What does the future hold for blacks in sports? - Blacks in Sports: The Next 45 Years

Ebony, August, 1992 by Arthur Ashe

Few could have accurately predicted on April 5, 1947, that African-Americans would be so dominant in so many sports 45 years later Black soldiers returning from Europe after World War II were flooding Black colleges all over the South; and consumer demand for material goods had been dampened by shortages due to the war effort. In this era, just before televisions appeared in large numbers, sports--baseball and football in particular--provided a respite from the everyday inconveniences of life. And no Negro in America was as closely followed as was Jack Roosevelt Robinson on that April afternoon. Robinson, whose middle name came from President Theodore Roosevelt, opened a new chapter in African-American history when he stepped to the plate that day. As the first Black man to play in the major leagues this century, he presaged 45 years of glory for Black athletes. A popular phrase in the Black community at the time was "If he's good enough for the Army, he's good enough for the majors [major league baseball." And was he ever good!

During his playing career, Robinson was juxtaposed alongside world heavyweight champion joe Louis in leading the way for a veritable phalanx of Black sports superstars: Bill Russell, Rafer Johnson and Wilma Rudolph, Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Wilt Chamberlain, Althea Gibson, Frank Robinson, Walter Payton and Michael Jordan. And let's not forget the Black coaches and administrators, such as Nell Jackson, John McLendon, Dr. Leroy Walker, Clarence (Big House) Gaines, Eddie Robinson, Vivian Stringer and Anita DeFrantz. Few will challenge such a glorious lineup. But there is one category that will challenge us for the next 45 years: ownership.

A case in point is the 1991 survey by the Sporting News (TSN) of the 100 Most Powerful People In Sports. Only three Blacks made the list--Don King, Anita DeFrantz and Michael jordan. This year, six Blacks made the list--King, DeFrantz, jordan, Charles Grantham, Eugene Upshaw and Magic Johnson. The implications are obvious: multi-million-dollar salaries to individual Black athletes do not necessarily translate into clout. Atop both lists stood Lawrence Tisch, the owner of CBS, which will pay $1.1 billion over four years to televise major sports events.

Many experts say the efforts of highly placed Black sports executives like Bill White are constantly being thwarted by old, and frequently racist, ways of conducting business. White, the outgoing president of the National League, told members of the Black Coaches Association last spring, "To be quite honest, I have not been able to make an impact with minority hiring in the National League. This commissioner [Fay Vincent] has done a great job at his level. We have not been able to get down to the club level. " This hostile atmosphere probably accounts somewhat for the low 5 percent Black spectator count at major league games.

Strength and comfort in numbers will certainly continue to feed the Big Five sports for Blacks: boxing, football, basketball, baseball, and track and field.

Undoubtedly, boxing's primeval attraction around the globe will continue in the next 45 years. The purses will remain so relatively high that economically disadvantaged young men worldwide will continue to risk their very lives in the ring. Boxing, incidentally, enjoys the dubious distinction of being less tradition-bound than the other four major sports. While a promoter like Don King, who spent time in prison for manslaughter, is on the TSN list, he most likely would have little chance of becoming an owner in the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, or in Major League Baseball, even if he could afford a team.

In the coming decades, football will continue to internationalize its audiences. London, England, already has a World League of American Football professional team, and UCLA has played games in Japan. What drives these experiments is communications technology that broadens the potential target population. When Robinson made his debut, most American homes had no televisions; radio was king. By 1970 there were still just five channels in the typical home--CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, and maybe a local independent outlet. Now most homes are wired for cable service and there is an average of 35 channel possibilities. Robinson's salary was around $25,000; Cal Ripken takes home close to $7 million. The difference is primarily the enormous rights fees paid to teams by television.

Premier Black athletes today are mini-conglomerates, if only during their playing days. Four former superstars--Mel Faarr, Oscar Robertson, Dave Bing and Willie Davis--have businesses on Black Enterprise's Top 100 list. A sports merchandising firm owned by ex-Dallas Cowboys star Drew Pearson may soon be on that list. Black athletes are beginning to realize that their future business possibilities far outstrip their potential earnings as players if they can adequately prepare for such a transition.

Because of the increased commercial opportunities, I predict that Black colleges and predominantly Black high schools will experience a surge in attention given to sports. A trend toward consolidation of major Black college competition seems inevitable, and television will make it possible. BET already broadcasts football and basketball games nationwide on weekend nights during the respective seasons. Look for BET and other cable systems to add instruction and competition in such lesser sports as fencing, tennis and golf, all aimed at Black Americans. This ability to "address" specific television sets in your home--like pay-per-view--will enable programmers to create more sports events which Black colleges and other institutions can promote among their followers. The fund-raising possibilities alone are staggering.