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Few signs of stress for NFL biz

Breast cancer efforts proceed for October

Despite strong words from some of its sponsors, the effect on the NFL’s bottom line from the domestic violence crisis engulfing the league has been minimal, and the league’s plans for one of its most visible annual initiatives remained on track last week.

The league as of Thursday was proceeding with its annual breast cancer awareness efforts for October, though at least one league sponsor ended a planned promotion centered on the cause and others were calling on the league to expand the month’s focus to other women’s causes.

The decisions were being made as off-the-field headlines continued to dog the league on an almost-daily basis. Yet through the first three weeks of regular-season play, the NFL’s metrics were typically strong. No team had suffered a local TV blackout, sports licensee Fanatics reported its NFL merchandise sales were up 23 percent this month compared with September 2013, and TV ratings remained at comfortably high levels, attracting millions of female
 
Sources said the league plans to move forward with its breast cancer awareness effort.
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So while Anheuser-Busch posted a strongly worded statement that drew heavy media attention last week, few sports experts were anticipating any resulting action given the enormous sales bump the NFL bestows on the beermaker. In that statement, the company said it was not satisfied with the league’s handling of the recent domestic violence cases involving NFL players.

“I would not read too much into the wording from any NFL sponsors,” said Matt Britton, CEO of social media agency MRY. “The purpose of these recent brand statements is for the brands to distance themselves from the actions of the players and to make it clear that their sponsorships are in no way implied endorsements of these incidents or the way they are being handled by the league.”

Frank Luntz, a political and sports messaging strategist who has done work for the NFL, said, “Sponsors like A-B and McDonald’s have to keep customers happy, and so it’s important for them to be on the right side publicly on contentious issues. But as long as the NFL [going forward] is making the right decisions and taking the right action, there should be no problems.”

That’s not to say there’s been no effect. Dental hygiene brand Crest last week pulled a social media campaign tied to next month’s NFL breast cancer awareness efforts, sources said. The Procter & Gamble unit had planned to sign one player per team to post tweets and have them wear pink mouth guards, the sources said.

More visibly, Radisson suspended its sponsorship of the Minnesota Vikings, though it was unclear if that move was tied to the overall issues roiling the NFL or, more directly, if it stemmed from the team leaving the hotel brand’s logo in the backdrop for the press conference in which officials announced that previously deactivated running back Adrian Peterson would return to play. Two days later, the team reversed course, making an announcement — with no hotel logo visible this time — that Peterson would not play.

“When I was with the Patriots, we had a policy if there was a crisis we had a generic backdrop for the press conference,” said Lou Imbriano, New England’s former chief marketing officer. “Radisson should be a little bit upset [about the logo use].”

A spokesman for Radisson’s parent company declined to comment, as did the Vikings.

Radisson notwithstanding, no other NFL team or league sponsor had publicly backed out as of last Thursday.

Elizabeth Lindsey, co-managing director at Wasserman Media Group’s consulting division, told the audience at SportsBusiness Journal’s Game Changers Conference last Tuesday that there “have been some proactive steps by the NFL.” Wasserman Media Group advises NFL sponsors Lenovo, Verizon, Nationwide, Pepsi, Quaker Oats and Microsoft.

“We’re wholly supportive of the independent report that they’ve sanctioned,” Lindsey said. “We were wholly supportive of the recent organizational changes, and we’re going to step back and let them do their thing and see what the outcome is and hope they continue to take it as seriously as they are now taking it.”

Crest’s decision to terminate the breast cancer campaign comes amid questions being asked on a broader basis about whether the NFL should stage its monthlong awareness effort, which for the last five years has bathed NFL fields and players in pink.

“Can they really do breast cancer awareness month in October and not have their credibility questioned?” asked one agency adviser to several NFL sponsors, pointing out the incongruity of embracing a female cause when some of the public views the league today as being indifferent to women. “The [NFL] shield is damaged here, because in some people’s minds, the NFL now stands for indecision at best.”

The NFL did not reply for comment, but sources said the league plans to move forward with its breast cancer awareness month initiatives as planned. The league website nfl.com/pink was live as of last Thursday and included a link to buy women’s breast cancer awareness merchandise.

Why Crest ended its promotion was unclear. P&G, which is an official NFL sponsor, did not return queries seeking comment. Other P&G brands, including Duracell, Head and Shoulders, and Gillette, are active NFL sponsors. Brad Griffiths, the executive set to run the Crest campaign for the toothpaste’s sports marketing agency, Platinum Rye, declined to comment.

Imbriano, the former Patriots CMO, said Crest may be using the crisis as an excuse to exit because the pink campaign is oversaturated with brands.

That is a sentiment that speaks to the pink campaign being seen and criticized in some quarters as a cover for the NFL, and its sponsors, to market to women.

Billie Jean King, the female sports rights trailblazer, said it’s clear to her the NFL uses breast cancer awareness as a way to create female fans. While it’s fine for the league to go forward with the campaign, she said, it should only do so in tandem with other gestures. For example, she called on the league to donate all profits from women’s merchandise this year to domestic abuse shelters and charities.

“Maybe they shouldn’t be making money on any women’s merchandise this year,” she said. She added that it might be time after next month to retire the breast cancer campaign given the high survival rates for the disease and the danger posed by domestic violence. At the very least, she said, the league should activate around both causes.

Overall, King gave the NFL what amounts to decent marks for its recent response to the crisis. The league in the last few weeks hired three domestic violence consultants, appointed a female in-house lobbyist, assigned a female executive the job of domestic violence issues, played a part in Peterson and Carolina’s Greg Hardy (NFL exempt list) and Baltimore’s Ray Rice (suspended indefinitely) being off the field, and added more stringent penalties for transgressions.

“What more can they do?” King asked. She described the league as playing catch-up but also views the crisis as an opportunity for the NFL to lead on domestic violence prevention.

“This too will pass,” she said, “and [NFL Commissioner] Roger [Goodell] will come out the other end stronger if he does this right.”

Staff writer Terry Lefton contributed to this report.

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