Jay, here.
[UPDATE: You can view the Save Oregon Wrestling commercial here.]
Got a press release in my inbox this morning from David C. Nelson and SaveOregonWrestling.com. While I don’t think their efforts are going to work to save wrestling in the immediate future, the wrestlers, the program, and their supporters are proving to be tough.
When I initially read the release, my first question was, “Did Oregon intervene with ESPN to spike this spot?” SOW’s Creative Director, Hank Hosfield, notes that even though the U of O has actively tried to stop SOW from raising donations, it probably did not kill this commercial (The commercial will be online early next week.).
I can’t relate to wrestling as a sport, but I can relate to the difficult position they were put in by ESPN. You’ve got contracts signed and you think you’re ready to roll. And then…Well, we can’t air that because of a policy that was in place when we signed the contracts, but failed to tell you. If that had been the case all along, wrestling could have possibly adjusted the creative from “Save Oregon Wrestling” to something like “Congratulations Oregon Wrestling” , and backdoored the campaign (SOW to COW).
I will say this: I like the fact that the wrestlers are not kowtowing to anyone. They’re passionate, creative, and aggressive. And they’ve got moxy. Unfortunately, it’s not 1884. But what else should I expect? They’re wrestlers.
March 22, 2008
SaveOregonWrestling.com
SAVE OREGON WRESTLING TV SPOT REJECTED BY ESPN
Last minute decision to ban SOW TV spot voids contract and hampers national campaign to save Oregon wrestling.
The Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation (SOW) was informed on Wednesday (3/19/08) that its TV commercial was rejected by ESPN and would not appear at any time during its scheduled run on any ESPN channel during the network’s upcoming broadcasts of the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships. SOW originally purchased a slate of 11 commercial spots on ESPNU and 1 one spot on ESPN during the NCAA finals on Saturday. The commercial contracts for these commercial buys were finalized on 2/29/08. The decision to void those comes just one day before the tournament starts. Word of ESPN’s reversal was relayed to SOW via USA Wrestling’s Director of Development, Larry Nugent, who was working as an agent between SOW and ESPN to secure commercial airtime. Nugent was notified by ESPN’s Jim Thurston, who explained that the spot was yanked because: “ESPN does not accept advertising that consists of, in whole or in part, political advocacy or issue-oriented advertising.”
SOW surprised by ESPN’s sudden refusal to air TV spot.
SOW leader, Ron Finley, in St. Louis where he’s representing SOW at the NCAA tournament, heard about the decision from USAW Director of Communications, Gary Abbott, also at the tournament. Finley stated: “We’re very disappointed that they’ve stopped our message from reaching a nation of viewers, but our fight will go on.” Hank Hosfield, SOW Creative Director, who wrote the commercial and worked with USAW to produce the banned SOW TV spot, wondered with dismay: “What did ESPN think Save Oregon Wrestling is? It said right on our contract, non-profit organization. It’s hard to believe they didn’t know what we were about when they approved the initial contract. Now, out of the blue, one day before we go nationwide with our campaign and they yank us. All of the blame for this is on ESPN, but the damage is all to us, the people working to save wrestling.”
SOW will receive a full refund for the unaired commercial spots. Those spots will likely be sold to other advertisers, as ESPN’s NCAA Wrestling Championships broadcast has a backlog of sponsors seeking airtime.
Nothing controversial about SOW TV commercial.
Hosfield claims there was nothing particularly controversial about the 30-second commercial. “It was pretty tame stuff—nothing more than an appeal to fight to save wrestling. It’s hard to imagine that they would consider it very political. They express stronger editorial comment every day. I don’t see how we’re very different from United Way or some other charitable organization working to promote opportunities for youth. It’s puzzling.” Hosfield said he hadn’t seen a final edit of the banned SOW TV spot, but he was able to provide the following script of the voiceover:
VO: Oregon’s wrestling heroes include America’s first world champion, The guy who beat Gable, And another some call our most complete wrestler. But now the University of Oregon plans to drop its storied program. If a team with Oregon’s wealthy resources can vanish, how many others may follow? Let’s keep the honor roll going. Fight to save Oregon Wrestling.
Did the University of Oregon exert pressure on ESPN to squelch SOW TV spot?
When asked if he thought the University of Oregon may have exerted pressure on ESPN to drop the commercial, Hosfield expressed skepticism: “One, I think they’re smarter than that—because that would only come back to draw even more unwanted negative attention; two, I don’t think they have that kind of juice; and three, I doubt that they’re paying that much attention to us.” Hosfield did however concede that the UO was aware of the upcoming SOW commercial on ESPN, as representatives for SOW had spoken about it during a March 3, 2008 meeting with President Frohnmayer’s executive assistant, David Hubin. He also observed that the UO Athletic Department had intervened to thwart other SOW fundraising efforts, such as killing a two-paragraph story about SOW in Duck Talk, the Oregon Club of Portland’s monthly newsletter, after OCOP’s president, Ralph Cole had previously invited SOW to submit for publication to help SOW connect with many of the UO’s most avid athletic boosters. Hosfield added: “Kilkenny clearly doesn’t want to see our fundraising efforts succeed, but despite the athletic department’s opposition, donations keep picking up. Imagine how easily wrestling could be saved if the UO weren’t so determined to kill it.”
Actor William Baldwin offers support to SOW commercial effort.
The nationwide and international media coverage the SOW/Kesey “Further” Bus-capade received caught the attention of actor William Baldwin, who read about the Save Oregon Wrestling effort in the New York Times. Baldwin, who had previously helped save wrestling at his alma mater, Binghamton University, called Ron Finley and asked how he could help. Hosfield suggested he could offer his talents to read the voiceover for the SOW TV spot, and maybe appear on camera in additional spots the were written for Baldwin. Production arrangements were made to shoot in LA, where Baldwin is back at work on the ABC series “Dirty Sexy Money”, but Baldwin was unable to get permission from ABC/Disney in time to appear in the SOW spots. He was given permission to read the voiceover, but coordination of tight production schedules at USA Wrestling made it too difficult to meet ESPN deadlines. Hosfield commented: “In retrospect, it’s a good thing we didn’t shoot the Baldwin spots, because all of the favors we had to call in to get those in the can would have been considerable—and it would be extremely embarrassing if they all had been similarly rejected.” Hosfield had enlisted the help of LA-based advertising agency hot shop, 72andSunny to produce the Baldwin TV spots. Hosfield said that even though SOW missed their window of opportunity with ESPN and the Baldwin spots, he believes there are more future opportunities to get the SOW message out. He further stated: “We’ve barely scratched the surface of the viral realm. We’re just getting started. We’ve got a hell of a story yet to tell. Who knows, maybe even Billy Baldwin will do something else for us.”
The Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the reinstatement of wrestling as a varsity sport at the University of Oregon.
For more information about SOW or their continuing efforts, go to saveoregonwrestling.com.
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