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The Digital Side Of How The NFLPA Prepares NFL Rookies For The Business Of Football

After years of not having an NFL presence, Los Angeles is suddenly the focus of the NFL universe. The Los Angeles Rams had the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and selected quarterback Jared Goff with the hopes that he will become the tentpole of the newly relocated franchise for years to come.

40 top rookies from the 2016 draft, including Goff, were at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum from Thursday to Saturday for what ultimately amounted to a football business bootcamp for the new pros. The gathering is called the NFLPA Rookie Premiere and it is designed to help jump start the business possibilities of being a bright young player in the NFL. Over twenty NFLPA business partners were present at the multi-day event with the hopes of forging new business relationships via endorsement, branding and content and product line promotion.

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The NFLPA Rookie Premiere event was launched in Los Angeles in 1994 and is unique in the sporting world. Each year the NFLPA, via its marketing and licensing arm NFL Players Inc., uses the event to connect rookies in attendance with sponsors and licensees. By getting players indoctrinated into the business side of being an NFL player, months before they play their first game, the NFLPA is helping the new crop of promising stars make valuable business connections that can last throughout their careers if all goes well. Some of these players will ultimately become the strongest brand ambassadors for a league that is projected to surpass $13 billion in revenue in 2016.

Athlete Content & Entertainment (ACE Media) the athlete-driven content platform that was recently launched in partnership with the NFLPA, will also have an important presence in helping the players produce content through its distribution partners such as 120 Sports, Bleacher Report, The Kicker, Spotify and more. ACE Media is also helping to amplify Nike’s official jersey reveal by having rookies take over the social media channels of several of the company’s digital partners.

Overall, a large part of the rookies’ experience will center around training and brand building opportunities in regards to digital and social media. In the following Q&A’s we were fortunate enough to have the NFLPA and its sponsor for the event, Panini America, discuss the content and business opportunities that digital media is providing at the event and for the players.

Jason Howarth, Vice President of Marketing Panini America

From a social media perspective, how are the players being integrated during Rookie Premiere?

Social media has been a primary focus of our marketing efforts at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere for years and that will certainly continue this year. It’s something our fans and followers have come to expect as we use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and more to bring our followers behind the scenes during one of the most important weeks on our NFL calendar.

The NFLPA Rookie Premiere gives us a great platform to get trading card fans engaged and excited for the upcoming season and our 2016-17 products.  What fans can find across our social platforms include – live interviews with the players to revealing sneak peeks at their first 2016 NFL trading cards. Additionally, our social media channels will be an almost-constant source of rich content.

We started an intense social media push from the moment we touched down in L.A. and that won’t slow down until the lights go off on Saturday evening. We have more social media activation planned for the 2016 event than we’ve ever had before — and we can’t wait to get started.

What will Panini America be doing with real-time digital cards for the players?

We had a number of executions. One station Saturday inside the L.A. Coliseum was dedicated exclusively to photographing players in uniform for our Gridiron Digital Trading Card app. In near real-time, those images were integrated into digital trading cards that will be available within minutes on Gridiron; these were the first trading cards anywhere featuring the top rookies in their NFL uniforms. In all, we created three unique versions of each player’s card (including versions featuring facsimile autographs) and made them available to consumers within minutes of those players entering our Gridiron photograph station.

How has the business evolved since you started involvement with Rookie Premiere? Has digital technology changed the way you do business there?

It probably goes without saying that the business has evolved in many major ways since we first started attending the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, not the least of which is our new title sponsorship of the event. From a production perspective, the nuts and bolts of how this event impacts the creation of physical trading cards have remained largely the same. But whereas we can produce physical trading cards in a day’s time at this event for our Next Day cards, we can create Gridiron app cards that could feasibly be called “Next Minute Cards.” Additionally, our ability to communicate in real time everything that we’re doing through social media has changed drastically. The incorporation of social gives us the ability to share everything that goes on around the NFLPA Rookie Premiere with our fans.

NFLPA VP Business and Licensing Steve Scebelo

From a social media perspective, how are the players being educated to grow their brand on digital platforms?

During the Orientation session, one breakout focused on “Perception” and how athletes are perceived off the field based on how they respond to interviews and interact on social media. Additionally they learn how all these interactions affect their personal brands. The players were also asked real life questions to put them in situations they’ll face throughout their career, so that they can make a seamless transition once faced by the media.

As new potential business partners gain access to this new group of NFL players, are there any tech companies (startups to mature) that will be looking to be involved?

Full list of 2016 RP Partners:

Panini, Fanatics, Nike, EA SPORTS, The Brandr Group, Topps NFL Huddle, Delta Private Jets, FedEx, New Era, Samsung, élevée, Normatec, Staramba, Mophie, Gatorade, Proctor & Gamble brands, Juicero and Frito-Lay

Most interesting from a tech standpoint are:

  • Fanatics – capturing content to be create “player hangout” pages, i.e., player-identified home pages with curated favorite products, video, photos, interviews and other unique elements to create a player-centric shopping experience that will connect with fans and be found only on Fanatics
  • EA SPORTS– content for use to promote Madden 17, including Madden Ultimate Team digital product
  • Topps NFL Huddle – digital-only trading cards
  • Samsung & Mophie – gifting suites – companies pay for rights to access rookies and provide them with the latest innovative products
  • Staramba – see below
  • Juicero – innovative new cold-pressed juice product developed in an incubator

Can you go into more detail on what Staramba is doing with 3D body scans and figurines for the players?

In a first of its kind activation, each NFL rookie at Rookie Premiere was scanned while wearing an NFLPA-branded uniform, just prior to participating in an action photo shoot. The scans were captured for use so that 3D printed figurines of each of the 40 players could be offered for sale online in June and throughout the 2016 season.

Image credit, Kevin Koski
Image credit, Kevin Koski

Have you seen an increase in digital partners wanting to be part of events like this?

Absolutely. We have seen an increase in content going live in real-time from traditional partners like Panini and EA.

Social media has been a huge boon for the event, as players are so active, and we encourage them to tag the event and showcase all that they are doing with the NFLPA and its partners while in Hollywood.

How has marketing NFL players changed over last few years with social/digital advancements?

While Rookie Premiere is a B2B event, it has gained much more awareness with fans as a result of all the social media activities engaged in by players throughout.

Beyond the event, the advent and convergence of social media and fantasy football, have connected fans and players directly in ways never before possible. Players now have their own avenues to build their brands and are more savvy at doing so – and the NFLPA’s partners seek out players who have passionate fan followings to build their product lines and marketing campaigns around.

Generally, the ability for players to monetize micro-endorsements in local markets and as part of national campaigns via their social media followings is a large and growing opportunity. Players who wield social media as a strategic tool to enhance their brands stand to reap the benefits of being able to attract partners who are looking to directly reach that same audience of followers.

More specifically, the NFLPA has partnered with opendorse to help players maximize the commercial potential of their followings. To date, NFLPA and opendorse have activated 1,100+ NFL player-driven social media campaigns with 400+ players for 60+ NFLPA brand partners reaching over 125 million NFL fans on social media.



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