Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Business & Economy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Business & Economy

‘Navigating Post-COVID-19 Requires Listening, Adaptation to Rebuild Fan Trust’

Friday, June 5, 2020, By News Staff
Share
Faculty VoicesNewhouse School of Public Communications
man's face

Brad Horn

Brad Horn is a professor of practice in public relations in the Newhouse School.

It has been more than two months since sports—and life—came to an abrupt halt. The COVID-19 pandemic has been full of unknowns, but when it comes to the sports and entertainment world, there is a universal undercurrent to it all coming back: trust. The ability for brands, leagues and venues to restore trust in the public will depend on the industry’s capacity to listen to consumers first, Horn states in a Sports Business Daily op-ed written with Syracuse University alumnus Dave Donovan ’92, executive vice president and director of sports for DKC.

“All signs point to a post-pandemic landscape where fans simply don’t just return to gathering just because they can. According to a Seton Hall Sports Poll released in April, only 13% of Americans would feel safe to attend sporting events under any circumstance, and 72% said they would not attend games until a vaccine for COVID-19 is found. That is a stark window into a changed psyche. It means that, among other things, fan engagement must be at the top of the priority list for every brand, athlete, organization, and league moving forward,” the pair writes.

“The question of ‘How are you?’ has never been so important to ask, and never been so critical for the sports industry to understand. It’s the one question we can’t find in our advanced data methods. Simply put: It is the single most important question to help determine when fans are ready to physically re-engage.”

To read Horn and Donovan’s full commentary, visit Sports Business Journal.

Syracuse University media relations team members work regularly with the campus community to secure placements of op-eds. Anyone interested in writing an op-ed should first review the University’s op-ed guidelines and email media@syr.edu.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Future of News Production the Focus of NSF Planning Grant
    Thursday, January 21, 2021, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • College of Law Adds Vincent H. Cohen ’92, L’95 to Board of Advisors
    Wednesday, January 20, 2021, By Martin Walls
  • Students Invited to Network and Skill-Build with Alumni
    Wednesday, January 20, 2021, By Gabrielle Lake
  • ‘Confronting ‘Who We Are”
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021, By News Staff
  • Arts and Sciences Welcomes New Director of Forensics Kathleen Corrado
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021, By Dan Bernardi

More In Business & Economy

Female Sport Analytics Students Look to Transform Their Love of Math, Sports into STEM Careers

Syracuse University senior Bailie Brown will be the first female to earn a bachelor’s degree in sport analytics from the Falk College when she completes her coursework in May 2021. She is grateful for connections made with women in sports…

Amy McHale’s Investment Portfolio: Whitman Graduate Student Success

Amy McHale, assistant dean for master’s programs at the Whitman School of Management, calls herself a jack of all trades. Since 2008 she has held roles focused on the student experience and preparing graduates to enter the workforce with a…

Women in Leadership Initiative Announces Spring 2021 Programming

After kicking off in the fall of 2018, the Women in Leadership (WiL) initiative, created through the vision of Candace Campbell Jackson, senior vice president and chief of staff to Chancellor Kent Syverud, and a steering committee of women leaders,…

LaunchPad Startup OthersideAI Receives $2.6 Million in Seed Funding

Syracuse LaunchPad startup OthersideAI announced on Nov. 12 that it received $2.6 million in seed funding from Madrona Venture Group, and joined Active Capital, Hustle Fund, Chapter One and top angel investors in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Software as a…

Applications Open for LaunchPad 2020 Impact Prize

Blackstone LaunchPad and Techstars at Syracuse University Libraries (LaunchPad) is accepting online applications now through Nov. 1 for the Impact Prize, a competition for social entrepreneurship.  The Impact Prize is open to Syracuse University and State University of New York…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.