Is bad publicity good publicity?

This week, a Nevada high school student announced in a press conference that he will attend the University of California over the University of Oregon next fall to play football. His decision has since sparked controversy as it turned out neither California nor the University of Oregon were recruiting him.

This story has sparked negative publicity for the student, his high school and his home town. Does the saying “any publicity is good publicity” work with this story?

I think it does. The student was probably somewhat of a good football player for media to even come out and cover his announcement. While right now the hopes of him being recruited by a school to play football aren’t too great, maybe one day someone will recognize his name as being a rising football star.

I may be optimistic about the future of this football player, but everyone loves a good scandal. This past summer the San Francisco Giants were not the strongest of baseball teams, yet their games were packed because people wanted to see Barry Bonds hit his record breaking homerun. While this was going on Barry Bonds was in the middle of a steroid scandal, yet he had more people than ever rooting for him. Who knows, maybe this student will become the next big NFL star.