Nearly 90% of Americans "say the recent outcry about domestic violence in the NFL hasn’t changed how much professional football they watch -- and less than a third of the nation believes NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell should resign," according to an NBC News/Marist poll cited by Mark Murray of NBCNEWS.com. However, the survey of 606 adults, conducted Sept. 16-17, also showed that 53% of Americans and 57% of self-described football fans "disapprove of the way the NFL has handled the recent reports of domestic violence." Men are "more disapproving of the NFL than women" -- 55% of men took the position compared with 50% of women. The poll showed that 86% of fans said that the news of domestic violence "hasn’t changed the amount of professional football they watch." Comparatively, 11% of fans said that they are "less likely to watch" and 3% who are "more likely to watch" (NBCNEWS.com, 9/18). NBC's Chuck Todd said, "If you thought that fans would be providing the pressure on the NFL to do something more, this poll indicates that's not the case." He added the poll "sort of explains of why we're watching it and wondering, 'Why isn't the NFL acting sooner? Don't they realize they have this PR crisis?'" Todd: "They're probably doing some of their own surveying of fans too and they're seeing the same numbers" ("Today," NBC, 9/19).
GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION: NFL VP/Social Responsibility Anna Isaacson, in her first interview since being promoted to the position earlier this week, said that she and other league officials, including Goodell, "understand the gravity of the domestic violence controversy that has enveloped the league." She said, "People want to know that the NFL is hearing them, that we are hearing our fans, and that we take this incredibly seriously. ... We know we don't have all the answers. We are bringing in the right people to guide us, to help us make decisions that move this issue forward and to really now take this opportunity and allow us to make a massive difference for thousands of women around the country." Isaacson said she speaks with Goodell "probably six times a day ... on average." She added, "He is an active part of our meetings. He is in constant discussions with not only me but with our new outside advisers ... and with our working group. He is playing an active role on this, between phone calls, e-mails and in-person meetings, multiple times a day." Isaacson: "We're working night and day on this topic right now. This is the most important thing that we are doing right now. ... We have an issue, clearly" (USA TODAY, 9/19). Meanwhile, with the league on Tuesday hiring Cynthia Hogan as its new Senior VP/Public Policy & Government Affairs, THE MMQB's Andrew Brandt wrote after taking "six months to replace" former Senior VP/Events Frank Supovitz, the fact that the NFL has "created, vetted and hired a new Senior VP in a day is proof of the situation’s magnitude." Brandt: "I would suggest one other hire for the NFL: an Ombudsman." This person "would go a long way to counter criticism the league is taking for its secretive and reactive ways." He or she would be like former FBI Dir Robert Mueller III, "not just for the Ray Rice matter but for all things, guarding against maladministration and demanding accountability and transparency" (MMQB.SI.com, 9/18).
CRACKS IN THE SHIELD: USA TODAY's Brent Schrotenboer in a front-page piece writes the "most powerful sports league on the planet is facing challenges unlike anything before, driven by a new awareness of the game's ugly underside and an expanded social media landscape keeping the public's attention on the pervasive societal problem of domestic violence." DC-based PR firm Levick Senior VP & Chair of Litigation Practice Jason Maloni said, "We're beginning to see cracks in the shield. They may be faint cracks, but they deserve a great deal of attention, because faint cracks always become larger cracks." Schrotenboer writes the "cracks seemed to come so suddenly, just a few months after the NFL appeared to be on an unstoppable march -- a seemingly invincible brand that had mastered the lucrative mix of television, advertising, sports and culture." Experts said that the league's popularity "could wane if it doesn't make changes in response to the crises, not only in handling misconduct but also player safety and concussions" (USA TODAY, 9/19). In Akron, George Thomas writes football has "usurped all other sports with respect to relevance in this country." But for the media and corporate sponsors, the luster "may be rubbing off of the present king" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 9/19). Fox' Pam Oliver said, "They need to act like they know what they’re doing and do better. For a very serious issue, it’s comical the way these teams and the league have responded" ("America's Pregame," FS1, 9/18).
BUSINESS AS USUAL? ESPN.com's Darren Rovell reported online sports retailer Fanatics "isn't feeling any negative effects" from the off-field incidents in terms of its sales of NFL merchandise. Company data shows that team sales "are up" 23% from Sept. 1-18 compared to the same time period last year. That is "better than the company as a whole had been performing and above baseline ecommerce growth in the retailing industry." Fanatics CEO Doug Mack said that the company "hasn't decided what it will do" with the jerseys of Peterson, Rice and Panthers DE Greg Hardy that it is "no longer making available to the public." But he did say that Peterson and Rice "made up less than one one-thousandth of the company's NFL business" (ESPN.com, 9/18). In L.A., Bill Plaschke writes under the header, "As NFL's Disgraces Continue, Fans Come Back For More." There "are a million reasons the NFL needs to clean up its arrogant and callous act," but there "are 22.2 million reasons it will never happen." That is the number of viewers who watched NBC's "SNF" recently "at the end of arguably the ugliest week in league history" (L.A. TIMES, 9/19).
