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FL Players Association officials have been in communication with sponsors and licensees in the past few weeks to get their input and best practices about prevention and education programs for employees on the issue of domestic violence.
NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith wrote to the NFLPA’s 100 sponsors and licensees last month that the union was concerned about domestic violence and wanted to take action to restore integrity and confidence in the sport, in the wake of scandals involving NFL players. Smith asked executives for any help they might offer based on their dealings with the issue of domestic violence in their workplaces.
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The response from sponsors has become more analytical and focused on collaboratively preventing future episodes, says NFL Players Inc.’s Ahmad Nassar.
Photo by: KEVIN A. KOSKI
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“It goes without saying that your company and all of our partners have excelled at training employees and developing an accountability structure that includes everyone in your corporation,” Smith wrote in the Oct. 16 letter. “We believe that you can be a valuable resource in these efforts.”
Ahmad Nassar, NFL Players Inc. executive vice president and general counsel, said that a majority of the 100 companies responded to the letter and that the union has had follow-up conversations with executives at some of those companies. NFLPI is the marketing and licensing arm of the NFLPA, and, through a commercial agreement with the NFL, all of the league’s sponsors are NFLPA sponsors.
Nassar declined to identify any of the companies that responded.
The information from the sponsors and licensees will be used as a part of the NFLPA’s comprehensive response, which is being headed up by union special counsel Teri Patterson. The NFLPA has assembled a panel of experts on the issues of domestic violence, as well as sexual assault and child abuse, following incidents involving high-profile players such as Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson.
Sponsors were concerned in early September when TMZ released the videotape of Rice striking the woman who is now his wife inside an elevator, Nassar said. “Right after the tape got out and the story was basically out of control, it was probably more about, ‘What are you going to do to make this stop?’” he said.
Since then, NFLPA sponsors and licensees have been more proactive, Nassar said. “The response is more analytical and ‘How do we work together collaboratively in the future to avoid anything like this, whether it’s domestic violence … or anything that reflects poorly on our players and the sport overall?”
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| SHEHADI |
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Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
