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Brad Horn

Syracuse University Public Relations Professor once served as vice president of communications at the Baseball Hall of Fame and says those at the center of labor strife need to consider the impact on those who don’t play the game.

Horn says:

“We’re now three years removed from a global decision of the top 181 business CEOs declaring that stakeholders – not shareholders – should be at the heart of every business decision. A business in decline spends more time focused on the way it used to be, rather than focusing on the people and what they expect it to be. Sadly, this collective bargaining process has demonstrated that only shareholders matter currently to a pillar of American life that has long been built on families and personal experiences. Throughout this process, not once from either side have we heard about the needs of the team employees, the livelihood of businesses and communities who depend on gameday revenues, or the example of what this negotiation should teach younger generations about the importance of the game to the fabric of a nation.

It’s maddening and yet also tragically sad for an institution that has been there for fans and for the nation at every turn, as a unifier, a distraction, and ultimately, a healer. Baseball has such power to create the greatest good for the greatest number – right now, in both people and profit, given the pent up demand of a population yearning to gather in ballparks again. Yet it is the larger communities of the nation that are losing: those whose personal economies depend on baseball thriving. The fans of the sport are the ones whose spirits are being broken down, and who are suffering the brunt of the emotional pain. What the two parties fail to see is that victory is not part of this negotiation game for anyone other than shareholders. Every minute creates an incalculable divide for generations who are – by every measure – questioning why the game they love has failed to love them back, particularly when people need it the most.”

For more information or to request an interview please contact Keith Kobland, Media Relations Manager, at kkobland@syr.edu.