By Jack Eaton
June 9, 2014
There
are not many companies or organizations in America more profitable than the
NFL. Football is America’s most popular
sport. It has become a $9.5 billion per
year industry, and it’s still growing.
According to a 2012 interview with Carl Francis, the Director of
Communications for the NFL Players Association, “the NFL has resonated with the
fans because of greater access and visibility of the players.” A Harris Poll of
the American public, conducted in September of 2012, found that 59% of
Americans follow pro football, the highest level of interest in the NFL that
Harris has ever found in its regular studies of the U.S. population (Smith,
2012). However, in recent years, the NFL
has faced several challenging situations such as a 2011 player lockout, a
referee strike and dealing with the long-term health risks of concussions
suffered while playing football. Despite
all of the public relations issues the NFL has faced, is currently facing, and
will face, the NFL will continue to grow in popularity through their public
relations strategies and great leadership.
Roger Goodell is
the Commissioner of the NFL. It is his
responsibility to maintain and improve the level of success of the NFL, protect
the NFL’s stellar brand, and make sure that the public image of the NFL remains
positive. He is known as a man who makes
quick and forceful decisions. He has
spent his entire career in the NFL, starting in 1982 as an intern in the
league’s public relations department (Gloeckler/Lowry, 2007). His quick learning and public relations
background make him the right man for the job as the Commissioner of the
NFL. Before his time as commissioner, he
was a key deputy for the previous regimes.
Goodell was put in charge of initiatives that drove the NFL’s growth
including billions of dollars in TV rights deals and acquiring corporate
sponsorships (Gloeckler/Lowry, 2007).
Goodell has a team of trusted advisors, public relations professionals,
and a select group of Fortune 500 CEOs as his confidants to rely on when a
crisis arises. Goodell views TV as the
best way to reach fans. After all, the
NFL gets paid approximately $4 billion by television networks for the broadcast
rights to air games.
The NFL has used
public relations to create a brand and influence public opinion in many
different ways. One of the many positive
public relations strategies utilized by the NFL is partnering up with numerous
charities and non-profit organizations.
One of those organizations is the United Way of America. The United Way is a non-profit organization
dedicated to improving education, helping people achieve financial stability,
and promote healthy living. The United
Way was started in 1887 to serve as an agent to collect funds for local
charities, as well as to coordinate relief services, counsel and refer clients
to cooperating agencies, and make emergency assistance grants in cases which
could not be referred. More than 125
years later, United Way is still focused on mobilizing the caring power of
communities and making a difference in people’s lives (unitedway.org). In 1973, the NFL and the United Way
established their partnership to increase public awareness of social service
issues facing the country. In addition
to public service announcements in which volunteer NFL players, coaches, and
owners appear, NFL players support their local United Ways through personal
appearances, social program, and serving on the United Way governing boards (unitedway.org).
You cannot watch an
NFL game on TV without seeing players in United Way commercials. It’s a great way to get their message to the
public for both the NFL and the United Way.
The United Way and the NFL also held the Youth Empowerment Summit in
2012. It consisted of 18 NFL players, 39
high-performing high school students from challenged schools, and 21 interns
from colleges across the country. It
took place at American University in Washington D.C. It was a unique opportunity to let their
voices be heard, to learn, discover and create ways to involve more people in
improving education in America. They
were able to share their stories on Capitol Hill with more than 20 senators and
representatives, and delivered their message with more than 40 television and
radio interviews. A one-day social media
stunt that yielded more than 15,000,000 views on Twitter and nearly 800,000
views on Facebook took place. The United
Way depends on a collective impact. It’s
another way of describing the mobilization of a community around pressing
issues like health and education, bringing diverse partners together to focus
the community’s attention on the end game, enlisting everyone in the solution,
and aligning resources to support the end game (Stewart, 2014).
Another positive
public relations strategy the NFL uses all on-field fine money collected for
charitable purposes. When a player gets
find for an on-field infraction or penalty, the NFL does not keep the money
when it’s paid. These funds have been
used to support retired player programs, including the NFL Player Care
Foundation and NFLPA Player Assistance Trust, disaster relief initiatives, and
health related charities (nfl.com).
The NFL has made
it very easy for fans to stay informed and have access to league news and
information. Like every organization,
the NFL has its own website. The
internet gives public relations practitioners a multifaceted form of worldwide
communication, primarily involving message exchange by e-mail, information
delivery, and persuasion through the Web, and extensive access to audiences for
strategic research opportunities (Cameron/ Wilcox/Reber/Shin, 2008). NFL.com is very user friendly and has its
very own public relations and communications page available in just one
click. Fans can get online and read the
latest NFL news and even look at a calendar of upcoming NFL events. Roger Goodell will even get online to answer
questions asked by fans and media.
