NFL Plans To Change Player Conduct Policy As P&G Cancels Promotion
- by Wayne Friedman , September 19, 2014
With the
backdrop of yet another NFL marketing partner suspending activities or promotions, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he didn’t believe the league is close to losing any sponsors. “I got it wrong,” said Goodell, at a major NFL press conference -- something he has said previously. “We will get our house in order.”
On Friday, Procter & Gamble said it was canceling a major breast cancer awareness promotion it had been planning with the NFL, the latest sponsor to respond to the NFL's growing problems.
Earlier in the week, Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson witnessed his deal with Nike suspended, due to child abuse allegations. Also, the Radisson hotel chain suspended its limited sponsorship with Peterson’s team, the Minnesota Vikings.
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“I disappointed myself, the NFL, our fans, and our partners,” says Goodell. “I made it clear on [August] 28th to ownership -- and since. I made it clear to sponsors directly.” When asked whether NFL was close to losing league sponsors, Goodell said: “You’ll have to speak to sponsors themselves. I don’t believe so.”
Concerning P&G decision to pull its promotion, Goodell said: “Several of our sponsors have promotions in the marketplace that are inconsistent with what is going on. We understand that. What we said is that we are going to clean up our house. We are going to make a difference, and they want to see us make a difference.”
As part of the press conference, Goodell says the NFL will change its players' personal conduct policy, as well as joining major domestic abuse and sexual violence organizations.
Earlier in the week, Anheuser-Busch -- which spends around $200 a million concerning NFL media and activities -- voiced concerns over the NFL, its difficulties with how it has handled specific off-field activities of players.
After Anheuser-Busch's statement, other big league sponsors have issued similar statements -- including McDonald's, PepsiCo, Campbell's Soup and Visa.
Of all brands, Proctor and Gamble absolutely has to make a strong stand against the neglect of the NFL's management of this situation. In fact, they are making quite a strong positive statement about who they do support: mainly, 50% of the population. I wonder what other companies might follow suit as a social brand positioning statement.
The first ten years of my career at Benton & Bowles and then DMB&B were deeply intertwined with P&G. That wonderful client taught me the highest standards of integrity and character were the only acceptable standards within which to operate. I guess I'm naive because I thought P&G had never changed in this context. Yet, this lame and whimpy reaction to the NFL's tolerance for abuse against women and children shows that they have even changed their principles. I guess the ROI on Cover Girl's sponsor relationship with the NFL must be positive and the data is what matters today.
It’s a rude wakeup call, but it’s a necessary one. The NFL cannot support the players who commit these horrible crimes and not expect consequences. Huge companies like Pepsi, McDonald’s, and Visa do not want to sponsor an association who accepts players like Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson. It makes everyone look bad and some changes need to be made. The NFL needs to consider some new rules and regulations regarding its players and restricting any association with them if involved in specific crimes. Without these guidelines, these guys think they can do whatever they want and get away with it. However, this is not the case and the NFL’s sponsorship is feeling the wrath.
What I do like is that Goodell is expressing his concerns about “getting their house in order” in regards to Proctor & Gamble pulling its sponsorship. At this point, he is rigorously planning on making some serious changes. I just hope he follows through and makes the difference he is leading on about.
Goodell also explaining that the NFL is going to change their players’ personal conduct policy is huge and is something that needs to be done! In addition, the domestic abuse and sexual violence classes are tremendously needed by many of the NFL players. Maybe even some mental screening would be necessary because clearly their players are very unstable. When are these men going to learn that smacking your wife or children is not okay!? The NFL has some changes to make and I hope to see to drastic changes in the future.
As my grandmother used to say, "Doff gain 6 colleges?" meaning you have to go to 6 colleges to know this ? Hitting, knifing, shooting ANYONE in a violent act ONCE and you are gone. As complicit aggregators (and other legal terms), the team owners and NFL bigwigs are to be held responsible for the actions of those who committed them. The NFL loses its non-profit status. All banned from football and sports forever. There are always talented people in the wings waiting to step in all of the positions emptied. The legal system deals with the arrests and justice. If they didn't know right from wrong, plead insanity to wind up in the pokey for the criminally insane if that defense was even accepted. No breath holding here. Second chances ? Sure ! After, they can go back to nursing school or drive a big rig or become a janitor or numerous other honest professions. BTW, all professional and college sports work the same way. It takes a committee months on end to figure this out ? Doff gain 6 colleges ?