Saturday, June 6, 2009

Another Head-Scratcher By the Yankees


Well, the Yankees went ahead and did it again. You may remember a posting on this blog a few weeks ago (May 16) where I examined the Yankees public relations efforts regarding criticisms and negative feedback from fans and the media about some of the team’s new stadium policies.

The overall point of the blog was that the Yankees need to wrangle in their front office staff members who had been speaking with the media in a reckless fashion, hurting the organization’s public image.

I recommended, strongly, that the Yankees leave the media statements to just one or two appropriate staff members who are trained and skilled in public relations. This way, the organization can better avoid making inappropriate and contradicting statements.

This past week saw a completely new representative, speaking on behalf of the Yankees, quoted in the media regarding an important issue and hurting the team with an ill advised statement.

The issue revolves around the new players’ parking lot and loss of autograph opportunities for fans.

Up until this season the players’ parking lot was outside the stadium, so players had to walk from the lot into the players’ entrance. As a result, fans were able to wait outside the players’ entrance and try to meet players and get autographs.

It was a wonderful experience for fans who got to the ballpark a little early for the chance of seeing your favorite players up close and saying hello and trying to snag an autograph. It was truly a thrill (I’m writing from personal experience).

But now, with the new stadium, this opportunity has been eliminated because the players’ parking lot was built underneath the ballpark and players can now get inside the stadium without walking by a single fan.

So with so many unhappy fans voicing complaints and their disappointment over this, the Yankees responded with a statement from AJ Romeo, the director of Yankees-Steiner Collectibles (part of Steiner Sports Memorabilia), encouraging fans to visit their store inside Yankee Stadium to satisfy their autograph requests. “We still give the fans an opportunity to get an autographed baseball,” Romeo said.

Wow…is Mr. Romeo really that out of touch? Does he not understand that the joy of getting an autograph for most fans is not just the possession of an inanimate object with a signature but the thrill of the chase and then the actual face-to-face interaction with the players?

Incidentally, on a recent trip to Yankee Stadium, I surveyed the prices at Yankees-Steiner Collectibles and found, while accompanied by a store staff member, that the least expensive autograph offered is a $150 framed Yogi Berra picture. The least expensive Derek Jeter autographed-item is a $600 framed picture.

Oh, and just for fun, the most overall expensive item in the store is an autographed Mariano Rivera mitt used in a 2007 regular season game (not any special or historic game, just an ordinary regular season game). The price: $22,000.

So it’s clear that Mr. Romeo either has absolutely no idea why fans seek autographs or he just severely underestimates the intelligence of the fans. To imply that fans can appease their desire for autographs by visiting his store and paying hundreds of dollars for autographs is absurd.

But the bigger issue, public relations-wise, is why the Yankees allowed Mr. Romeo to speak to the media on the organization’s behalf in the first place?

Steiner Sports has an exclusive contract with the Yankees for game-used memorabilia, so they are a business partner of the New York Yankees. But does that qualify a director from the company to address important issues involving the new stadium and fan complaints in the media?

In my earlier post I suggested the Yankees should leave their media statements to both the team’s director of media relations, Jason Zillo, and its general manager, Brian Cashman – and nobody else.

Zillo did offer a quote regarding the autograph situation that was safe, although carrying little substance, by stating that players and fans were still adjusting to the new ballpark and the organization was making efforts to better connect player and fans.

If I had to guess, I’d say Romeo was not cleared by the Yankees to speak to the media on the team’s behalf or address any of its issues. I think the New York Times reporter, A.G. Sulzberger, who wrote a story on this topic (click here to read), picked up the phone, called Steiner Sports and got his quote.

When Mr. Sulzberger’s call came in, Steiner Sports should have either referred the reporter to the Yankees P.R. department or asked for some time to draw up a statement, get the Yankees to approve the statement, and then offer it to the reporter and The New York Times. Which I don’t believe was done.

This is another clear indication that the Yankees continue to struggle with their public relations.


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