Sports teams are loved by millions of Americans, and each team has a significant impact on the communities they are located in. What’s lacking for many of these teams is the number of employees who are minorities. This is especially true when it comes to procurement services and supplier contracts. As a result, this leads to less money and support going to the diverse people and businesses that make up the communities where sports teams are located. Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. had something to say about it.
In a recent interview with Fair360, formerly DiversityInc, leading up to our 2022 Top 50 event, Jackson spoke of how sports teams – from the NFL to the NBA and MLB – need to build up the infrastructure of their teams, stadiums, vendors and media partners. This can be accomplished by employing minorities in their local communities. For example, this could mean hiring a Black-owned restaurateur as a vendor in your stadium or arena or hiring a Black-owned radio host or TV station to cover your events.
Building Equity Into Supplier Contracts
The best way to do this is by building diversity and equity into the supplier contracts for each team. This might seem like a daunting task, but Jackson and his team at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition are here to help.
