Marketing the Bad Boys of the NFL - Research Paper Example

Marketing the Bad Boys of the NFL Introduction The NFL is one of the most popular sports in the world by many measures such as television viewing and economic factors. It is also in many ways a cultural institution in the United States. In the fall and winter many Americans plan their week around Sunday afternoons and 'Monday Night Football', the word 'tailgating' immediately evokes the NFL. At the same time it is a sport with many negative aspects. Additionally, many of the players are very unsavory and frequently involved in illegal behavior. Most recently, star quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, Michael Vick served time in a penitentiary for his illegal involvement in dog fighting. Almost twenty years ago star receiver Irving Fryer missed a Superbowl appearance because his hand was cut in a domestic assault only one week before the big game. Other players are frequently charged with impaired driving, assault possession of drugs and other major offenses. Despite these shortcomings the league remains incredibly popular and a cultural institution in the United States. The following discussion will analyze how the league overcomes its shortcomings through marketing and maintains its popularity, status and influence. The thesis of this discussion is skilful marketing overcomes the apparent difficulties the league endures and maintain its status as a leading professional sport and cultural icon. Initially, the popularity and influence of the league will be established. Then, the downsides of the NFL – extreme violence and criminal behavior on the part of the players will be outlined. Finally, the massive public relations campaign that overcomes these drawbacks will be outlined. The NFL: Its Popularity The Superbowl is the NFL championship game and the numbers say it all. The day on which the Super Bowl is played is now considered a de facto American national holiday, called "Super Bowl Sunday". In 2007 NBC Sports described Super Bowl Sunday as “completely ingrained in our culture, unlike Presidents' Day” and proposed that it replace Presidents' Day as the official and legal national holiday in February. (Cook, 2007) In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Super Bowl XLIV, played in February 2010 between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts, became the most-watched American television program in history, drawing an average audience of 106.5 million viewers and taking over the spot held for twenty-seven years by the final episode of M*A*S*H. Sunday Night Football has become the most popular sow in prime-time television this season, dominating the overall Nielsen ratings, with the highest average viewership for a prime-time NFL package in 14 years. Sunday, December 6th's Pittsburgh-Baltimore classic, seen in nearly 23 million homes, was the most-watched show on television in the first week of December, 2010, as Sunday Night Football has been since the start of the 2010 season. (Kent, 2010) The NFL: It's Downsides The NFL is so violent that the league, the US military and neurologists recently held a conference to investigate head injuries and concussions, and determine if equipment or rule changes could protect the players better. Remarkably, the military was involved because NFL players suffer the same type and frequency of injuries as soldiers in combat. That is an astonishing correlation – the NFL is as violent as combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Schwarz, 2010) The NFL is so violent that players regularly suffer 'career-ending' injuries that leave them crippled for life. It is so violent that Daryl Stingley was paralyzed for life in a game, and in pre-season games at that. In a meaningless preseason game New England Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan overthrew wide receiver Darryl Stingley, Jack Tatum of the Oakland Raiders, known for his vicious hits, nailed Stingley while he was in the air, snapping vertebrae in his neck. Stingley was a quadriplegic for the rest of his life. He died in April of 2007 at the age of 55 of heart disease and pneumonia complicated by his quadriplegia. NFL also have a propensity for criminality and criminal violence. Statistically NFL players are so significantly over-involved in the criminal justice system that a 1998 book was simply titled, Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL. The pun may be nothing to write home about but the book itself details in unrelenting fashion the fact that NFL players are more criminal than the general population and more criminal than athletes in other sports such as the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball whose players also display statistically significantly elevated rates of criminal behavior. Two quick examples will suffice to highlight this situation: One in the spotlight and one that passed almost unmentioned. In December 2007, Juliet Macur filed the following report with The New York Times: “I think you need to apologize once again to the millions of people who look up to you,” United States District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson