United We Stand, Divided We Kneel: Examining Perceptions of the NFL Anthem Protest on Organizational Reputation

Abstract

<jats:p> During a 2016 National Football League (NFL) preseason game, former San Francisco 49er quarterback, Colin Kaepernick sat during the playing of the national anthem in protest of police brutality. His actions prompted national outrage: ultimately calling into question his national identity and patriotism towards the United States. The anthem protest continued throughout the 2016 and through the 2017 season. Consequently, the NFL decided to implement a national anthem policy to discipline players who continued to protest. Thus, this study examined individuals’ perceptions of the NFL’s crisis responsibility in handling the anthem protest and how it affected their reputation. Further, this study examined national identity and patriotism as mediators between crisis responsibility and organizational reputation. Results indicated that national identity did not serve as a mediator and that only one level of patriotism mediated the relationship. A discussion was also forwarded. </jats:p>

The Effects of Athlete Activism on League Credibility, Event Legacy, and Event Involvement: A Crisis Communication Perspective

“…The #TakeAKnee movement initiated by Kaepernick has attracted considerable scholarly attention in the fields of sport management and communication (Boykoff & Carrington, 2020; insights into the movement's impact on consumer perceptions and behaviors (Anderson, 2020;Watanabe & Cunningham, 2020). In the present study, we aimed to contribute to this line of research by examining league credibility as a key psychological factor that bridges the gap between the controversy over the #TakeAKnee movement and consumer outcomes.…”

“…Several researchers have focused on how the #TakeAKnee movement affected consumer outcomes (Anderson, 2020;Watanabe & Cunningham, 2020). Anderson (2020) examined the relationships between consumers' personal characteristics (e.g., national identification, patriotism) and their evaluations of the NFL's crisis responsibility and reputation.…”

“…Several researchers have focused on how the #TakeAKnee movement affected consumer outcomes (Anderson, 2020;Watanabe & Cunningham, 2020). Anderson (2020) examined the relationships between consumers' personal characteristics (e.g., national identification, patriotism) and their evaluations of the NFL's crisis responsibility and reputation. Anderson showed that consumers' evaluation of the NFL's reputation was influenced by the ways in which the league handled the controversy over the #TakeAKnee movement.…”

“…Researchers (e.g., Anderson, 2020;Rugg, 2020) have offered unique insights into the NFL's handling of the protest by focusing on major actions such as the announcement of the new national anthem policy and the launch of a new social justice initiative. However, little scholarly attention has been paid to the league's initial communication efforts before those major actions.…”

“…The controversy over the #TakeAKnee movement caused a reputational crisis; thus, the ways in which the NFL handled the situation can be analyzed from a crisis communication perspective (Anderson, 2020). According to situational crisis communication theory (SCCT), stakeholders attribute a certain level of responsibility for a crisis to an organization, which determines the impact of the crisis on the organization's reputation and the effectiveness of the #TAKEAKNEE, LEAGUE CREDIBILITY, AND EVENT LEGACY 9 organization's crisis response strategy (Coombs, 2006(Coombs, , 2007Coombs & Holladay, 2002).…”