Social media is
another way the NFL can get information out there by promoting events, engaging
with players, and sending messages to the media. The NFL has over 10 million Twitter followers. Short well-crafted messages are prepared and
accompanied by a link of a news story or press release and posted via Twitter
and/or Facebook. Also many players
retweet or share the NFL press releases on Facebook. This helps to maximize the NFL’s outreach to
the fans and media (Francis, 2012). It
really has become one of the NFL’s most valuable and effective set of tools.
One
of the most controversial public relations issues the NFL has faced in recent
years is player safety concerns and concussions causing long-term problems to
the health of current and former players.
In 1952, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study stating
that an NFL player who has suffered three concussions should stop playing
football. Responding to the study, the NFL commissioned a committee of
scientists and doctors to do their own study.
That committee determined that no long-term repercussions exist after
experiencing a concussion while playing in the NFL (Gove, 2012). Despite a lot of criticism from the
scientific community of this study, the NFL based there safety and concussion
protocols on it. In 2005, Neurosurgery published an article
linking concussions suffered during an NFL player’s career to cognitive
deterioration based on autopsy results of a former player. The NFL tried to discredit the writers of the
article and continued to base their safety rules and regulations on incorrect
and outdated data. The NFL acted negligently
and fraudulently towards its players, and former players eventually filed a
lawsuit against the NFL that currently remains unsettled.
In
the nine years since Roger Goodell has become NFL Commissioner, his tenure has
been marked by a growing vigilance regarding safety on the field. In 2007, he made improvements to the
concussion policy. The new policy stated
a player cannot re-enter a game or practice in which he lost consciousness and
the player cannot take the field again until he is concussion symptom
free. Despite the majority of the NFL
fans having a fondness for violence, Goodell kept at it. In 2008, he sent a memo to coaches and
players warning them of the harsh penalties for illegal and dangerous hits that
cause injuries. Not only are players
penalized on the field, but they are also fined large amounts of money. Roger Goodell is a smart man. Football will always be a dangerous and
violent health risk to its players regardless of the penalties and fines
enforced. But Goodell must try to make
it look like the game is being made safer to satisfy the public and the players
and to avoid future lawsuits. In 2009,
Goodell testified before the House Judiciary Committee. He was scolded for the NFL’s handling of
brain injuries to players (Lawrence, 2012).
He then made the concussion policy even stricter. Players with any concussion symptoms at all
would not be allowed to reenter a game or practice. It no longer mattered if he lost
consciousness or not. With new emphasis
on and awareness of player safety, the NFL was just asking for lawsuits from
former players. The NFL was basically
admitting that the concussion protocol they implemented for years was
inadequate. A concussion settlement was
reached in August of 2013 for $765 million. The NFL hoped to resolve the issue,
but U.S. District Judge Anita Brody felt as though it wasn’t enough for the
4,800 retired players involved. She
rejected the agreement and demanded revisions be made (Brinson, 2014).
With
an ongoing lawsuit the, NFL has implemented many new strategies to improve
their public image. In 2012, in a press
release posted on the Web, Commissioner Roger Goodell announced a $30 million
donation to a foundation supporting the National Institutes of Health. This was the largest donation of any kind in
NFL history. It was seed money for
accelerated research into traumatic brain injuries and neurodegenerative
diseases. “This research will extend
beyond the NFL playing field and benefit athletes at all levels and others,
including members of our military,” said Goodell (Redmon, 2012). The NFL has also taken an active interest in
the youth of America by endorsing Heads Up Football. To fight the uneasiness amongst parents, USA
Football, the official development partner of the NFL, created Heads Up
Football. It is a program designed to
help reduce the amount of head injuries in high school football. The program has a very user-friendly website
with videos and a national advertising campaign. But the main component is making sure
children are taught proper tackling technique at an early age (Lapin,
2012).
Most
people do not know that, technically, the NFL is a non-profit
organization. According to a Forbes
article in January of 2014, only 13% of people polled could correctly identify
the NFL as a tax-exempt non-profit organization (Watson, 2014). Other than having tax exemptions, the NFL
does not act like a non-profit. Non-profits
do not have shareholders who invest in the organizations and buy and sell
stocks like for-profits do. Thus, they
face the unending public relations task of raising money to pay their expenses,
finance their projects, and recruit volunteer workers as well as paid employees
(Cameron/Wilcox/Reber/Shin, 2008). Although,
that would not be a problem for the NFL.
