NFL invites socially conscious fans to its game
When Jim Trotter and Steve Wyche talk about the National Football League, thousands of people listen. So it came as little surprise that they recently spurred an “oh yeah” from here while listening to them talk with Richard Deitsch on the Sports Media Podcast. Trotter and Wyche, who recently launched their own podcast called Huddle […]
Sports making necessary trouble
If 2020 was a movie, I would have walked out months ago. From COVID-19 that continues to hammer our communities to social horrors to powerful voices (including congressman, John Lewis, to whom I nod above) silenced too soon, this year would be headed straight for TV reruns. There’s hope, though. Among other things, sports are […]
NFL, XFL – it’s still football season
I took mental notes while surfing the newest version of the XFL and probably like most people that tuned in, compared it to the NFL. Having recently been immersed in everything NFL during Super Bowl week in Miami, it wasn’t hard to get on board. That, and it was snowing truckloads where I was this […]
PR scraps left from the NFL-Kaepernick workout
Pretend you own a multi-million-dollar business that’s internationally known, and your affiliates have only increased in value each year they’ve existed. During those flush years, which span more than half a century, your business has staged events for all the world to see. Each of them takes months, even years of planning and a steady, […]
As football’s PR efforts work to focus message on safety, violence rears its ugly head
When you’ve set a goal and created a PR plan to essentially rebrand football, the last thing you want are conspiracy theories and brawls in which one player could have killed another on national television. The public relations state of football is mostly good, despite complaints about officiating, reports about long-term head injuries and puzzling […]
Antonio Brown interrupts NFL’s 100th anniversary PR plan
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently told a reporter from Sports Business Journal that he wants the league’s 100thanniversary to be a celebration. Great public relations plan. I’d loved to have helped outline and showcase the league’s rich history. Those 100 years have come with missteps, however. It’s understandable. It’s hard to keep your nose clean for 36,500 […]
Rodgers adds fuel to publicity fire
First there was a story in which Green Bay Packers personnel, named and anonymous, called out quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ and former coach Mike McCarthy’s leadership. This added to public speculation that the Super Bowl winning duo weren’t as buddy-buddy as each claimed during the past year. A day later, McCarthy disputed elements in Tyler Dunne’s […]
After further review – Super Bowl ads were meh
Super Bowl advertising is expensive. This year to the tune of about $5.25 million for a 30-second spot. So why were Super Bowl LIII’s spots so … meh? I watched some Super Bowl commercials again. My mind didn’t change. My undisputed first-place vote went to the NFL 100th Anniversary spot. In second place – snooze. In […]
Emotion and social good wrap Super Bowl pregame
This past pre-Super Bowl week was emotional for a lot of reasons. For one, I spent a lot of time and energy trying to get out of Wisconsin, a state that turned into the biggest block of ice I’ve ever seen or felt – and never want to again. I missed connecting with friends and peers […]
If I coached Roger Goodell this week …
Yesterday I reflected on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual State of the League press conference in Atlanta from a public-relations standpoint, and wrote a post to call it a win and a loss. After I made my thoughts public, I was asked how I would have advised Goodell to answer questions he likely knew would be asked. Since […]