The NFL is the Chess King in Marketing & Sponsors

The marketing mentality of the NFL and their sponsors are incredible.  Ever other sports entity should sit and watch the NFL’s chess game of marketing their business. Plain and simple, the NFL is a revenue-generating monster.  Year after year, the NFL finds different sponsors to partner with and the NFL has and seems to always place itself in a great position to win.  Let’s take a peek into some of the NFL’s chess moves of partnerships…

Verizon (Queen)

As of 2014, the NFL and Verizon will begin streaming Sunday afternoon games on mobile phones only. According to Sports Business Daily.com, the NFL will strike a deal with the Verizon to become the exclusive mobile phone carrier to stream all Sunday afternoon games.  The deal is worth $4 billion over four years.  Other networks were upset upon hearing the news. According to Sports Business Daily.com, the NFL offered the deal to the other networks, but no one wanted to pay. 

The deal also provides Verizon the rights to install wiring in league stadiums for better Wi-Fi access.  This way Verizon can use their Queen-like chess ability to move all across the NFL.  In my opinion, Verizon is the Queen with the most power of NFL sponsorships.

Networks (Bishops and Rooks)

FOX, CBS, NBC Sunday Night, and ESPN Monday Night are the Bishops and Rooks of the NFL.  FOX and CBS networks each have the ability to broadcast their national 1:00 pm EST or 4:30 pm EST games in addition to their local affiliate games. These two stations are similar to Bishops. They will always remain with their original line up until flex schedule come along. ESPN has the classic power and presence of Monday Football, but they have a set schedule with only one game.  The Rook is similar to NBC Sunday Night where it can move any game it wants per the NFL.  NBC has the ability for flex scheduling from weeks 11 – 17 as listed in the NFL Flexible Scheduling 101, according to NFL.com.

According to The Hollywood Reporter.com, the NFL will receive about $3 billion annually from the all affiliated networks staring in 2014.  The deal runs through 2022.

Direct TV (Pawn)

Currently, there is no deal in place for DirecTV to extend its contract with the NFL for the NFL’s Sunday Ticket.  DirecTV has held the exclusive rights to the NFL package since 1994, according to Pro Football Talk.com. DirecTV CEO, Pat Doyle, understands the NFL’s mindset, but cannot promise to be a part of the game’s future.  It looks like DirecTV may be a pawn in harms way ready to be taken out by other dish and cable competitors. 

(NFL - King)

One thing is for sure the NFL will market their product to the highest bidder to make sure their pieces are protected.  Like the King on the chess board the NFL takes one step at a time to ensure each move is calculated for the future.  Everything revolves around the king, A.K.A. “The Shield”.