In recent media, most people know who Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson are in a negative light, due to domestic abuse. For about a month, the NFL took a lot of fire for how the league was going to respond to the situation. The NFL since then, has taken multiple actions to show that they have remedied the situation and to raise their reputation amongst their female fans. One such action, first was taken by the league front office; in which commissioner Roger Goodell hired 4 advisors all of which are female to handle situations in regards to players and domestic abuse. This was quickly made public to show that the NFL was currently working on a policy .
The next action they took, was through extending the duration of their breast cancer awareness month. Every year, the NFL generally sets aside 2 or 3 weeks to honor breast cancer awareness month, and those women whom are survivors of breast cancer. This year, the NFL put aside a whole month towards breast cancer awareness in light of the the incidents regarding domestic abuse. During this time of the seasons players wear pink accessories to honor breast cancer awareness and this year the NFL teams went all out.
Certain NFL teams went all out in others ways, such as bars, clubs, merchandise stores and beauty clubs specifically for their female fans. On October 5 in Carolina was the debut of their style lounge for their female fans and they were open to using the service. Other teams that have such lounges located in their stadiums are the New England Patriots, Washington Redskins, Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons. By making this action, this showed that the NFL was really looking to tailor to their female fan’s for forgiveness of their players actions.
One way I saw the NFL contribute to this marketing scheme this past weekend was the commercial “NFL Player’s Say No More“. What the commercial is ultimately saying is to take action against domestic abuse, and if someone says something help them remedy it or point them in a direction to remedying it. Having the players as the main subject tells the public that they understand public incidents are unacceptable and that with the prestige of playing a professional sport comes your life being under the public eye.
As a result of all of these marketing schemes the results show that it has paid off. According to a random poll two-thirds of female fans and three-fourths of male fans were not affected by the incidents surrounding the NFL. However, most fans are not confident in their behavioral change policy.
Do you think the actions the NFL has taken has redeemed their reputation amongst female fans? What is your opinion on the actions of the NFL? Would there be anything different that you would do?
Sources:
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/10/13/In-Depth/NFL-marketing.aspx
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/22/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NFL.aspx
Interesting point of view. I personally do not think the NFL took their consequences far enough. As a recent comparison, Donald Sterling, former owner of the LA Clippers, made racist comments to his ex-girlfriend regarding some of his players as well as the african american race overall. After many hearings, he not only was forced to resign from his position, but also give up his share of the team. This was a drastic however necessary step for the NBA to take to not only clarify any rumors/contrary opinions about the association, but also to be in alignment with the civil rights and overall justice of our nation. I do not feel the NFL took the appropriate level of repercussions against their players, as domestic violence is just as wrong of an act. The public should not feel any misunderstanding about the NFL’s stance on domestic violence, and I do not feel the actions taken against the players communicated that.
The NFL had a PR nightmare during this scandal, and a lot of women, and men, had a negative view of the organization as a whole. That being said, I don’t think this situation is something the NFL can consider a win, considering they’re doing damage control at this point. Although it might not effect people who were polled in regards to watching NFL games or buying team memorabilia, 40% of women said they are not confident at all that this will change the policies within the NFL. That statistic, to me, is the most important because it shows that women don’t believe that anything positive will come out of this situation. I don’t think catering to women as you described in the article is the best way to rectify the situation. Instead, the NFL should focus on changing policies, which will improve its brand image, which is incredibly negative thanks to the actions of the previous months. That being said, the true test of the NFL and what will really determine its image in relation to women in the future will be the next domestic violence case against a popular player.
I don’t think that these commercials and campaigns are making everything disappear, but it’s definitely making a positive impact. When I saw the “Say no more” commercial I respected the NFL more than I ever have because it was such a moving commercial to see these NFL players agree to stand up against domestic abuse and the players who chose to involve themselves in this issue. This has shone a different light on the NFL, not the darkness that everyone thought was all that the NFL was about. I appreciated the fact that they did Breast Cancer Awareness for a full month rather than just a few weeks like they used to do. The NFL has definitely picked themselves back up from the negative media, but it’s not an issue that will just disappear. If they are serious about the campaign against domestic abuse then they need to continue this type of behavior and marketing.