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Marketing and Sponsorship

Pepsi delays naming halftime act, but sponsors hanging in

Super Bowl halftime show sponsor Pepsi has shelved the announcement of the musical act for the NFL championship due to the NFL’s ongoing issues with domestic violence, we’re told by trusted industry sources. There is no sign Pepsi is backing off of its halftime commitment, but like most of its NFL sponsor brethren, it would prefer not to be shouting about its pricey NFL association right now. Like many, it is waiting for the cacophony and controversy surrounding America’s top sports property to ebb, if not conclude.

Despite the saber-rattling by an impressive collection of NFL corporate patrons, we can find few other examples of the domestic violence crisis affecting the NFL’s business.

“Advertisers want the NFL because it’s the best way to deliver eyeballs and there’s still a belief [among sponsors] in the NFL as an institution,” said Mike Reisman, a principal at agency Team Epic, whose NFL sponsor clients include FedEx and Mars, as well as Vicks, Head & Shoulders and other Procter & Gamble brands, through its Riber Sports Marketing subsidiary.

“Domestic violence is a very serious issue, but I believe this will come to a conclusion,” Reisman continued. “The NFL will do the right things to address the issue, sponsors will stay and the NFL will endure. The black cloud hanging over them long-term is the health and concussion issue. That’s far and away the biggest issue for the NFL.”

Some things worth keeping an eye on in the meantime include Visa’s renewal of its 19-year-old NFL league rights deal, which expires after this season. One involved source said the two sides were “well down the line” with a renewal long before the recent troubles. Still, it’s a bellwether, given Visa’s size, reach, and the fact that the payment brand is the league’s second-oldest corporate sponsor, behind Pepsi-owned Gatorade.

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We assume neophyte NFL sponsor Dannon yogurt will continue with its first activation against that mushrooming consumer category, but that was always intended as a playoff/Super Bowl activation, designed to garner incremental retail display. Still, culture takes some time to ferment, n’est-ce pas?

Bud Light, already running its “Whatever, USA” promo, had pushed much of its NFL marketing beyond the season kickoff.
TD Ameritrade is another first-year sponsor bearing close scrutiny, especially since its NFL marketing is supposed to center on NFL players and enhancing the financial literacy of players. The agency developing that creative is Havas Worldwide, which took over the account from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners earlier this year.

A-B’s Bud Light brand has already pushed much of its NFL marketing program to start well beyond the season’s Sept. 4 kickoff, in deference to its “Whatever, USA” promo. However, we’re assured new Bud Light creative that includes NFL Network analyst Warren Sapp will air as soon as October.

The same goes with large media commitments from NFL sponsors and other advertisers. “No sponsor or brand is asking us to pull anything; it’s all wait and see,” said John Turner of ZenithOptimedia’s sponsorship intelligence unit. That agency has a client roster including Lexus, with halftime rights to the new CBS “Thursday Night Football” package, as well as Verizon, one of the NFL’s largest corporate sponsors.

“You could pull the money and move it, but there’s nothing of the scale and the amount of units the NFL has,” Turner continued. “I don’t see brands getting out of the NFL, but you could see some tailor their creative differently, by less use of players or [NFL] marks. These things can come and go — no one has mentioned the controversy around the Redskins name in weeks.”

At the Ravens, the NFL club most affected by the current controversy, even before the Ray Rice domestic violence case turned into a media frenzy, one of the Ravens’ largest sponsors had dropped Rice as an endorser.

M&T Bank, which had used Rice in TV ads for the past four years, switched to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and team President Dick Cass for this season’s campaign. Otherwise, we’re told sponsors are hanging in.

   
Ravens sponsor M&T Bank, which has used Ray Rice in TV ads, is now using coach John Harbaugh and President Dick Cass.
“The thought from team sponsors is that the Ravens fan base will still be there,” said a senior source at a local agency.

As for the business impact on the Ravens? “We’re moving forward. It’s a horrible situation. We are going to be more involved to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Kevin Rochlitz, Ravens vice president of corporate sales and business development. “We are going to try our best to make a big stand on domestic violence. … You remember companies for what they do in times like these.”

Assuming this controversy is slowing may not be the safe assumption. If it is, we’ll start to wonder what NFL uniform Rice will wear next.

“I would not be surprised if [Rice] came back to the league next year,” said Frank Vuono, the former NFL consumer products head, whose 16W Marketing handles NFL broadcast talent, including Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms. “Remember, everyone got over Michael Vick. [Rice] had a good reputation before this, and while there’s no excuse for what he did, if he gets help and it’s not habitual and it never happens again, I would think people would forgive.”

Despite their press-release vexations, when it comes to their budgets, sponsors and their agencies have not lost confidence in the NFL. Let’s see if that status quo remains.

“I really do trust that the NFL will get this right,” said Rick Dudley, a former NFL marketer who is now president and CEO at Octagon, whose client list includes NFL league sponsor (and former Adrian Peterson partner) Castrol, along with a bevy of brands that are big buyers of NFL media, like Sprint and BMW.

“There was a universal gasp when the video came out,” he said. “This is an issue with only one side: Domestic abuse can’t be tolerated in any way. Now it’s ‘What is the NFL going to do about it?’”

Terry Lefton can be reached at tlefton@sportsbusinessjournal.com.

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