NFL To End Erectile Dysfunction Drug Sponsorships
By Terry Lefton, Editor-at-Large
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NFL To End ED Sponsorship
When Levitra’s Deal Expires |
The NFL is withdrawing from the erectile dysfunction drug sponsorship category, after a three-year deal with Glaxo Smith Kline’s (GSK) Levitra medication. That $6M-a-year deal expires after this season, but even before that, the deal was restructured, and GSK, once a prominent NFL TV advertiser, did not buy any NFL time this season, even as it relaunched the drug. NFL Dir of Corporate Communications Brian McCarthy said, “The NFL will not pursue the category in the future. However, NFL media and broadcast rights holders are not precluded from accepting advertising.” Levitra and Eli Lilly’s Cialis both advertised on Super Bowl XXXVIII. The status of team rights in the category is unclear. A handful of NFL teams had local deals supporting the league’s national Levitra sponsorship. Eagles Senior VP/Business Operations Mark Donovan said, “Until we’re told otherwise, ED drugs are on the approved list. It will be interesting to see what happens next season.”
CHANGING MARKET: From a market perspective, the burst of ED drugs over the past few years backed by large marketing budgets did not yield the sales anticipated. So GSK had its own incentive for wanting out. “ED as a big player in sponsorship budgets is cutting back,” said John von Stade, VP at Velocity Sports & Entertainment, which handles sponsorship marketing for Cialis. “There’s a real flattening out in marketing expenditures because the market never reached the size that was projected.” Sources close to the league said that the NFL grew uncomfortable with GSK’s original positioning of Levitra as part of an overall men’s health message, to one of sexual performance, which brought with it the government-required warnings regarding “erections lasting longer than four hours.” Without Levitra, P&G’s Prilosec is the only medication with an NFL sponsorship and it is an OTC medication. Other approved categories for the league and its clubs are allergy medication, cholesterol-reducing drugs, dermatology medication, diabetes medication, gastrointestinal medication, hair renewal and growth and prostate medication. Velocity’s von Stade identified medications aimed at hypertension as one of the largest developing drug categories. |
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