Patriots, NFL Suffer From Brady Loss, But Endorsements Look Safe

Brady's Injury Likely To Have Little Effect On Marketability

Patriots QB Tom Brady's season-ending knee injury has "dramatic consequences not just for the Patriots ... but also for the NFL," according to a front-page cover story by USA TODAY's Gary Mihoces, who writes under the header, "In A Flash, Brady's Injury Shakes Up The NFL Season: Loss Of Star QB Changes Game On And Off The Field." Brady is "among the league's most marketable players," and in the "spectrum of sports celebrities, Brady is perhaps the closest thing the NFL has to golf's Tiger Woods." But while Brady "faces rehab and the Patriots try to move on, Brady's endorsement deals appear safe." Denver-based ad agency Worldwide Partners President & CEO Al Moffatt: "As long as this isn't career-ending, I don't think this will curtail his long-term endorsement contracts. Those are safe because he transcends sports. ... He's transcended sports like Michael Jordan did late in his career or Tiger Woods is doing now. You haven't seen any of Woods' endorsement deals go by the wayside since he got injured" (USA TODAY, 9/9).

POCKET PROTECTION? In Boston, Scott Van Voorhis writes Brady's injury, and the "cloud it casts over his career, has overnight cast a major question mark over his future as a major-league endorser." Baker Street Partners VP & Exec Creative Dir Bob Dorfman said that if Brady is "forced to retire or he cannot make a strong comeback, it could cost him [$5-10M] in future endorsement income." Meanwhile, Modell's Sporting Goods CEO Mitch Modell said that the retailer has "put in its first-ever order" for jerseys for Patriots QB Matt Cassel, who will replace Brady as the team's starting QB. Modell: "We will put it in the store and see what happens. If the team does well, he will do well" (BOSTON HERALD, 9/9). Celebrity Marketing President Cleon Daskalakis said of Brady's injury, "If you're a sponsor you're concerned. You're concerned whether [their] performance is staying the same. But your audience is not going away." But marketing experts said that Brady "might be shielded from a lot of advertising fallout from his injury due to the fact that most of [the] sponsorships he has done have been around off-the-field activities." Strategic Founder Peter Stern: "He's got a lot of brands that are not just sports brands." As for the team, Boston-based ad agency Conover Tuttle Pace Creative Dir Grant Pace said that the Patriots "have protected themselves by creating a team-centered image." Pace: "I'd be surprised if there's even a blip in their team marketing goals"  (BIZJOURNALS.com, 9/8). Sponsor and ad execs indicated that the "marketing machine that surrounds [Brady] will likely play on." But Burns Entertainment President Marc Ippolito said that marketers "currently using Brady may consider reducing his exposure in their ad campaigns" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/9).

THE FALL GUY: Ticket brokers yesterday indicated that resale prices for tickets to Patriots games "dropped 25[%] even before the news yesterday afternoon that Brady was done for the rest of the season." AceTickets.com President Jim Holzman: "This is the biggest drop I've seen in 20 years." Additionally, Sports Business Group President David Carter said that "season ticket holders could be disappointed about Brady's injury, and some TV networks may wait to see how the team does during the season when considering to show Patriots games in highlighted telecasts." Carter: "Tom Brady and the Patriots really are intertwined" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/9). On Long Island, Neil Best notes the Patriots appeared in six of CBS' eight most-viewed games during the '07 season, and with Brady out for the season, the net "needs [Jets QB Brett] Favre more than ever" (NEWSDAY, 9/9). The Patriots are scheduled to face the Seahawks on NBC's "Sunday Night Football" on December 7, but CNBC's Darren Rovell noted the net could utilize its flex schedule options “if they don’t think it’s as marketable” as a game with Brady (CNBC, 9/8). 

REMAINING NATIONALLY-TELEVISED PATRIOTS GAMES
OPPONENT	DATE	NET
Chargers	10/12	NBC
Broncos	10/20	ESPN
Colts	11/2	NBC
Jets	11/13	NFLN
Seahawks*	12/9	NBC
* = game is part of NBC's flex schedule

MOST-VIEWED NFL REGULAR-SEASON GAMES IN '07
BROADCAST TV
GAME	NET	DATE	RAT.	VIEWERS (000)
Patriots-Colts	CBS	11/4	20.1	33,819
Patriots-Cowboys	CBS	10/14	18.0	29,100
Steelers-Patriots	CBS	12/9	18.4	30,257
Cowboys-Giants	Fox	11/11	15.6	25,124
Cowboys-Redskins	Fox	11/18	15.0	23,800
CABLE TV
GAME	NET	DATE	COV. RAT.	(000)
Patriots-Ravens	ESPN	12/3	13.0	17,522
Packers-Broncos	ESPN	10/29	10.5	14,019
Cowboys-Bills	ESPN	10/8	10.0	13,028
Dolphins-Steelers	ESPN	11/26	9.6	13,119
Bears-Vikings	ESPN	12/17	9.5	12,763

HIT FOR THE NFL: SI.com's Don Banks wrote of Brady's injury, "Who loses? The NFL. There's no bigger star in the league than Brady ... and it's a major downer for [NFL Commissioner] Roger Goodell's kingdom to lose the league's reigning MVP in Week 1." In a league that "spends millions to project (and protect) its image, Brady has been the clef-chinned face of the NFL for a while now, a walking, talking billboard for all that the league is trying to sell." The absence of Brady's "unique star power in 2008 lessens more than just the Patriots, it lessens the NFL brand" (SI.com, 9/8). ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser: "It’s a blow to the NFL, it’s a blow to the Patriots and I think people are going to want to see how Bill Belichick is still a genius without Tom Brady” (“PTI,” ESPN, 9/8). NBC’s Brian Williams called yesterday a "dark day in Boston and across New England.” Williams: “Now the season looks a whole lot different” (“Nightly News,” NBC, 9/8).