Is NFL Brand Safe? - Rob Norman

This is a personal commentary and in no way reflects the perspectives or opinions of GroupM or any other WPP companyVery few stadia are used for the same activity for more than three hundred years Such distinction belongs perhaps uniquely to the Coliseum in Rome that stayed open for gladiator action from around 80AD to 435AD Amazingly it did this without TV revenue or selling the naming rights The economics of course were helped by the presence of all powerful owners no change there and nothing much in the way of a labor deal representing the gladiators or animal rights activists representing the lions For those who took their pleasure in this way it was probably a good thing as it39s unlikely that fights to the death would have been considered brand safe by major advertisers had there been anyThese days brand owners are a little more selective on the quotI don39t think so listquot are for some at least skateboarding cats Ultimate Fighting and the Jersey Shore Rarely however do we hear the quotbrand safequot argument applied to football or hockey a game that used to be played professionally in the winter months Events of recent weeks in Kansas City Dallas and more generally in medical research facilities might start that very conversation Most often described as tragic these incidents even if isolated are developing into a narrative that is beginning to reveal flaws in the game itself and flaws in the character of some of the people that playIt39s impossible to think about this without reference to boxing At the dawn of television and radio boxing was a staple until a combination of financial motive for promoters and fighters technology closed circuit cinema and PPV and a questionable safety record took boxing off the networks and into a place where CPM39s were 100039s of times greater than broadcast and allowed both the money to be made and those with a taste for blood to be entertained UFC maintains this strategy todayFootball and Hockey have a long way to go before the pressure to change the rules or restrict access to the game reach boiling point but the proverbial frog is in the pan and this represents a commercial threat to advertisers who particularly in the case of football rely on the game to produce increasingly scarce massive audiences that build reach with a frequency of occurrence that no other media property matches For mass marketers this is really important and needs to be protectedThere is no doubting the spectacle of football and the emotional attachment to it of devout and casual fans but like offfield soccer hooliganism in Europe in the 197039s and 198039s something has to change if the golden goose is to continue laying the precious eggs we call GRPs and remain a sport to which advertisers attach themselves with prideI am sure that many of us have our own thoughts on how this might be done but I would like to offer three changes for a start1 No driver39s licenses for players under contract amp8211 town cars will fit in the budget2 No firearms licenses for players under contract amp8211 you really don39t need to go hunting in the off season3 Leather helmets amp8211 your propensity to lead with your head will be somewhat reducedYou can reach Rob at robnorman or robnormangroupmcomCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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