By Teresa F. Lindeman
The National Football League got cut from Home Depot's marketing plans this year and those of Expedia, but it was picked up by Procter & Gamble and Monster.com and expanded its relationship with EA Sports, maker of "Madden" video games.
"We're seeing a lot of evaluations, which is not surprising," said Mark Waller, NFL senior vice president of marketing and sales.
In an economy in which an industry group recently cut its projections for growth in sports sponsorship spending, nobody doubts companies are willing to change their game plans if they don't think something is working.
So while the NFL still ranks among the elite places for a marketer to hang out, the league isn't taking chances on losing that reputation.
Representatives from sponsors such as Sprint, GMC, Pepsi, Reebok and Coors will huddle at the Hilton Pittsburgh, Downtown, today for some inside football updates as well as discussions on how they can get the best return on their NFL investments.
Even before the official sessions start, those attending may compare notes on how the league's push to get the new football season off to a bigger start is going. The league and its sponsors are spending more than $40 million, up 30 percent from last year, on marketing surrounding kickoff events.
The idea is to make the start of the season almost as exciting as the end. If the NFL annually can bring the nation a sort of mini-holiday around the Super Bowl -- and a marketing bonanza around its sometimes captivating, always expensive ads -- why not replicate that on a smaller scale?
"Our goal is to create that same feeling to coming back to football at the beginning of the season," said Mr. Waller.
Pittsburghers, whose Steelers are Super Bowl champs, can see some of that strategy playing out in the NFL signs around the city and the league's extensive setup in Point State Park. While they won't see a huge NFL Kickoff banner on the Fort Pitt Bridge that league planners dreamed up, there is a 13-floor banner hanging from the front of the Hilton.
The sign faces into the park where the league hopes thousands will have a rockin' party on national TV tonight with performances from the Black-Eyed Peas and Tim McGraw. All around the league, teams over the next several days will hold fan events, driving caravans around their cities and generally trying to get the party started.
Engaging more fans early -- even casual fans -- could help the 32 teams and their marketing partners in a year when there are reports more games may not sell out, meaning they wouldn't be shown on local TV.
It's probably a bit ambitious to expect fan sites to start voting on their favorite kickoff game ads but, like during the Super Bowl, marketers plan to debut some campaigns around the season launch. Instead of seeing Steeler Troy Polamalu promoting Coke Zero, he of the famous tresses will provide an assist to Head and Shoulders products from Procter & Gamble.
One of the NFL's messages at the so-called sponsor summit today will be that sponsors should use their deals to drive sales 12 months of the year. Mr. Waller noted that EA Sports used the draft to promote the latest cover of the Madden game box and is using the kickoff events to showcase the game.
"It's now a year-round property," he said. "You can generate incremental value in what isn't the off-season anymore."
Sponsors will start the day with an update from Commissioner Roger Goodell, who is scheduled to give a sort of "state of the league" chat to touch on issues such as the decision to move the Pro Bowl to Miami a week before the Super Bowl and the plan to get the first round of the draft into prime time.
In addition, Mr. Waller said, there are sessions scheduled for newcomers Procter & Gamble and Monster to talk about why they came on board while others will share what has worked for them.
"People are looking for ways to do more and create more value," Mr. Waller said.
The NFL staff expects to share, too. A couple of years ago, they began surveying sponsors on how satisfied they were and heard that communication needed to be improved. "Our job is to meet the needs of our partners and sponsors," Mr. Waller said.
The league generally has a little more than 20 major sponsors, whose deals run four or five years, he said. A few come up for renewal every year.
According to IEG Sponsorship Report, Pepsi has been an NFL sponsor since 1983 and Coors has been with the league since 1984. Visa started in 1995.
Although some marketers moved on, the NFL was pleased to pick up Procter & Gamble. Initially, Mr. Waller said, the consumer products giant expressed some hesitation, being more experienced in marketing to women than men. "They were concerned that the demographic didn't line up in the sweet spot," he said.
When officials from the Cincinnati company went through the Bengals locker room, they were happy to find things such as Fabreze, said Mr. Waller, who swears the league didn't plant any merchandise.
Overall, sports sponsorship spending is expected to continue growing. IEG Sponsorship Report predicts spending this year will hit $11.48 billion, up 0.7 percent from last year.