Best News Network

Activist athletes threaten future of sport claims Aussie media executive

Athletes who agitate against sponsorships from certain companies for ethical reasons harm the growth of sport, says a senior Australian media executive.

Michael Miller, the Executive Chairman of News Corp Australasia, said in a panel discussion at the SportNXT conference that “stars” were a sports’ greatest strength but also potentially its greatest liability.

“When sporting stars become activists, it has a negative impact on the growth of the game, in terms of athletes choosing who their sponsors are and who they will and won’t work with,” Miller said.

“I find that athletes feel they have permission to make those statements, but other organisations wouldn’t accept it,” he added.

“If you don’t want to work for that organisation, you leave and work elsewhere.”

no caption

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

News Corp enjoys a major influence on Australian sport through its broadcast contracts, which pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the country’s most popular leagues.

Miller said that high-profile athletes would not be hurt by the results of their lobbying against certain sponsors but it would have an impact further down the food chain.

“Their pay isn’t going to suffer, but ultimately it’s the grassroot and pathway programmes that will,” he said.

Ethical sponsorship has become a hot-button issue in Australian sport in recent years, with several athletes raising concerns about corporate backers.

Australian bowler Pat Cummins

Australian cricketer Pat Cummins.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Australia test cricket captain Pat Cummins said last year he wanted climate to be a “real priority” when choosing sponsors and said he had spoken to Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley about his concerns.

In October last year, Cricket Australia agreed to cut short a multi-year sponsorship with Alinta Energy, citing a change in the energy company’s brand strategy.

That same month, Hancock Prospecting, owned by billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart, withdrew a A$15 million sponsorship from Netball Australia after players refused to wear the company’s logo on their kit.

-Reuters

Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our  Twitter, & Facebook

We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.

For all the latest Sports News Click Here 

 For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! NewsAzi is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.