Let the ESL debacle be a warning to a money-hungry businessman Business News

or a lot in business, the initials PR and ESG are anathema. They just don’t take them seriously – often, even if they pretend they don’t. Specialists in public relations or communication or “comms” and ESG or environment, social and governance or doing good are considered peripheral. They don’t get room on the motherboard, they often don’t have a seat on the key executive committee. These are add-ons, nice things to have but not essential.

Well, another set of initials should put an end to this thinking, once and for all: ESL. If ever there was one example of the importance of PR and ESG, it was the so-called European Super League debacle.

Within 48 hours of its announcement, the new football league of some of Europe’s top clubs was scrapped. Why? Because the people involved didn’t pay enough attention to public relations and the wider impacts of what they were offering.