NFL Major Sponsorship Deals

With the NFL lockout ending earlier this year, the announcements of two sponsors for the NFL came soon after. In September, the NFL renewed its sponsorship deal with PepsiCo Inc. The deal between the two super-power brands will begin its ten-year duration starting in 2012. According to an un-named source would have PepsiCo paying around $90 million in rights fees and roughly $1 billion over the length of the contract. PepsiCo also owns such brands as Gatorade, Frito-Lay, Tropicana, and Quaker Oats, which will continue as the official marketing partners of the NFL. This deal also ensures that when fans tune into the game that they will see Gatorade as the feature drink on the sidelines. The relationship between the NFL and PepsiCo has lasted for twenty-eight years and this contract extension will carry them into 2022.

The Longhorn Network Prohibited From Broadcasting High School games

The University of Texas and ESPN has come together to form the Longhorn Network. This network has already caused quite a controversy for members of the Big Twelve Conference. Not only will the network be an additional source of revenue for the university, the deal with ESPN worth $300 million over the span of twenty years, but also the network will try to push the broadcasting of high school football games. The other members of the conference feel that this will give the University of Texas an unfair recruiting advantage. While this may not be a big deal to some, the nine other members of the conference will beg to disagree.  In a statement released by the Big Twelve it says, “The ADs recognize that this issue is complex, and involves a detailed analysis of the recruiting model in many areas, including existing NCAA legislation related to the publicity of prospective student-athletes and the rapidly evolving world of technology. This process will take an extended period of analysis.” At the beginning of August, the Big Twelve Athletic directors met and voted to prohibit the broadcast of high school sporting events.

Decertification of Players' Associations

            With the success of the NFLPA decertification, will the NBAPA do the same? On March 11, 2011, the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) existence came to a halt. In a move that hasn’t been seen since 1989, in which the NFLPA dissolved to file individual antitrust suits against the NFL, the decertification of the NFLPA sent a message to team owners saying, “We mean business.” The decertification allowed individual players to take their chances in Federal court in antitrust lawsuits. Ten players, with such big names to include Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees, sued NFL team owners in a class-action claim and sought to block a lockout even before a one had occurred. One of the reasons for decertification was to have each individual team release it’s financial records. In an article written by Sam Farmer, ofthe Los Angles Times, he says, “The players argue that if they’re being asked to give more money back to the owners, they should be privy to the books.” Although ultimately the decertification ended up working in the players’ favor, the National Basketball Association is looking to take away decertification as a tool to be used by the NBAPA.

Who Dat? Trademark Controversy

In sports, finding the origins of traditions can be nearly impossible. In regards to a certain tradition there may be numerous different stories about how it got started. With the New Orleans Saints the origin and ownership of the phrase, "Who Dat", created a whirlwind of controversy. In January 2010, the NFL sent cease and desist orders to stores selling the merchandise claiming they owned the rights to the phrase. The NFL wanted to avoid any confusion between their officially licensed merchandise and products or "knock-offs" the stores where selling in Louisiana.  A knock-off is clear-cut counterfeiting and is a basis of trademark infringement. In the same month two brothers, Steve and Sal Monistere, had claimed that they owned the rights to "Who Dat” The two brothers wrote and produced their version of "When the Saints Come Marching In" in 1983 that used the phrase "Who Dat" and claimed to have it trademarked under their company, Who Dat Incorporated. 

Cameron Newton took the college football world by storm as he lead the Auburn Tigers to the 2010 BCS National Championship. In April he was taken as the first pick in this year's NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. The above video is my analysis of Cameron Newton's social media presence. The topics of discussion are those of Cam's current social media use, recommendations for improvement, integration with traditional media and examples of good social media presence. 

Attracting Fans to Sports Venues

Even during tough economic times, Americans seem to find their comfort in sports. Leagues such as the NFL, MLB, and even big-time college football have seemed to come out relatively unscathed by economic turmoil compared to the less popular sports, such as professional soccer, and minor league organizations. In the article “Sports Still Draw Fans Despite Recession” by Charles Davidson, he writes on professional sports organizations that have found ways to weather the economic storm. NFL teams have found ways to accommodate their customers by offering various season ticket packages and multiple payment options, while other teams have resorted to black out days for home games. Some MLB teams in the Southeast have relied on public funding during these times.  Regardless of the sport, organizations are looking for creative new ways to fill seats in the stadium.

Fantasy Football Explosion

Fantasy football is a game that allows its players to score points off of a football player’s statistics. The game allows you to assemble players from any team in the NFL thru a draft and pits you against others in your league during the regular season. Over the past decade Fantasy Football has boomed as an industry from a simple game among friends to an 800 million dollar industry. No longer is the game just for “stat geeks”, it’s become a phenomena that has increased so rapidly in popularity that it has spread through all sports. And the fans of these sports are absolutely eating it up. Today fantasy leagues are not just for professional football, but also college football, baseball, basketball, soccer, golf, NASCAR and essentially any sport that has stats.