The Iverson Roundball Classic... Was a terrible exercise in greed!
Allen Iverson was a staple of Philadelphia sports. He gave his blood, sweat and tears to the city and did his best to represent us in the world. When his name is attached to something, you automatically think of greatness! Unfortunately, that hasn’t seemed to translate to his roundball classic.
I’ve been a professional photographer for close to 15 years now. I’ve experienced a gamut of things in my career. Nothing really prepared me for the unprofessionalism and disorganization of the Iverson classic. What was presented as a must see event, turned into a ridiculous display of greed, ineptitude and disrespect.
Communication by whoever runs the classic’s social media account was non existent from the jump. When they announced on February 7th, 2024 that the event would be in Hampton, VA. a bevy of media commented on the post. We all asked the same thing. “When will there be a media request link?” All of those questions went unanswered by his social media team.
After getting no response, I hit the website for the classic and saw a link for media credentials. I filled it out, it didn’t have any particular date attached to it. It looked like a standard application for credentials. Apparently it was for last years classic. I didn’t find that out until March 26th after seeing a post on the classics IG page saying that media passes were now open. I scrolled through the comments of past post and there were a ton of unanswered questions from photogs, video folks and writers alike.
I finally clicked the link, filled out the credential for my son and I. Most of you know that my son, Blake works events with me. He’s the reason I wanted to shoot this event in the first place. As I filled out the form, something immediately gave me pause for concern. The classic was REQUIRING media to purchase general admission ticket in order to cover the event. They also asked that ALL our footage be submitted to them by May 6th.
For those that aren’t aware of how this stuff works. This is NOT a standard practice for events of this nature. There is a give and take between media and events. You’re not usually asked to submit your footage to folks. When you’re given credentials for events, you’re being allowed to come into the building for free, in exchange for posting, blogging, photographing etc said event. It’s a beautiful balance and a win win for all parties involved.
The Iverson Classic made a conscious choice to charge media to get access to shoot this game. A choice that would ultimately be proven to be driven by greed. The alarm bells went off in my head but I said to myself, “This is for Blake so i’ll just take it on the chin.” It didn’t sit well in my spirit that they were charging media to be there. An even bigger red flag, you’re asking for footage that you didn’t pay for. It went against every principle I have in regards to how events are covered by media members.
The classic was to be held in Hampton VA, on May 4th. I put in for my credentials on March 26th and didn’t get an official acceptance, until April 20th. Which is 2 weeks prior to the event being held. Now, that’s not a ton of time to give people the chance to adequately secure accommodations and make travel arrangements. In my experience, most of these media passes are decided at least a month in advance. From the timeline above, in my opinion, things were running way behind a typical schedule.
On April 26th, I reached out to the classics email address that they provided to ask a few questions. There were things that weren’t mentioned in any of the communications that I had received from the classic. I asked them about the time media would be let in. I asked will there be a separate entrance for us, will we have pregame locker room access, or are we just reserved to the floor? I got a response on April 28th and it read “Good evening, please try to arrive at least one hour prior to the event. Access will be first come first serve with private areas as well as photography positions.”
Now I want you to focus on what was said here. I was told that shooting positions would be first come first serve, which is pretty typical for when you’re sitting on the floor at events like this. So in my head, Im saying “ok cool I gotta get there early to secure the position I want on the floor.” After the 28th I received two more emails from them.
The first of the 2, was sent on April 29th. It was a reminder that I had been granted a media pass and for the first time, it indicated the time that the events on the 2nd and 4th start. It reiterated that a general admission ticket is REQUIRED for all media personnel. The 2nd email came on May 1st, reiterating what the previous email stated. This time it had a new wrinkle to it. In bold, it stated that on May 4th, media doors open at 5pm and general doors open at 6pm.
So on the 4th, I arrive at 4:45pm with Blake, we have our equipment in hand, ready to check in and get started. When we pull up to the Hampton Coliseum, it was about 12 people ahead of us in line to check in. I noticed a few people that had media passes but some of them had red lanyards and some of them had black lanyards. I didn't think much of it at the time. In my head, I’m just like oh they got red and black for his Sixers colors. That was until I heard someone with a red lanyard say something about VIP access.
Giving certain media outlets certain access isn’t uncommon at all. So at the time, no alarm bells were going off in my head. It typically means that they’d maybe get some interviews that other outlets wouldn’t. It could’ve been a friends and family thing. Quite frankly, in that moment I truly didn’t care. What struck a nerve was the Hampton Coliseum staff telling all of the media that had arrived early that we woudln’t be allowed in until 6pm. Now mind you, in an official communication from the classic, it stated that media would be allowed in at 5pm!
