NFL sponsors are watching to make sure the league "doesn't fumble the investigation into how its executives handled evidence" in the Ray Rice case, but no company has yet to say it will "end its relationship with the NFL," according to Anderson & Murphy of the AP. TD Ameritrade, which just announced its association with the league earlier this month, said that it has received "little reaction from clients" about its sponsorship. The company in a statement said, "While the NFL has, admittedly, not done everything right, we hope that it will quickly learn from its mistakes and work to improve a culture that values the inclusion, safety and respect of its employees." General Motors Marketing Manager Ryndee Carney, whose company has been an NFL sponsor since '01, said that it has "no plans to change its advertising on NFL games because of the Rice case" (AP, 9/12). In DC, Cindy Boren noted one of the NFL's "blue-chip sponsors, Marriott, has been taking heat from customers on Twitter." But the hotel chain in a statement said it is "closely following the situation.” Marriott's Twitter account read, "We trust that the NFL will address the matter appropriately." Meanwhile, FedEx "shared the same sentiment" in an official statement (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 9/11). USA TODAY's David Leon Moore cites experts as saying that major sponsors of the NFL "should be wary about backlash as a result of the controversy." Univ. of Oregon Warsaw Sports Marketing Center Dir Paul Swangard: "Sponsors could and should be wary because they have a lot to lose by any backlash that does emerge. In terms of raw dollars, sponsors spend more money marketing the NFL than the NFL does. The NFL has a Fort Knox worth of brand equity, but this is clearly putting a drain on the account." But he added, "It's too early to [say] what sort of response the league's big sponsors might have. It's not like they're willing to make grand statements or gestures about pulling out the way they did after the Donald Sterling controversial statements" (USA TODAY, 9/12).
ROGER THAT: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's job security is under increasing scrutiny, but BLOOMBERG NEWS' Scott Soshnick cites experts as saying that Goodell's firing "is unlikely" because sponsors have a "collective billion dollars invested in making sure fans of the most-watched U.S. sports league tap their tablets, gulp their beverages and devour their burgers." Former USOC CMO Rick Burton said, "If you're these companies, you've hitched your wagon to the NFL hard-core. The sponsors need the NFL, but they're also going to bring pressure, pressure that's tied to their needs." CBS Sports Network's Amy Trask in an e-mail wrote that the "hullabaloo over Rice won't cost Goodell his job or the league sponsorship dollars." Trask: "It will take something even more colossal, more monumental and irreparable" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 9/12). Meanwhile, BLOOMBERG NEWS' Crayton Harrison noted Verizon Chair & CEO Lowell McAdam pledged to "help the league develop a program to combat domestic violence" in the wake of the controversy. McAdam said that Verizon has a "leading domestic-violence awareness program that Goodell's NFL is seeking to emulate." He added that Verizon's team is "meeting with the NFL on the matter" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 9/11). McAdam: "I know Roger Goodell quite well, and he is a man of very high integrity and I will not believe that there is some conspiracy to cover this up. I'm at this point satisfied with the actions that they've taken" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/12).
NO SPONSORS LEAVING RAVENS: In Baltimore, Childs Walker notes sponsors "have stood by the Ravens so far." DC-based MedStar Health PR & Communications Dir Ann Nickels said, "Through the years, we have worked with a number of individuals in the Ravens organization who have made significant contributions to the community -- in many ways, every day. We hope something good can come of this terrible incident, through heightened awareness of domestic violence and significantly more help for its victims." Verizon-Maryland Associate Dir of PR Melanie Ortel in a statement said, "Verizon Wireless is a sponsor of the Baltimore Ravens organization, not individual players" (Baltimore SUN, 9/12).
