The NFL: An Untapped Goldmine?

When broken down to the raw basics, every marketing team has the same goal.  Their aim is simple, locate and develop a method of advertisement that has the potential to achieve exposure that will catapult their company from the world of the "average company" to a household brand name.  If a CMO was told their was a chance to have 12,000,000 pairs of eyes focused on your company's logo for three straight hours do you think they would show interest?  Of course, anyone who is interested in marketing, or business in general would be interested in exposure of this magnitude.  Unfortunately, an audience of this size only exists in every marketers dreams right?  Wrong.

Laying claim to the most viewed program in the country (Monday Night Football), in addition to being the highest grossing programming in television, the NFL has established itself as a prominent player in the American culture.  One would be forced to look across the pond to find anything comparable, the European Futbol League.  The association is simple, NFL is to Americans as Futbol is to Europeans.

From a marketing perspective, the reasoning behind examining the two is a case of observing "what is" and "what could be".  Take for example, one of the most successful and well known teams in the world, Manchester United.  Millions of MU jerseys are sold each year, however there is one glaring difference in these jerseys as opposed to an NFL team's.  Where most would expect to see the team name, or player number, there is a large and quite noticeable "AIG" logo.

Presently marketers can only sit in their offices and dream of the day their company will be given the chance to own the rights to advertising on the Baltimore Ravens jerseys.  In years past it has appeared that this dream will forever remain a thought reserved for the hours spent under the covers.  However, with the current economic instability and the NFL's constant search for new business opportunities, marketers around the world have woken to a glimmer of hope.

The NFL has officially approved advertising on players' jerseys during the pre-season.  This is not only a huge break through for the NFL and marketers alike, but also could be considered the first stepping stone on the path to full-scale, season long, jersey advertising.  The pre-season restraint signals the NFL's attempt at testing the waters to see what / if any response would rise from the masses.

On one side you have advocates of implementing advertising because it represents an extremely lucrative opportunity for all parties involved.  While on the other side, there is an opposition because there is a fear that advertising would taint the game that has become a staple of American culture.  Would companies eventually have a say in franchise decisions?  Would location put teams at a disadvantage?  Do fans want to see images from epic NFL moments and have the most noticeable graphic be the Coca-Cola logo?  Do players and organizations want to risk associating their reputation with the company on the front of their jersey?  These are all questions that are constantly posed to the people in power.  What will their eventual response be?  Only time will tell, but I truly hope that they do not cheapen the game that has given so much to its' fans no matter the situation outside of stadiums.

-  Steve Simms is a senior BEM Major with a concentration in Marketing and an Entrepreneurship minor