Devoted to branding and building and protecting brands

Marketers and brand jockeys, take note: The scandals rocking pro football, basketball and big-league baseball right now may not be the "perfect storm" that brings them down, there are too many die-hards and true believers for that, but make no mistake: there will be some degree of brand fall-out for sure.

Seems ironic that while the financial success of the NFL, NBA and Major League baseball is off the charts, and attendance has never been higher, cynicism and skepticism abound.  This is the equivalent of dry brush and Santa Ana winds during a fire.  We're all aware of pro contracts that put even modestly successful athletes in the same tax bracket as A-list movie stars and Wall Street moguls.  But all of this, and even the steroid cloud over baseball, pales compared to more recent revelations in football and hoops.

Atlanta QB Michael Vick's alleged association with dogfighting, not to mention the kinds of characters who operate and profit from it, only amplifies the less-than- savory stereotype of the Escalade-driving, heat-packing, bling-flashing exponent of today's NFL.  I've never bought into the notion that pro athletes are supposed to be role models.  But the reality is that a lot of kids, especially the ones who, shall we say, aren't exactly blessed with ideal parents, when they can claim parents at all, tend to take many of their behavioral cues from these guys.  At least when not taking cues from imagery of rap videos or "games" that revolve around car-theft, carjacking and associated mayhem. This is not good.  

The week's capper, however, was the revelation that an NBA referee may have officiated in games on which he had bet.  If you're commish David Stern, you have a brand-promise credibility issue that makes Shaq's sneakers look like trinkets for a charm bracelet.  What each brand -- MLB, the NFL and NBA -- does, and does not do, to reclaim their respective promises to fan/customers, may constitute biz-school case studies in the next few years: studies in what -- and what NOT -- to do in the aftermath of crisis.