For a sport fanatic like me, September is a great month: rival college football teams battle for a spot in the newly added playoffs, MLB teams battle for the last wild-card spots available but, most of all, the NFL season starts. Though, this year this excitement has been overshadowed by feelings of shame, anger and doubts. All of this started when the NFL suspended Baltimore Ravens’ running back Ray Rice for 2 games for allegedly have assaulted his wife. At that time no evidence of the assault was made public and the league claimed not having any video of such act. Because of all the critics that the NFL had received, the league had to change its policy regarding the punishment for any of its affiliates accused of domestic violence. Unfortunately, last week TMZ revealed a complete video of the assault. Here are some links to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDzCcX1_Ifk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjGvL8Hw1Z4 (the videos may be pretty disturbing). The league initially had said that there was no video evidence available (notice that the incidence happened in a casino) not even from law enforcement agency; but recently the casino confirmed that the video was sent to both law enforcement agencies and to the league’s office. Did Commissioner Goddell in fact see the video, contrary of what he has admitted?
The NFL’s brand and its marketing took a “hit” worth of the best linebacker with this scandal: first the minimum punishment initially inflicted to Rice, second the lies about the non-existence of the video evidence and lastly the possibility that commissioner Goddell, arguably the most powerful in sports, actually saw the video but tried to cover the evidence to undermine the scandal in order to protect its company, all contributed in constructing one of the biggest branding challenges that the NFL has ever faced.
It is crucial to remember that the NFL has been voted the number one brand in term of consumer sports loyalty, and it is one of the most recognizable brand in the USA. Moreover, during the last few years the NFL tried to attract more female fans through the sale of merchandising products specifically made for women (jerseys, hats, etc…)
If this wasn’t enough, Saturday Adrian Peterson, a running back for the Minnesota Vikings, admitted to have beaten his four years old son. Hence, the league is facing the fact of having players, its employees, accused of abusing both women and children.
The National Football League is facing an incredible challenge: overcome an enormous amount of critics concerning topics that the league had previously tried to address with campaigns that were positively portraying its sport in favor of both women and children (women merchandise and “play 60″ for kids). Potential outcomes of this branding crisis could be a wide decrease in the interest in the sport and the league over multiple platforms and sectors: tickets and merchandising sales, broadcasting ratings, sponsorships opportunities and media coverage could all decrease.
The NFL faces the urgency of having to re-brand itself: the question is how to do it. Should the NFL launch new campaigns in order to attract more women? Should it launch campaigns specifically aimed at the fight against the abuse of children? If yes, what could be some good ideas. Should commissioner Goddell resign if the video had actually reached the league’s office, provided that somebody could prove that? These are some of the many question that are at the top of the discussions about NFL in different media platforms and that I would like you to consider. One thing is certain, the NFL needs to stop its downfall. Waiting that awesome catches, throws and tackles will take over the spotlight surely won’t be enough. Fans will not forget what some of their favorite players have done.
The NFL needs to be able to utilize its vast financial and marketing resources. The league is featured in many media platforms: TV, magazines, apps, videos, videogames….People can potentially receive NFL related news and articles pretty much everywhere they go. The opportunities for different integrated marketing campaigns are there. The league could potentially develop a series of marketing campaigns presented on different platforms. For example, producing specialized merchandising objects (as the NFL already tried), hire women executives and promote such hiring on magazines and TV, use players’ public images to promote the idea of how women and children will all be beneficial to the sport. CBS already missed an opportunity for overturning the situation when the broadcasting company decided to cancel Rihanna’s performance (who was victim of domestic violence) during the broadcast of last week Thursday night’s game.
On this note I’d like to collect your opinions and ideas about what kind of marketing campaigns the NFL should implement. Also I would like to know if you believe that the extents of this ” brand crisis” are as serious as I think. I believe that the image of the NFL could take a serious hit, also seen the competition of other professional leagues, if something is not done soon. At the same time, I believe that the passion for football is so deeply rooted in the American people that, with its numerous resources, the NFL as a unique opportunity for turning this negative situation into something positive by providing support for crucial issues like domestic violence. Only time will tell us how this scandals will change the face of the NFL brand but, as far as now, the future may seem pretty obscure.
This is the article on which I based my marketing argument and from which I gathered some information:
One Response to NFL brand and marketing crisis: female and children abuses