said.... Hudson then sentenced Vick to 23 months in prison, more than Vick’s co-defendants in the case — and also more than the 12 to 18 months prosecutors originally suggested, as part of Vick’s plea agreement” to charges of organizing, bankrolling and participating in an illegal dog fighting ring. (Macur, 2007) Three years later Vick has returned to the NFL and is having a stellar season with the Philadelphia Eagles. None of that, however, changes the fact that he was convicted of operating a dog fighting ring, a particularly primitive, brutal and bloodthirsty criminal activity. While Vick has been enjoying his comeback another former-NFL star has reached the bottom of the barrel. David Meggett, 42, played 10 years for three teams in the NFL. He made it to the Super Bowl but did not win it with the New England Patriots. His 3,708 punt return yards are currently the second most in NFL history. However, on November 11, 2010 he was sentenced to thirty years in penitentiary on charges of criminal sexual conduct and burglary, for having broken into a college student's home in North Charleston, SC and sexually assaulting her. (ESPN News, 2010) The severe sentence was not because Meggett was a former NFL star. Like most former-players he is largely forgotten and has had an insignificant and lackluster career since leaving the NFL. The long sentence reflected the fact that Meggett is a repeat sex offender with previous convictions in both the United States and Canada. Briefly, he had been previously charged with assaulting an escort worker after a three-way sexual encounter and in 2007 he was convicted of sexual assault in North Carolina. (ESPN News,2010) Clearly NFL players are not angels. Nor is the league's high-profile and success predicated on the players behaving as model citizens. The NFL's success is directly attributable to its marketing efforts. The Marketing of the NFL The marketing of the NFL consists of various components that have all served to enhance its public profile and popular appeal. Since the inception of 'Monday Night Football' in 1971 it has consciously tailored itself to television. Most recently it has made a conscious effort to increase its appeal to particular market segments, notably African-Americans, Hispanics and women. Third, setting aside its players criminality it has made a conscious effort to improve its image in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Each of these aspects of its marketing program will now be explored in detail. On Nov. 17, 1968, the future world champion New York Jets, quarterbacked by 'Broadway' Joe Namath were leading the Oakland Raiders 32-29 with 1:05 to play when the game disappeared from TV screens across the country. The clock had struck 7, and the broadcast turned into a pumpkin of a made-for-TV movie called Heidi. The Raiders made a remarkable comeback, scoring twice in the last minute and winning the game. The snafu “sparked so many calls from fans that the network's switchboard in New York blew 26 fuses.” (Heller, 2003) The NFL and NBC both learned a lesson from that incident and since them the NFL has consciously catered to its television audiences. Only three years later 'Monday Night Football' was introduced, the leagues first foray into prime time. Kent Miller describes it as “no mere telecast.” The hosts everyman Frank Gifford, loud, obnoxious New York lawyer Howard Cosell and 'Dandy' Don Meredith became stars and football “the focal point in a way that it never had.” (Miler, 2010) The game has marched inexorably into prime-time since then. In the 1990s Thursday Night Football was introduced in the last half of the season. Further, as previously noted 'Sunday Night Football' has displaced fans previous focus on Sunday afternoons and become the most highly watched football game of the week. As the season reaches its climax fans can now watch NFL football on three nights of seven in the week. Additionally, there is now an NFL Network dedicated to the league 24/7, 365 days of the year. Rule changes have also been made to the game to increase its viewability on television. There are compulsory commercial stoppages scheduled into the games so the sponsors attracted by the ratings can be guaranteed time to market their wares. Indeed, the introduction of new commercials, at millions of dollars per minute, during the game has become a media spectacle in and of itself. (Not to mention the famous musicians – The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, The Back-Eyed Peas – that now preform at halftime and during the pre-Super Bowl show.) Rule changes have also been introduced to increase the pace of the games and insure that they are almost always finished within their 3-hour time slot on television. Simply put, the NFL is one of the most media savvy professional sports leagues in the world. The league has also made extensive and successful efforts to increase its market segment and diversify its audience demographics. Two illustrations establish this initiative. The NFL now regularly broadcasts games with Spanish commentators. This includes both television (Telemundo) and radio (Univision Radio). Also, its entire website is available in Spanish at http://nfl.univision.com/. It has also moved to increase its viewership amongst African-Americans and women. This effort is captured in one article placed in Ebony, the premier African-American lifestyle magazine in the United States, in 2006. The article is entitled, “Not for Men Only: The Women of the NFL”, and it presents profiles of various African-American women involved in the operation and management of the league. Included in the article were Adina Ellis, Corporate Communications Manager; Natara Holloway, Internal Audit Director; Valerie Cross, Director of Player Benefits; Jacquelyn (Jakki) Nance, Esq., President of the Cleveland Browns Foundation; and, Rena Clark, Vice President of Community Affairs and Corporate Philanthropy, New England Patriots. The last two names on the preceding list also demonstrate the league's efforts to employ marketing of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In 1993 the Review of Business defined CSR as "corporate social actions whose purpose is to satisfy social needs". (Angelidis and Ibrahim, 1993) The NFL has an entire website dedicated to its CSR program. Called 'Join the Team, NFL' its mission is stated on its homepage: “The JOIN THE TEAM initiative is the NFL's commitment to making a difference off-the-field and in the community.” (“Join the Team, NFL”) The site is unabashed in praising the NFL's history of charitable work and its commitment to ongoing community work: “The NFL has served communities nationwide for more than 75 years. Together with our member teams, players, coaches and families, the NFL works to make a difference through community volunteer work, outreach and involvement.... Our partnership with the United Way is over 30 years old.” (“Join the Team, NFL”) This observation regarding the NFL's CSR work is not meant to denigrate the effort. The league's popularity gives it the opportunity to raise large sums of money and motivate large numbers of persons to contribute to their communities. On the other hand, it would be absurd to see it as purely altruistic and not connected to an effort to improve the league's image as a responsible corporate citizen, particularly in light of its players less than stellar civic performance. Conclusions The NFL has marketed itself remarkably well, and largely manages to stand above its players often atrocious behavior and its inherent violence. It has done so by consciously catering to television and maximizing its appeal and reach through television. It has also successfully marketed itself to a wider demographic over the last decade and drawn in new market segments, notably women, African-Americans and Hispanics. Finally, it has mobilized CSR to polish its image and overcome the transgressions of individual players. References Angelidis, J. P. and N. A. Ibrahim. (1993). "Social demand and corporate strategy: A corporate social responsibility model". Review of Business. 15(1), 7-10. Baker, C Douglas. (November 26, 2010). “The New England Patriots' 10 Worst Moments in Franchise History”. Bleacher Report. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/526996-the-10-worst-moments-in-new-england-patriots-history#page/2. Benedict, Jeff and Don Yaeger. (1998). Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL. New York: Warner Books. Cook, Bob. (February 4, 2007). “Lets Make Super Bowl and Official Holiday”. NBC Sports. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/16865062. “Join the Team, NFL”. https://www.jointheteam.com/. Kent, Milton. (December 8, 2010). “'Monday Night Football' Today Isn't Close to Whatit Once Was”. San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fg%2Fa%2F2010%2F12%2F08%2Ffanhousemondaynightfootballt.DTL. “David Meggett convicted of sex crime”. (November 11, 2010). ESPN News. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5789655. Heller, Dick. (November 17, 2003). “Showing of ''Heidi'' sacked NFL and fans in ''68”. The Washington Times. Macur, Juliet. (December 11, 2007). “Michael Vick Receives 23 Months, and a Lecture” The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/sports/football/11vick.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=michael%20vick%20dogfight&st=cse. “Not for Men Only: The Women of the NFL”. (January 2006). Ebony. 61:(3) 62-67. Oriard, Michael. (2007). Brand NFL: Making and Selling America's Favorite Sport. Charlotte, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Schwarz, Alan. (December 8, 2010). “N.F.L. Invites Helmet Safety Ideas”. The New York Times.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/sports/football/09helmets.html?ref=football. Shilbury, David, Hans Westerbeek, Shayne Quick and Daniel Funk. (2009). Strategic Sport Marketing. New York: Allen & Unwin. "Super Bowl dethrones 'M*A*S*H,' sets all-time record". (February 8, 2010) The Live Feed. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/live-feed. Zinser, Lynn. (November 11, 2010). “Attention Sports Fans: N.H.L. Is Playing Hockey”. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/sports/hockey/12leading.html?scp=10&sq=NFL%20assault&st=cse. Read More