• by Jon Last , Columnist, October 10, 2023

They say that one grows more cynical with age. I’d like to believe I’ve avoided this trait, despite some three decades in sports marketing and research.  But as one whose first post-undergrad job was in public relations, I can’t help but wonder aloud if the recent oversaturated coverage of Taylor Swift’s NFL game attendance is no more than an elaborately staged promotional effort.

After all, sports marketers’ pursuit of broader audiences has spawned a laser-like focus on captivating a younger and more culturally mainstream fan base that doesn’t know or care why football teams used to run the ball 30-plus times per game.

Like most sports, today’s NFL is ruled by revenue optimization and massification of coverage.  This has manifested itself in a preoccupation with the building of larger-than-life individuals, and the annual hyperbole of generational talents.  I’d much rather watch and analyze a defensive back’s ability to break or recognize routes, but today’s mainstream NFL coverage rarely allows me to.

I’ll also admit that I come at the whole simplified, pop-culture focus of NFL coverage from a bit of second-class-citizen envy. As a long-suffering Tennessee Titans fan, I’ve frequently belly-ached that despite having a top 10 record over the past five years, my team rarely finds itself in the national spotlight.  I’d venture that most who follow the league would be hard-pressed to name more than one or two players on the Titans’ roster, and I can’t help but question if that's a chicken or egg situation.  A small-market team that has not been ordained as having star power is never going to get the level of attention or talking head coverage that a soap opera like the New York Jets receives.

I’ve been remarking to friends and colleagues lately that while I still love football, I’ve become indignant with how it is presently delivered.

The pragmatist and researcher in me can understand why things are the way they are.  I’ll admit that some of our work may be complicit in identifying the opportunities that are now being exploited.  Beyond the fixation with celebrity, and the click-seeking massification of coverage, sports has become focused on catering to the proliferation of participatory fandom delivered through gambling and fantasy sports.

In fan research that we just conducted a couple of weeks ago, a majority of the under-35 sweet spot of consumers rejected the notion that the growth in sports betting has gone too far or will have negative societal ramifications. Demand for betting is insatiable, and it will be catered to.

So why wouldn’t the Kelce-Swift storyline be amplified, given what football coverage has become and aspires to be?  Old diehards like me may complain, but we’re still going to watch the sport we once played and appreciated way before today’s era of disposable superheroes.  But maybe now our teenage daughters will join us as well.  Unfortunately for me, they’ll likely become Chiefs fans.