NBA's full court press of the gay community

Hopefully, it's CSR. But it's curious what is going on here. The Golden State Warriors' (a struggling California NBA team) ticket sales are notoriously weak, but their diversity initiatives are notoriously strong. Does the diversity program serve the ticket sales? Last week, the Golden State Warriors of Oakland had an LGBT night. The Warriors went all out, mixing stereotypes and creativity. They hosted a tented wine tasting, lawn games, a gay men's chorus, gay cheerleaders and donations to HIV orgs. Was it genuine, or was it marketing? Does it matter?

Generally, it does matter why an organization chooses to be socially responsible. Ideally, CSR is genuine to avoid CSR-washing, and to prevent fraud. CSR programs should exist whether the organization is struggling to attract new demographics. With that said, even CSR with sketchy motives can make positive impacts in the world and in the organization that houses it. And, a good CSR program is likely to attract new customers. In the case of the Warriors, it could be about diversity; some Warrior's players have made disparaging comments about gays in the past. Perhaps their diversity initiatives are meant to recuperate community appeal from those incidents, and to reach out to the ultra-liberal Bay Area community where it is located. Maybe the NBA's recent interest in gay fans reflects the progress of the gay rights movement, as marked by expanded target marketing. The gay community has been realized as a demographic before, from cruise lines to toiletries to clothes to cafes.

The gay community is not the only one the Warriors have appealed to. Indeed they have a robust diversity program that works to integrate unusual aspects of the cultures they highlight on diversity nights. Meredith May of the SF Chronicle noted that they had previously featured bollywood dancers in Indian heritage night, and Rabbi's performances on the Jewish night.

Either way, it is great to see professional sports reaching out to new demographics. In particular, the gay community has been typically ignored by pro-sports. Indeed, the Superbowl acts like a giant shrine to male heterosexuality, as indicated by the 2010 superbowl ads, which all focused on this theme. However, the NBA is doing better than any other professional sport on the LGBT front; various teams around the nation have designated games to specifically welcome gays.

It seems to have paid off; gay night typically attracts strong turnout, key for the Warrior's survival with their relatively dicey wins-loss record. The Warriors also rightly capitalize on the under-tapped overlap potential between sports and CSR. While the Warriors have made various efforts at rebranding in the last five years, their diversity initiatives are the most delightful effort. Not only is it socially responsible, it's also great to see that even if discrimination causes political harm, we can all be equal as sports fans.