Atlanta Thrashers’ Interesting PR Tactic

Last Thursday, October 27^th, a story appeared on the Yahoo! Sports blog. I am not usually one to read the sports blog as I am a pop culture kind of girl, but this story captured my attention with its topic: the high number of African-American hockey players on the Atlanta Thrashers team, six in the active roster.

             In a sport not known to be big in the African-American culture, having six players in the entire league is a feat, let alone six on one team.  In fact, having six Black players on the active roster for one team is an NHL record, according to blogger Greg Wyshynski. In his blog, Wyshynski debates whether the high number of Black players on Atlanta’s team is a marketing ploy to reach a new demographic. Atlanta is second in the nation for highest African-American population behind New York. That statistic coupled with the fact that hockey is thought of as a sport with a strong African- American presence lends to the viewpoint that it is an attempt to fill seats to the hockey games.

            If the acquiring of six Black players is merely a marketing attempt by the Atlanta Thrashers, is it a complete exploitation of these players? I understand that need to break into a new demographic and the ending objective is to sell tickets to the games, but if their marketing tactics rest solely on the Black players, I find it exploiting.

            On the other hand, the marketing side of me completely agrees with their marketing tactics. There is obviously an untapped market in Atlanta ripe for targeting. These players are great at their sport and also happen to be African-American. The Thrashers could simply be using the resources given to them to create more revenue. The saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” can definitely be applied here.

            It is obvious I am torn about whether this was a mere coincidence or a gross marketing ploy. I guess the real topic I am debating is exploitation. How far can the Thrashers market these six players before it becomes exploitive? It is still yet to be seen the effects of this advertising upon the African-American demographic in Atlanta. I believe the answer of how exploitive is this campaign really is will be determined by the citizens of Atlanta.