RECOGNIZING THEIR POWER: How Athletes Have Utilized Social Media to Influence Crisis Communication Decisions During COVID-19

In this chapter, we investigated how internal stakeholders (i.e., NFL/NCAA athletes) employed their personal social media accounts to influence organizational decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed two cases that featured athlete-led social media campaigns: 1) NFL Athletes’ #WeWantToPlay campaign, and 2) NCAA Athletes’ #WeAreUnited and #WeWantToPlay campaigns. In both instances, internal stakeholders (i.e., athletes) formulated a coordinated social media campaign to spur responses from external stakeholders (i.e., fans) that would, jointly, influence organizational decisions pertaining to COVID-19 safety protocols and the playing of the 2020 professional and collegiate football seasons. Implications for internal stakeholders, crisis communication management, crisis communication scholarship were discussed. © 2022 Taylor and Francis.