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| Ari Fleischer helped manage the press for President George W. Bush as White House press secretary. Now he wants to do the same for sports teams. |
After 21 years in politics and communications, Ari Fleischer resigned last July as White House press secretary for President George W. Bush. Before that, he served as communications director for the House Committee on Ways and Means and as press secretary to New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici. He was communications director for Elizabeth Dole’s presidential campaign and joined the Bush campaign after Dole quit the 2000 race.
Fleischer hired sports marketing and management agency IMG to help his company, Washington-based Ari Fleischer Communications, find public relations clients in the sports world. He spoke recently with SportsBusiness Journal New York Bureau Chief Jerry Kavanagh.
You have hired IMG? Or has IMG hired you?
Fleischer: It’s really mutual. We both looked at each other and thought there were good things we could do for one another.
Of all the directions in which to go, why sports?
Fleischer: It’s just a natural love of mine. It’s an interest I’ve always had. Now that I’ve left the White House, I’ve gone back to reading the newspapers the way I used to, which is the sports section first.
Is that like going from the fire into the frying pan? From politics to sports?
Fleischer: It is. There are many similarities between what you go through in politics and what you go through in sports when it comes to the media. Who else has a section of the paper dedicated to themselves? News figures and sports figures. Who else has live coverage of their events? Who else is under daily, intense, sometimes ridiculous scrutiny? Politicians and sports figures.
I’ll give you an example. As soon as President Bush — or Governor Bush — lost the New Hampshire primary, the media was asking, “Are you going to fire Karl Rove?” Now that some people are saying Dick Cheney is unpopular, people are asking the president, “Are you going to keep Cheney on the ticket?”
If you’re an owner of a football team, and your team starts out 0-3, the immediate question is, “Are you going to fire the head coach?” To a manager, “Are you going to bench the guy?” after a player let a ball go through his legs.
The press preys on problems, difficulties, personality and personnel issues. In government I have a wealth of experience in dealing with it. And the same instincts and skills that work in government apply to sports.
Sandy Montag of IMG said, “If you watched [Ari’s] press conferences, you could tell by his sports references that he took a special thrill in that.”
Fleischer: I used a lot of sports metaphors in talking about government business. I think it’s a way that average people can quickly grasp what government is up to if you can break down complicated issues and put them in sports terms.
More than a month after declaring war in 1941, President Roosevelt urged Commissioner Kenesaw Landis “to keep baseball going … as a chance for recreation and for taking [people’s] minds off their work even more than before.” How important are sports in this country?
Fleischer: Hugely important. Sports, as we saw after Sept. 11 when baseball resumed, helped show America was getting back to normal. Sports — what else is so attractive to tens of millions? What else can bring people to their feet to cry, to cry with sadness and joy? It’s a marvelous outlet for the American people, and for people around the world.
Pat Williams of the Orlando Magic said that after 9/11 he was so proud to be working in sports because he feels it’s the heartbeat of the country, what gives America its juice.
Fleischer: When the president threw that perfect strike right down the heart of home plate in the opening game of the World Series in the Bronx in 2001, it was a little over one month after the attack. The crowd roared “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A” so loud, the stadium shook. And it was at a time when everyone in this country wanted to feel good about being an American. And who would have thought that a ceremonial first pitch would give everybody a reason to cheer “U-S-A, U-S-A?”
Do you have a favorite sport? Favorite team?
Fleischer: Favorite sport is baseball. I’m a big baseball fan and football fan. Favorite baseball team is the Yankees. Favorite football team is the Miami Dolphins.
Montag said you are a unique client because IMG never before signed a “public relations/crisis management person.” What is the biggest crisis facing sports today?
Fleischer: It really varies from team to team, I think, from individual to individual. Certainly, if you’re Kobe Bryant, you’ve got a unique problem. If you’re Major League Baseball, you have a different nature of problem. If you’re the baseball players union, you have a different type of problem.
And that’s why I think this type of work can be helpful. Because teams’ needs aren’t simple. They can’t be broken down to one category.
You have spoken to the NFL clubs at one of their meetings. Joe Browne, NFL executive vice president of communications, said some of the club media directors were amazed about how much you already knew about their business. Can you talk a little about that?
Fleischer: I gave a speech to the 32 communication directors who were gathered in Chicago. But I have not done any work directly.
I’ll tell you where the genesis of this is. In 2002, MLB brought the top rookie prospects to the White House. It was part of a four-day training program. They spent half a day at the White House. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez addressed the players. About half of them were Hispanic, and he talked to them in Spanish about what it was like to come to America speaking no English and make it to the top ranks of American citizenry. The kids were captivated. It was a great success story that they warmed to.
And my turn came. I talked to these players, these 19-, 20- and 21-year-old star athletes — millionaires all — about the scrutiny and intensity of the media and the importance of keeping your head in the game on the field and in the clubhouse when you’re talking to the media. Don’t make mental errors in the field. Don’t make mental errors in the clubhouse.
And much to my surprise, these baseball players, these future stars, their eyes were wide open. They were absorbing it all. They found it relevant. And that’s when the idea hit me how great the similarities are between what I did for a living and what sports figures go through.
Let’s get to the real personal stuff.  |
| Banfield |
Time magazine has put the odds of your winning celebrity Jeopardy! at 4 to 1, which are better odds than it gives Ashleigh Banfield [7 to 1] but worse than those it gives Al Franken [3 to 1] and Christie Todd Whitman [2 to 1].
Fleischer: I should be worse than Ashleigh Banfield. I put my odds at about 50 to 1. It’ll air the first week in May. I have a feeling I’ll be one of those people who’s frozen, standing there holding my buzzer.
What are you reading?
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| Fleischer’s catch-up reading includes the boy wizard. |
Fleischer: I’ve been flying through the Harry Potter series, so I’m on the third book right now. I’m also reading a biography of Thomas Jefferson.
Do you find you have a little more time to read nowadays?
Fleischer: I’ve probably read more books since I left the White House in July than I read the previous four years.
Look for more of this conversation in our sister publication, The Sports Business Daily, located at www.sportsbusinessdaily.com.
