War, terrorism, and
catastrophic events are good for the US sports business.
The industry willingly serves as the
diversion to destruction and willingly supports any military campaign. But
criticizing those marketing approaches would be un-American. Consequently, the
industry can infallibly promote itself without fear of backlash. There
apparently can never be enough patriotism.
US Army Ranger and Cardinals safety
Pat Tillman sadly died last week in Afghanistan. Sen. George Allen, R-Virginia,
suggests the NFL dedicate the 2004 season to Tillman and other US soldiers. NFL
commissioner Paul Tagliabue says the league “will definitely do something.”
Tillman sacrificed himself, which
deserves tribute, but I suspect the NFL would honor him partly because it’s
good for business. I already see the league posturing in Tagliabue’s written
statement, “Pat personified the best values of America and of the National
Football League.”
He had to mention the National
Football League. It’s not enough to say Tillman possessed the best values of
America. After Tagliabue read his statement at the 2004 NFL Draft on Saturday,
fans broke into a “U-S-A, U-S-A” chant, as if America beat Iraq and Afghanistan
like the Patriots beat the Panthers in the Super Bowl.
Sports and patriotism are obviously, even absurdly, intertwined. A US president needing public
support for a military action should first meet with various sports
commissioners instead of his own cabinet. The commissioners represent millions
of loyal Americans, many of whom outwardly believe wars are fought to protect
their freedom as, among other things, sports fans.
It’s a win-win situation: The
president drums up support and the leagues have themselves a built-in,
hard-to-criticize marketing campaign.
Teams exploit opportunity to win, so
naturally they exploit opportunity in order to promote themselves. They can’t
tell the difference between exploiting and marketing. Athletes who win ugly
often say, “All that matters is that we won. A win is a win.” That applies to
sports marketing: It doesn’t matter how, it just matters how many people show
up. The bottom line counts, the style doesn’t.
The most egregious example of
exploiting patriotism occurred in 2002. Shortly after September 11, the NFL and
Fox TV changed the Super Bowl XXXVI theme to “Hope, Heroes, and Homeland.” The
league promptly even redesigned its Super Bowl logo in the shape of the
continental US, colorfully painted like a flag. It did that despite the US Code
explicitly stating in Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8 that “the flag should never
be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever.”
Players wore US flag decals on the
back of their helmets, despite the code explicitly stating, “No part of the
flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag
patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen,
and members of patriotic organizations.”
Sports have become a diversion from whatever is ailing the country. When an assassin killed
President Kennedy in the fall of 1963, the National Football League played its
games two days later amid questions about whether it should have postponed out
of respect for a grieving America. Kennedy’s press secretary, Pierre Salinger,
consulted with the Kennedy family then told NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle that
Kennedy would have wanted the games played.
It’s reasoned that the games need to
be played — and as soon as possible — to momentarily divert our attention
from the pain and to avoid showing signs of weakness; or in the case of the
2001 terrorist attacks, to avoid showing that the terrorists had won.
Like most sports, the NFL postponed
its games that week. It came back the next Sunday, with extraordinary displays
of patriotism during pre-game stadium ceremonies. The league’s network partners
created pre- and post-game shows around the groundswell. The American
military’s Afghanistan counterattack, conveniently launched about 30 minutes
before kickoff, aided the effort.
Everyone felt proud to be an
American that day. The sports industry paid attention. Now it’s going
overboard, but doesn’t care. It’ll continue exploiting patriotism for its own
financial gain.
Only a traitor would object.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 4, 2004.