For-profit organizations are always selling a product or service so they
do not have to worry about raising the money.
However, for-profits and non-profits utilize a lot of the same methods
for getting their messages to the public.
Both create communication campaigns and programs, including special
events, brochures, radio and television appearances, websites, and social media
to stimulate public interest (Cameron/Wilcox/Reber/Shin, 2008).
The
National Basketball Association is a for-profit organization that conducts its
public relations department very similarly to the non-profit NFL. Both create marketing campaigns on the
internet and television to sell their product.
Both organizations are involved in various charitable organizations and
have campaigns for those, as well. Both
organizations are also very good at utilizing their sports’ biggest stars and
largest personalities to get their messages to the public. Also the commissioners of both leagues have
proven to be very quick and forceful when it comes to dealing with controversy
and handing out punishments. It sends
the positive message to the world that certain behavior will not be tolerated
from members of the league including players, coaches, and even owners. The NBA, while having their fair share of
public relations issues, hasn’t quite had to deal with the same amount as the
NFL. For example, the NBA doesn’t have
nearly the amount of injury and player safety concerns as the NFL. It’s just another reason why the NFL needs to
be and is a public relations machine.
Roger
Goodell has vowed that, by 2027, the NFL will yield $25 billion per year
(Watson, 2014). That is a very lofty, yet achievable goal. It is not clear if that will happen, but
either way, the NFL is in very good hands.
They have the best leadership, the most profits, and the smartest PR
strategies of any sports organization in the world. They will continue to donate to great causes
and keep up their good work with non-profits and charitable organizations, such
as the United Way and Heads Up Football.
Goodell’s only concern is complacency.
He doesn’t want years of success as a brand and a business to convince
the NFL they are unassailable entertainment.
Making tough calls was the easy stuff.
Staying on top is something else altogether (Gloeckler/Lowry,
2007). NFL may have to pay out $1
billion in a lawsuit someday soon, and more lawsuits could follow. They may lose their non-profit status and no
longer be tax exempt. No matter what the
issue, the NFL can handle it. Despite
all of the public relations issues the NFL has faced, is currently facing, and
will face, the NFL will continue to grow in popularity through their public
relations strategies and great leadership.
References
Francis, C. (August 2012) Guarding the
Gridiron: Carl Francis on Communicating
for the NFL Players Association, Public Relations Tactics Vol. 19 Issue 8 p8-9,
Retrieved from Ashford University Library
Smith, M. D. (October 2012) Poll
Finds NFL More Popular Than Ever. Retrieved at www.profootballtalk.nbcsports.com
Gloeckler, Geoff/Lowry, Tom (2007) The
Most Powerful Man in Sports, BusinessWeek Online. Retrieved at Ashford
University Library
Glen T. Cameron/Dennis L. Wilcox/Bryan H.
Reber/Jae-Hwa Shin (2008) Public Relations Today: Managing Competition and
Conflict, Boston, MA, Pearson Education, Inc.
Stewart, Stacey D. (2013) United Way,
Healthy Communities, and Collective Impact, National Civic Review. Winter2013,
Vol. 102, Issue 4, p 75-78. Retrieved at
Ashford University Library
Gove, Jeremy P. (2012) Three and Out: The NFL’s Concussion Liability and How
Players Can Tackle the Problem, Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment &
Technology Law, Spring 2012 Vol. 14 Issue 3 p 649-691. Retrieved at Ashford
University Library.
Lawrence, Andrew (2012) The Commissioner
Cracks Down, Sports Illustrated, Vol. 116, Issue 11. Retrieved at Ebscohost through Ashford
University Library
Brinson, Will (2014) Judge Rejects Initial
$765M NFL Concussion Lawsuit Settlement.
Retrieved at www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24409040/judge-rejects-initial-765m-nfl-concussion-lawsuit-settlement
Redmon, Kevin Charles (2012) Head Games:
Brain Injuries Intercept Football, Pacific-Standard: The Science of Society. Retrieved at www.psmag.com/navigation/health-and-behavior/head-games-47276
Lapin, Joseph A. (2012) The Public
Relations of Brain Injury, Pacific-Standard:
The Science of Society. Retrieved
at www.psmag.com/navigation/business-economics/the-public-relations-of-brain-injury-50456/
Watson, Tom (2014) The Real Super Bowl
Question: Should The NFL Be A
Nonprofit? Retrieved at www.forbes.com/sites/tomwatson/2014/01/30/the-real-super-bowl-question-should-the-nfl-be-a-nonprofit/
www.cbssports.com (photo)
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