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 […]
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 […]
Goodell posted a PR win — and loss — in State of NFL presser
About 24 hours ago, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell took to a podium in Atlanta, host city of Super Bowl LIII, and scored a win. He scored a bigger loss. There are several reasons why the annual State of the League press conference was a toss-up, and each are posts unto their own. My focus here […]
NFL commissioner Goodell let public speak for him
It’s been nearly two weeks since the egregious no-call during the Rams-New Orleans NFC Championship game, and league commissioner Roger Goodell still hasn’t spoken publicly about this and other officiating mistakes. It’s a topic that PR and other sports communications professionals should use as case study for years to come. The late-game no-call was most […]
A little PR may go a long way for NFL officiating
Officiating takes center stage as preparation begins for Super Bowl LIII.
NFL has people talking … After further review
Three-plus weeks and people are talking about the National Football League. Far from unusual this time of year. Buzz is good, right? Well, it’s rules have hit a rough patch (pun intended). Football players, coaches, fans and apparently, even officials, are confused about roughing the passer, per new Rule 12, Section 2, Article 13. Not […]