There’s a reason US sports haven’t had an Israel Folau-like scandal
Australian sports are lagging behind North America when it comes to LGBTQI inclusion, argue Erik Denison and Sarah Kogod, who work with US sporting codes like the NBA and NFL. But stepping up isn't just necessary to avoid future Israel Folau-like scandals. It's good business.
American sport has not been immune to professional athletes behaving badly. But no athlete has ever posted something anti-gay to social media, then refused to take it down. This is despite America’s deep evangelical roots, and fierce protection of freedom of speech.
How is it possible that America has never had an Israel Folau? We were asked this many times as we travelled Australia recently, speaking with sport administrators, corporate sponsors, and government about how to embrace diversity despite controversies plaguing the NRL, rugby, cricket, and soccer. And since then, Folau has lodged a claim with the Fair Work Commission, seeking $10m in damages.
Home of the brave, or the commercially savvy?
North America is way ahead of Australia when it comes to ending LGBTQI discrimination in sport.
The majority of North American teams and all major leagues hold Pride activities, spanning hundreds of teams, millions of fans and generating millions of dollars in merchandise sales for the NFL, NHL, NBA, and other leagues. It’s massive.
Even the Yankees, one of the last teams to come to the Pride party, announced a yearly $50,000 scholarship fund for LGBTQI youth last year, which was awarded for the first time last month.
Meanwhile… in Australia
Australian sporting organisations are doing relatively little in the LGBTQI space, despite the five major codes signing a pledge to end homophobia in 2014. Interestingly, codes took collective action in the same-sex marriage campaign, it was widely supported by fans.
This means local sports organisations are leaving millions of dollars on the table by not seriously embracing Pride as a legitimate revenue stream. As more organisations in Australia, and especially sponsors, begin to understand this, those that don’t will fall behind and be forced to catch up.
Just one sport here (AFL) and one team (either St Kilda or the Swans) host an annual Pride game.
It was clear from conversations with sponsors that corporate Australia is also surprised and disappointed by the lack of action. Few partnership and commercial managers, with the exception of those from cricket and rugby union, attended events designed to bring sponsors and sports into the same room to discuss how to navigate LGBTQI inclusion.
But, tellingly, these events were well-attended by sponsors, who were curious about how they can encourage sports to do more and mitigate risk. Indeed, NAB shared why the bank has funded Pride Cup, and executives from ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, Citi, Amex, BMW, Woolworths, Tab Corp, The Star, Vodafone, IAG, Virgin and the Victorian and Commonwealth governments attended.
How has America avoided its own Israel Folau scandal?
The situation with Israel Folau is complex. But America has never had an equivalent because of the proactive education players receive from their organisations, and the clear financial deterrent.
The US LGBTQI community was recently valued at over $1tn in spending power. Add to that the findings from global research which shows that young people are choosing to spend their money on brands that represent social good.
Commercial partners are also asking much more from sponsorships than simply ROI. They also want partnerships to align with brand values and help achieve CSR objectives.
In 2017, cricket’s major sponsor, Commonwealth Bank, started requiring all partners to commit to embracing diversity, and ended its longstanding $50m sponsorship of male cricket, moving its money to women’s, Indigenous, and disability cricket programs. And women’s rugby faced a similar situation with Buildcorp.
Engaging and supporting the LGBTQI community is good business.
What does Australian sport need to do to catch up?
Start small. Build your initiatives over multiple seasons. That’s the approach taken by the NHL, which started with a few Pride nights that grew to a multitude of events across the entire league.
And LGBTQI fans, athletes, and employees need to do a better job of making the business case for investing in Pride activations, focusing on ROI.
Doing nothing is not an option. Media, sponsors, the public, and government funders are paying much closer attention to how sports approach LGBTQI issues. And being proactive can help prevent, or at least mitigate, the damage caused by a homophobia-related incident, like that of Folau’s.
Sports organisations in Australia need to be on the right side of history. And, after the fallout of the Folau scandal, they need to act now.
Erik Denison is leading research at Monash University focused on finding effective solutions sport organisations can use to reduce homophobic language and embrace diversity. Previously, he was a senior communication and issues management strategist at WE Buchan.
Sarah Kogod works with You Can Play, an organisation that works with almost every major US sporting league, including the NHL, NBA, and NFL, teaching them to successfully navigate and engage with the LGBTQI community.
Thanks for the article, very interesting insight into USA sports business.
