Case Study: Arrogant Alex Learns Humility

Alex Rodriguez was one of the most gifted baseball players of all time. First drafted first by the Seattle Mariners in 1993, he soon became one of the highest paid players in Major League history—until it all came crumbling down in 2014.

Beginning in 2001, first with the Texas Rangers and then with the New York Yankees, Rodriguez blazed an exceptional trail of achievement and made more money than any player in baseball history.

Off the field, the endorsements rolled in, with Rodriguez serving as spokesman for Nike, Rawlings, Wheaties, Pepsi, and even the “Got Milk” campaign. Nothing, it seemed, could knock this extraordinary player and star marketer off his pedestal.

By 2007, his third year with the Yankees, Rodriguez seemed to be a different person—less likeable, more attitude, more arrogant. In one spring training session, Rodriguez’s name appeared on a list of players suspected of taking performance-enhancing drugs. For the next several years, he became a recurring target for the New York City tabloids, which charted his every misstep as he caroused the New York City nightlife scene.

In 2014, the roof fell in. Major League Baseball suspended him for the season for violating the league’s Performance Enhancing Drug Policy. And then, Alex Rodriguez got public relations religion. He acknowledged his drug use and apologized to his fans. He became a model citizen. A kinder and gentler Alex Rodriguez had finally emerged, chastened by his experience with the court of public opinion.

1- What were the public relations elements that helped return Rodriguez to favor when he returned from his suspension in 2015?

2- What are the larger public relations lessons of the rodriguez case ?

3- What were the public relation elements that helped return rodriguez to favor when he returned from his suspension in 2015 ?    4- what are the larger public relation lessons of rodriguez case ?