Chapter 1. LaunchPad for Media and Culture 11e

PR and the NFL

Public Relations Activity
brightgreen
true
true
You must read each slide, and complete any questions on the slide, in sequence.

Author Names:

Christopher R. Martin and Bettina Fabos

Activity Objective:

Students will work in small groups to develop a PR plan to address one of the major PR difficulties facing the NFL today.

Let’s get started! Click the forward and backward arrows to navigate through the slides. You may also click the above outline button to skip to certain slides.

Public Relations for America’s Most Popular Television Sport

Public Relations for America’s Most Popular Television Sport

Each football season, the NFL consistently delivers the largest television audiences on a weekly basis. Once a year, the NFL generates American television’s largest audience of the year with the Super Bowl.

Yet television ratings are slipping for the NFL, and although NFL ratings declines are part of the overall trend in broadcast and cable television viewership, the NFL also has several public relations problems that could be eroding their audience in the short and long term. The three major public relations difficulties are 1) the NFL’s problem of domestic violence and sexual assault, 2) the research revelations about the danger of concussions and the high rate of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) for players, and 3) the divide in NFL fan responses to some players sitting down or taking a knee during the national anthem, in solidarity with Black Lives Matter (made into an even bigger conflict when President Trump blasted the players for doing so).1 On top of these problems, the relationship between the league and players (another important PR relationship) is not good.2

  1. See Patrick Coffee, “5 PR Experts Weigh in on NFL’s Attempt to ‘Combat Domestic Violence’,” Adweek, September 19, 2014, http://www.adweek.com/digital/5-pr-experts-weigh-in-on-nfls-new-project-to-combat-domestic-violence/; Dave Zirin, “New Concussion Report Calls the NFL’s Future Into Question,” Nation, July 26, 2017, https://www.thenation.com/article/new-concussion-report-calls-the-nfls-future-into-question/; and David Z. Morris, “A Donald Trump Boycott Wouldn’t Just Hurt the NFL,” Fortune, September 24, 2017, http://fortune.com/2017/09/24/donald-trump-nfl-boycott/.
  2. Richard Sherman. “Players’ POV: They're Gonna Use Us Up,” Players’ Tribune, September 29, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=dhxka5xmzjw.

Group Analysis

Question

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
Which kinds of games are most popular in your group?

Class Discussion

Question

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
Which kinds of games are most popular in your group?