Joe Ruggiero has been named senior vice president and head of consumer products at the NFL, filling a vacancy created late last year when Michelle Micone left after more than two years in the role.
Joe RuggieroCourtesy of National Football League
Ruggiero, a former McKinsey management consultant, joined the NFL in 2013, setting strategy for the league’s corporate sponsorship group. He was elevated to vice president of strategy and business development in 2016, and began working in consumer products last year. Ruggiero discussed the challenges of heading NFL consumer products with SBJ Editor-at-Large Terry Lefton at a time when the entire sports licensing industry is frozen, with no games, no TV, and few brick-and-mortar retailers left open.
What’s your charter?
■ RUGGIERO: At the highest level, it’s driving the business over the long term. This business [licensed products] is kind of foundational here and has a lot of success, historically. So, now it’s about where we want it to go. …
I like its complexity. It has so many elements to it, there’s a lot of smart people working in it, and it’s something that’s just so close to the fan. We’re helping to make things that allow people to touch and feel our game — that’s pretty exciting. It’s a mature business certainly, so you’ve got to be pretty strategic about how you think about opportunities moving forward for growth, like video games and e-commerce.
Things are changing. Is there a new licensing model in the works?
■ RUGGIERO: Not yet. It’s a model where we’re all working together to drive things forward. We see how our fans are changing in the ways they interact with our game, but still, consumer products is so often the way fans first relate to our game. Still, as the fans change, we want to make sure we are there with our [licensee] partners and meet that demand. … Even for the draft this year, obviously it was different and there was uncertainty, but our partners, like New Era and Nike, have been great about leaning into it, and sort of embracing the uncertainty around it to try and make it memorable.
All of your licensees are facing a cash crunch right now. What can you say about that?
■ RUGGIERO: I’ll answer that generally. We’re in close contact with all our partners [licensees] and we’re working with them to be supportive. We’ll work with each one, as necessary, to help.
Once we get though all of this, where do you see room for incremental growth?
■ RUGGIERO: Growth is in the places where we see consumer behaviors changing. As they continue to shop online, by mobile device, and other new ways, that creates more and different opportunities. I don’t think there’s any one category I would identify. It’s more about anticipating changes in fan behavior and meeting those opportunities quickly.
