Can Sports Stars Expect Privacy?



Dating back over 100 years to the days of Jack Dempsey and Ty Cobb, sports stars have always been big celebrities. However, much has changed in the world since then. The advent of TV and the Internet have made professional athletes every bit as famous as movie stars and musicians. Every major city now has at least one 24-hour sports talk station, creating a forum for fans to immediately voice their displeasure if a player has a bad game. The fact is that pro athletes are under more scrutiny now than they ever have been before.

Under the microscope

As is the case with other people in the public eye, the more successful you are at what you do, the more attention you will get from fans and the media. Therefore, if you are the fourth outfielder or a middle relief pitcher for a baseball team, you do not have to worry about TMZ following you and reporting on your every move. The same goes for pro soccer players who are defenders. The fans and media tend to focus their attention on the players who score the goals. So in that sense, it is possible for a pro athlete to have a private life. However, this is not the case if you are an elite level player.


The life of a super star

It makes sense that Brad Pitt gets more attention than a supporting actor on an average sitcom. So it shouldn't be a shock that mega-stars like LeBron James, Peyton Manning and Derek Jeter find it hard to escape the limelight. Granted, there are advantages to having this level of fame. There are the huge contracts and the endorsement contracts. However, things have gotten so out of hand that certain athletes have to take special precautions to safeguard their privacy. Derek Jeter is so paranoid about his private life being leaked to the media that when people visit his mansion in Florida, he forces them to leave their cell phones with one of his servants. This prevents people from being able to take pictures of the interior of his house. When a player is a big enough star, everything becomes fodder for the media. For example, Wayne Rooney, the star striker for Manchester United, had a hair transplant procedure in 2011. This story took the media by storm, becoming a major topic of conversation throughout the entire English Premier League season. At times, Rooney's hair was talked about more than his outstanding play.

The effect of social media

Many sports stars only have themselves to blame for their lack of privacy. The advent of Twitter has given athletes the ability to connect with their fans like they never could have before. While this is wonderful technology that has changed the world we live in forever, many athletes seem to forget that once they send out a tweet, it is out there for the world to see and there is no way to take it back. Even if they try to delete a tweet, there is a good chance that it has already been archived by other people. Along with Facebook, these social media tools have given sports fans a way to stay up to date on what their favorite players are doing. However, if a player is not social media savvy, it is only a matter of time until they accidentally reveal something about themselves that they did not want the public to know.

The final analysis

Athletes who are watched on TV by millions of people will always find it hard to have privacy. With shows and websites like TMZ and Radar online focusing completely on celebrity gossip, star players will constantly have to be vigilant in protecting their family and private lives from snooping fans and media.

About the author:
Sarah writes on her blog about sports and sports stars.

1 comment:

  1. sonny talibong1/30/2014 7:06 PM

    judging by the tittle my answer is no!, star is not something you can hide in your closet.., take for example the real stars "THE MORE IT SHINE THE MORE IT WILL GET NOTICED OR IT ATTRACTS PEOPLE".....

    ReplyDelete

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