By this time there were at least 30 media members on site and we were all collectively dismayed at being told one thing, and once we got there it was something completely different. There were multiple conversations going on about this topic. To make matters worse, the staff at the coliseum became very belligerent once we started expressing our frustrations. One guy began yelling and telling us that we now had to leave the building and stand outside or none of us were getting in. We were told to form 2 lines outside. We all complied and after a few mins of being outside they then started bringing us back in to go through our bags.
Meanwhile, all the media that were still in the building, were not searched and they hopped in line. It was a bit of a chaotic scene. Media was in 2 lines while the general public was awaiting to enter at the very same time as us. Had I known that they weren’t letting us in until 6, I wouldn’t have come until 6. There was absolutely NO REASON for us to be there that early to just stand in line. It was a gross misuse of our time. The event organizers and the coliseum staff were on 2 different pages.
We finally were allowed in and we all proceeded to the floor to get our spots. I prefer to sit on the far end of the right side of the court. When I walked in, I went to sit down and was told by event staff that media couldn’t sit where I wanted to sit. Struck me as odd and she seemed like she didn’t know what she was talking about. So I kept it moving to the other basket. Sat down on the floor and started getting pics and vids of the players warming up. It looked to be about 40-50 media members in all. We all were getting setup and doing our thing. Most of us had already secured the spots we were shooting from.
The game started at 7pm and by about 6:55 we were asked to come off of the floor and to let the players come on for introductions. Out of nowhere, a staff member from the coliseum walked over to where all of media was sitting and said that we all had to come completely off of the baseline and to stand up behind a row of chairs behind the basket. Now mind you, every interaction with this staff has been a negative one. So In my head, I’m like great, another member on this staff trying to power trip. I ignored his barking orders because I paid my money to be here and the baselines are where media sit. A lot of other media members were so confused.
Some sat and had very perplexed looks on their faces. They couldn’t believe that we paid money to be here and to be treated like this. Eventually, everyone came and sat back down. None of us believed that this guy knew what he was talking about. The game had begun and we were all back in our spots, shooting. Within a few minutes of that, he came back again and stated that all members with a red lanyard were permitted on the baseline and everyone else had to stand up behind the basket and a row of seats. The looks of anger, frustration, and disbelief had hit a lot of faces again. That’s when we all realized that we had been bamboozled.
The Iverson Classic and its organizers had every opportunity possible, to advise members of the media what they intended to do to us. At no point in any communication sent, did the organizers indicate that there would be separate media sections and that only certain media would permitted on the floor. They declined to advise us of this prior to showing up for this event. I came from Philadelphia, PA. Others had come from NY and further and we were all extremely upset with what was transpiring. The Iverson Classic made media pay for tickets for the right to shoot the game. They know damn well, that had they told to us what they intended to do in the beginning, that a lot of us wouldn’t have come. This was one of the most disgusting money grabs that I’ve ever seen in my 15 year career! We were expected to stand up and shoot a game for 2 and a half hours.
Some media wound up leaving immediately. Some left at halftime. The only reason I stayed was because I didn’t want this trip to be a waste. I didn’t want to ruin my son's experience. One thing I try to emphasize to my son is that you have to be able to adapt to challenging situations. Everything isn’t going to always be easy, so you’ve gotta be able to adapt to your environment. So we made lemonade out of the lemons we were handed. Despite our unprofessional treatment, we still maintained our professionalism and handled it with grace.
I want to make something abundantly clear. What the Iverson classic and its organizers did was disgusting. The lack of communication, and preferential indifference to folks that they didn’t deem to be important enough, is unacceptable. You don’t treat people like this and then expect folks to rock with what you’re doing. They lied and quite frankly stole from us. No one in their right mind is going to pay to stand up to shoot a game and then hand over what was shot, for free! Someone in his camp reached out to me and asked me to send him a picture. I refused and I advised him of our experience at the classic. He asked for my number and he said he wanted to speak to me directly. I have yet to be contacted.
The Iverson classic didn’t let folks know that certain players were no longer playing in the game. The way they went about everything was utterly absurd! This thing was ran as if it was put together by folks who had no idea what the hell they were doing. They lacked transparency, integrity, professionalism and behaved like you’d expect a scammer to behave. Going forward, I will never support anything with the name Allen Iverson attached to it, ever again!
I hate the fact that an organization’s poor planning and greed, have overshadowed what was otherwise a fun game to watch. If your goal is to put on the best show possible, you don’t do what the people of the Iverson Classic did. You want as many eyes and from the best positions possible, to showcase the talent that these young men possess. You want them to look as good as possible. Shame on them for only thinking of their pockets! They could’ve gone about this so differently than they did. They could’ve actually reviewed portfolios and only invited who they deemed to be the best of the best to cover the event. Instead, they chose the almighty dollar and that’s nasty work!
