"Listen up: NFL moving to mike players"

From SportsBusiness Journal

Review by Jacob Nicely in SRM 334 (section 2)

The National Football League, commonly referred to as the NFL, is one of the most watched and largest revenue generating sports leagues in North America as well as the world. Every Sunday afternoon and Monday night during the fall you can cut on your television and catch an NFL game being broadcasted live with extensive in-game analysis, statistics, fantasy football analysis, and almost every fact you could ever want to know about the players and the teams that are involved in the game. Professional football is one of America’s past-times and it still draws massive amounts of attention but, just like any other business, the NFL is always looking to improve and make the experience better for the fans. One of the newest ideas that owners and the league are pushing for is the idea of placing microphones on players and making the content available for fans live during the game instead of having to wait until afterwards to hear what their favorite players and coaches are saying. This could be a potential smash hit and the next big thing for the NFL but not before it is looked at more in-depth.

Placing a microphone on players and making the content available as a live feature during games is a great attention getter for the NFL and has sparked quite the buzz in the sports world. Even though the talks are just in the beginning stages, the sheer idea of the concept has drawn plenty of attention. With already having such a great product, the NFL needed to come up with more ways to get fans involved in the experience thus generating more money as well as an increased fan experience. This could be a complete game changer for the media world and possibly not in a good way for the NFL or the players. In today’s world everyone already has so much access to the players and coaches through social media and in-depth coverage by the media. Nowadays, players do not have to be interviewed by a reporter or have a press conference to release information when they can just simply send out a 140 character tweet or post a Facebook status and instantly have the world see it and have people directly communicate with them. This has already caused some problems with players not appropriately tweeting or interacting with fans on twitter as well as players tweeting live during the games. Once players are mic’d up, fans will be able to hear everything that they say, and most of it will not be tasteful or be appropriate for a younger audience. This could be a big issue with Commissioner Roger Goodell’s already disciplined player conduct policies and low tolerance for misbehavior. However, per usual, this move is more about generating revenue and media attention for the league than the concern for player’s reputations.

We hear all the time in today’s world about all the negative things that athletes do in their daily lives. As we have discussed in class, negativity sells and if that is what sells then that is what the media is going to cover. You can turn on ESPN and see what Chad Johnson tweeted that was inappropriate or what offensive comment Kevin Garnett made during the basketball game that night or see what just about any athlete did wrong. In athletic competition, athletes are in the heat of the moment and trying to get in their opponent’s heads the entire game. What comes out of athlete’s mouths during games is more than likely fine worthy and will cause fans to look at their favorite athletes differently. Also, with all this unedited, instant access to players and coaches the media will be able to report and comment on it before the game is over and before the team or player can begin damage control. With all the ways we have discussed that sports news can be released, from professional writers to fan’s blogs and anyone being able to discuss in-game conversations that wants to, this could potentially result in being a huge nightmare for the NFL, the owners, the coaches, and the players. On the other hand though, the potential revenue stream could blind owners from seeing the possible negative outcomes.

With a few small-market NFL teams struggling to sell tickets in conjunction with an unfriendly economy, the NFL is looking to increase fans desire to attend games and purchase tickets as opposed to watching their favorite teams from home. This is more so a move on the owner’s part to have it as only an in-game option but nevertheless it is aimed at generating untapped revenue. An increased involvement in the in-game experience would allow fans to get into the game without physically being on the field. This is a brilliant idea from the viewpoint of an NFL fan and probably a dream come true for many fans being able to listen in on their favorite teams and coaches. With the NFL already having “Red-Zone Coverage” of all NFL games, numerous apps, instant score updates, fantasy football, and countless other technological advances it only makes sense to let fans get even more involved in the game experience. Fans of NASCAR can go to a race and listen in on their favorite driver communicating with their spotter and crew chief so it only makes sense for the same option for NFL fans. The revenue from this potential option would more than likely be greater as an in-home option on television due to the increased ad-revenue, subscription fees for the service, and just simply a much larger audience than the number fans at the game. If implemented as an in-game only service, it will only increase ticket sales to games that would not already be sold out, increasing revenue by a much smaller number. Also, if implemented as an in-game option it will eventually be phased out to include an at-home feature in due time because the NFL will not miss out on that large of a potential money making opportunity.

All in all, the plan to mike up players is still in its early stages and probably will not be an available option for a couple more years. With this news release, it garners the media and fans attention and gets them stirred up and discussing this option before it is ever put into effect. Placing microphones on players could very well be the next big money maker that the NFL is looking for but it may come with the cost of NFL player’s unhappiness and their reputations on the line due to the nature of in-game conversations. This new idea would also give the media, as well as fans, instant access to report on players behaviors and actions as well as fans being able to live tweet, blog, or use other outlets to also release news and discuss events before the players and teams ever have a chance to explain or begin damage control. Whether this idea will be good for the league and it’s players has yet to be seen but one thing that is for certain is that this will generate more money for the NFL and as a business they are always looking for new ways to do so.
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Review by Marshall Cohen in SRM 334 (section 2)

The National Football League is always looking to bolster attendance and improve the fans’ in-stadium experience, and miking up players during games appears to be their next move. There is no timetable for beginning this process, but it is apparently becoming a matter of when they adopt the new feature as opposed to if they will adopt it. Stephen Jones, the Dallas Cowboys Chief Operating Officer, has emphasized that there is a level of urgency on all projects designed to increase fan attendance. After player health and safety, ensuring that stadiums are full is the league’s top priority.

There seems to be little controversy on the subject, as NASCAR has shown how easy it is to broadcast interactions between spotters and drivers during their races. However, some competitive issues were raised by players and coaches when talks of miking up players began back in 2011. Audio from players and coaches during games is currently used by NFL Films, but is not available to anyone during the games. There are talks of using the player audio exclusively in-stadium, as an added benefit for fans to attend the game. Making the audio available to broadcasters is another option, which would only increase the experience of watching a game from your couch.

It seems like the most likely path for the NFL to take is to make the player audio available to broadcasters and to find some way to incorporate it into each game on television. Their goal might be to make the in-stadium experience better, yet with better technology the only thing really happening is the improvement of the home broadcast experience. Despite being a cool feature and an interesting concept to improve fan attendance, having the player audio exclusively available in the stadium just does not seem like a huge draw. The more likely outcome would be a slight increase in television ratings, which could possibly lead to an increase in rights deals that companies sign with the league.

There are still a few questions that remain concerning the logistics of having the players miked up at all times. Having the audio available in the stadium might not be the best idea; there is an extreme amount of cursing and trash talking that goes on during NFL games (and almost all other sports for that matter). Another question that comes up is whether or not players would be suspended or fined for cursing or excessive trash talking. The NFL has pretty strict conduct policies, and having the players miked up all the time creates a difficult scenario for the league, forcing them to monitor and deal with players talking during the games. Making the audio available to broadcasters would be much simpler since they would be able to edit and/or bleep out anything that would not be fit for a national audience. However, if it was available during the game in the stadium, it seems as if there would be no way to filter the audio.
From a fan and media point of view, miking up the players and having the audio available somewhere seems like a great idea. It would benefit in getting to know the players and their personalities, which is sometimes difficult during the games as they seen more with their helmets on than off. If the league can work out some logistical issues with having the audio available in the stadium or on television, miking players might just be the next big thing in the NFL.