do that. We should believe they’d never do that. But the doubt is there, especially because the deals were never publicly disclosed and double-especially (word?) because ESPN is saying they didn’t even know about it.

Having said all that, there are conflicts everywhere. One of the top stories on ESPN’s College Football page is the report that Jadeveon Clowney is going to South Carolina, picking the Gamecocks over Clemson and Alabama. South Carolina is a Gatorade school. Look at the huge Gatorade logos on ESPN.com. Could this be an elaborate plot hatched by Gatorade to promote one of its partners? Is ESPN complicit? Are they playing favorites? Can ESPN be trusted? Or is it one big coincidence?

With regard to the Gameday crew, it’s incredible that ESPN didn’t know about these deals. It’s more incredible that the ESPN contracts are written in such a way that their talent can sign deals like this without disclosing the potential conflict of interest to the WWL. That will probably change because of this.

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Posted on February 15, 2011 at 12:39PM

 

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  1. Jack Pierce
    02/15 2011

    This story just stinks to high heaven, but it will be brushed aside like all the other ESPN peccadillos are brushed aside. It’s a magical fairy land up there, full of gumdrops and happy little elves.