However I cant help but think the Folau issue is slightly different – the inference this article makes is that players in the States do not make the same sort of potentially harmful proclamations in fear of harming the business of their sport. Is this really the case? Are they that commercially mindful? Or are they even that altruistic when it comes to the commercial success of their league or club?
I am not sure Folau cared one jot about the commercial upside of inclusion – he (for all its faults) has a belief that goes beyond money and proudly proclaimed it via his own channels.
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I think this article is incorrect in many of its assumptions and very badly researched.
Religious decriminalisation like what happened to Israel Folau had not happened in America because they already have clear laws protecting religious freedom. The First Amendment (Amendment I) for example protects religious freedom and the expression of religious opinions etc. The 1st is part of the supreme law of the land.
Australia on the other hand do not even have a Religious Decriminalisation Act, nor do they have a Religious discrimination commissioner (they have sex, race, age, disability etc commissioners within the human rights commission).
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“But no athlete [in America] has ever posted something anti-gay to social media, then refused to take it down.”
Results of a quick google:
Tim Tebow (American baseballer, former football quarterback) is well known for preaching and sharing online that no individual should have a sexual relationship outside of man-woman marriage. Nobody’s sacked him.
Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers Quarterback), a Catholic, ‘regularly speaks to youth groups’ about abstaining from sex outside of man-woman marriage. Again, nobody sacked him.
There are also large numbers of mormon athletes, including Jimmer Fredette (basketball). The Mormon church statement of faith, which all Mormon members must sign, describes same-sex marriage as a ‘serious transgression’ and ‘immorality’ that will bar a participating individual from attending temple services (oh, and lead to the individual going to hell). Go trawl through every Mormon athlete’s social media accounts and you’ll find plenty of posts you’ll probably term as ‘anti-gay’!
America is just more tolerant that Rugby Australia
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Your article makes for interesting reading but does not deal with the core message Folau was trying to convey. That’s not the premise of your article of course. Naturally, people generally are reactive to anything they don’t agree with. That’s their prerogative. Perhaps you may not have read a piece written by Kel Richards in The Weekend Australian, June 1-2, 2019 – ‘Folau’s faith compelled him to shout a warning: repent’. I also don’t think you’ve heard of a Christian Apologist named Ravi Zacharias (and many others) who defend Christian teaching against homosexuality. It has nothing to do with that ugly word ‘homophobic’. If you dig far enough, you won’t find hate, you’ll find true love of others. I challenge you both to find whom and what that true love is…
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The reason is that in the US Folau style statements are so common that the media doesn’t bother making much fuss about them. They are not seen as news worthy and no athlete is sacked for making such statements. There is an organisation for Christian athletes (FCA) that makes statements that far exceed Folau’s.
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He certainly seems conscious of the financial impact given he is suing for $10m in damages.
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The Sydney Sixers themed one their 7 home games last season LGBTI Night #PrideParty at the SCG, a fabulous example of inclusion.
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I think this comment is incorrect in many of its assumptions and very badly researched. The article isn’t about discrimination OF Israel Folau, it’s about discrimination FROM Israel Folau.
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Yes we need a religious discrimination act and a religious discrimination commissioner.
In my life I have seen so much appalling discrimination here in Australia by numerous and various religious organisations. They definitely need keeping avery close eye on.
No-one is stoppimg Folau from ‘practising his religion’ (as he puts it). He is 100% free to practice it. But I wasn’t aware that part of practicing his religion means spewing forth vile homophobic tweets. Fortunately he is the exception to the rule and harming the image of many of his ilk. Not that he would care about that.
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Except they have had a Falu-like scandal
Colin Kaepernick took a knee for the national anthem in a protest “against racial injustice and systematic oppression in the US”.
Fans sent death threats, the owners destroy his career and the media did everything they could to ruin his life. Even the President was baying for blood, challenging the owners to sack the player. All because he drew attention to real injustices within American society.
Interesting to note the player got his payout, which I imagine Folau will too, which will be an undisclosed figure of course.
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I think this is being framed as an inclusion issue when it isn’t.
As other have observed, many US sports stars have expressed opinions that many would see as regressive, but there is no scandal. This is because anti-homosexual views endorsed by religious groups are more common in the public conversation in the US, so an athlete sharing these views is not seen as an outlier.
No amount of Pride events will change that – indeed the US shows is that this is true.
This issue goes much deeper than inclusion and pride flags. It is about society and culture, including sport. If anything, the Folau case is a huge positive for Australia.
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Digging up this thread. So who won with RA cutting a deal with Falau?
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