White Paper Showcase: Black Athletes and MLB

Today we kick off our white paper showcase. We start with a piece by Nathan Clark, whose white paper addresses the decline of Black athletes in Major League Baseball, what it means for the MLB brand, and what they can do to address this. This is important work given MLB’s engagement in the fight against voter suppression–let’s see if they can continue to fight for diversity and equity in baseball.[embeddoc url=”https://blogs.uoregon.edu/mabr/files/2021/06/White-Paper-MLB.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google”]

MABR Cohort Perspective: Should student athletes be paid?

Today’s opinion is from Cam McCormick.

Should student-athletes be paid? It seems to be an age-old question and debate year after year. Just recently, the NCAA announced student-athletes will be permitted to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness in 2021, however, not everyone will benefit from this new rule. Although the new ruling is forward progression, there is still money on the table in which many feel entitled.

As a student athlete myself, playing a sport while carrying a full academic load is extremely demanding. Our mental, physical, and emotional state is tested on a daily basis. There are insurmountable pressures on us that the average student doesn’t have to endure, as well as expectations and commitments a typical student doesn’t experience. Most college students are able to work to bring in money to survive, and can also control their school load. Student athletes are unable to work due to the demands of the sport and the time it takes to perfect our craft. We are also required to perform a certain number of community service hours each year to give back to the communities in which we reside. It is not uncommon for our sport to take up to 40 hours of effort each week. Playing a sport in college is simply a full-time job, and the number of credits we need to take each term cannot be adjusted.

Additionally, every time we step onto the court, field, track, pool, etc, we are putting ourselves atrisk for physical injuries, and sometimes those injuries are life-long and also life-ending.Although every athlete chooses to take the risk, the university benefits greatly by the risks wetake. When injuries occur, they don’t just affect the individual physically, but mentally as well.Mental set-backs from injuries can take a huge toll on a person, and, sometimes, they unfortunately don’t recover. Does a free education justify the risks? What price can be put on aloss of life, mental illness, or life long pain from an injury sustained while playing?

As a football player, it is clear the amount of money our sport provides to universities across the country. When the pandemic hit, the threat of seasons canceling raised alarms that some schools may close due to the lost revenue of not having a season. Many canceled multiple sport programs, because they could no longer afford to have them. This tells me, the revenues are extraordinary. At Oregon, in 2019 alone, the football program brought in $72.8 million dollars. The universities reap the financial rewards while the student athlete assumes the majority of the risks. For these reasons, paying student athletes beyond their “name, image, and likeness” seems like the right thing to do.

MABR Recommendation: Lenox Hill on Netflix.

Britnee Speice-Will shared this about the Netflix series.

I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend watching “Lenox Hill” on Netflix. It tells the story of doctors and nurses, showing their lives inside and outside of the hospital.

In my Brand Responsibility class, we discussed a GE Campaign, #BalanceTheEquation, in which they propose the question, “What if female scientists were celebrities?” This idea was super interesting to me and has stuck with me throughout these last few weeks. Why don’t we, as a society, show our appreciation for scientists, doctors, teachers, etc. the same way, if not MORE, than we do celebrities?

I believe the documentary series, “Lenox Hill,” does a great job putting the spotlight on people who spend their careers dedicated to caring for people and saving lives. I hope there are more documentaries that are created like this and that you take the time to watch the short, 9 episode documentary! The majority of the season is focused on pre-pandemic, with the last episode covering when the outbreak begins. VERY interesting and I’m happy I took the time to watch this.

Chip and Joanna Gaines on authenticity, beauty, and a return to simpler times.


Day 3 of the Fast Company Festival of Innovation featured Chip and Joanna Gaines–Founders of Magnolia, a home and lifestyle brand and the soon-to-be launched Magnolia Network. They became famous through their show ‘Fixer Upper’ on HGTV.

They are launching the Magnolia Network as a joint channel with the Discovery Network. The Gaineses wanted to start a network because they love challenges, they love storytelling, and they found that their own expertise (contracting and small business/retail) translated well into developing content. The network grew out of the success of the magazine and all the things that the magazine could do. The stories didn’t have to include Chip and Joanna as the ‘centerpieces’ but the curated stories of homes and home improvements would be the center. Home improvement, food, decorating, kids programming—a variety of types of programs will be presented.

Television and magazines are kind of ‘old fashioned’ ways to tell stories—linear and non-digital. They wanted the value of being able to physically touch the magazine—and there’s a limited number of ads so the reader doesn’t have to page through lots of ads to get to the stories. The network will be the same. They want the network shows to be ‘appointment television’ that families can watch together—highly meaningful and highly authentic.

The shows on the Magnolia Network will be ‘season long’ and each program will have multiple episodes. They reached out to people they’ve read about but didn’t know personally and ask them to be on the network—they said about 2/3 of the people they reached out to said no thank you! The people who agreed are ‘dreamers and risk takers’ who can motivate others to go out and take risks as well. The stars of the shows are diverse, and inclusivity is important to them because they believe everyone deserves a seat at the table. Diverse talent brings a diverse group of experiences to the network. It will be a ‘beautiful tapestry…telling beautiful stories.’ Chip said that our country is more divided than ever, and the network can try to bring people together. Different opinions make us all better, our lives more richer, and helps us see lifestyles and viewpoints that many people may not have seen. This is a way we can develop a new reality for the future—the Magnolia Network will bring a variety of perspectives to their audience.

Authentic stories are going to resonate with a variety of audiences—from young adults to their grandparents and great grandparents. Everyone should feel welcome. Every program won’t appeal to everyone—but there will be something for everyone during the programming day.

Basically, they are taking an existing Discover channel (the DIY channel) and changing to the Magnolia Network. They are ‘honoring’ the legacy of the DIY network and our working with existing DIY Channel audiences to make sure that content for them will still be available.

Chip and Joanna’s identity as small business owners has become their platform for growth. Their businesses taught them they are always evolving as a business and that they personally are evolving as people. It also taught them that they have an opportunity to create beauty—not only beautiful buildings, but beautiful moments when people are connecting with one another.

The culture of Magnolia focuses on a belief that dreams can come true—and that as a company, as a tight knit community and family, they can work together to make dreams come true. They want to learn, they want to try new things, they want to take risks, and they want to work hard and do work that really matters.

The secret to their relationship? Chip says that they are kind to one another, first and foremost. That transfers to their company—they lead with kindness. Kindness evolves into mutual respect, which causes teams to rise to new heights. Kindness is a fundamental value that some people are naturally drawn to, and some people may have trouble with this, as they think kindness equates with weakness. Chip and Joanna believe that kindness leads to strength.

Why Waco? They are impressed by the resilience of Waco. Waco had to deal with lots of negative things, both natural and man-made, and they both believe in the promise of Waco and how Waco can be a center for change in the world.

What are they most proud of?
1. The way that they handle adversity—they always put kindness at the center.
2. Innovation for innovation’s sake may not be always the best strategy—values of family, community and kindness are always important and shouldn’t be sacrificed in the name of innovation.
3. Simpler ways of life and innovation can live side by side, but must be complimentary.
4. The way they always look for hope and beauty.
5. Shiplap