My granddad used to tell me my generation was soft, and I would argue. But today I noticed that the NFL had an official yogurt-based smoothie, so yeah… maybe he had a point. (It’s Dannon, by the way.)
It’s the week of the big game, which is what I have to call it because any reference to its actual name brings unwanted attention from the NFL’s trademark attorneys. Suffice it to say, Sunday’s game derives its name from the 1960s toy, the Super Ball. And while everyone always likes to tune in to this one game, if for no other reason than to watch the commercials (the Budweiser Frogs and Apple’s “1984” ad both debuted during this football game, among other memorable spots), even if you’re not a football fan, your life is probably impacted by the NFL on a daily basis.
The NFL pulls more than $300 million annually from a litany of corporate sponsors. It’s impossible for your life not to be impacted. If you’re traveling to a (socially distanced!) party to watch the game, there’s a 1 in 5 chance you’ll travel in a Ford, the official truck of the NFL. It may be rolling on Bridgestone tires (the official tire of the NFL) and lubricated with Castrol oil products (the official oil of the NFL). And if you’re in a fender bender, no worries, because your truck might be insured by Nationwide, the official auto, home, and life insurance provider of the NFL.
While at the party, you might snack on some Frito-Lay potato chips, the official salted snacks provider of the NFL. And possibly wash it down with a beer from Anheuser-Busch InBev, the official alcoholic beverages provider of the NFL. And for dessert? Maybe some Skittles or M&Ms, produced by Mars Snackfoods, the official chocolate & non-chocolate confectionery of the NFL.
But these are the easy ones. The ones that you and I come into contact with on a near-daily basis. The ones where the average consumer might sway a future purchase because of an ad they saw during a game. How about some of the more abstract and esoteric ones?
The official volumetric image & video capture partner of the NFL? That’s Intel. The official Wi-Fi analytics provider of the NFL? Extreme Networks. And while we already talked about the official yogurt & yogurt-based smoothie provider, there’s also an official dairy product provider of the NFL. That’s Dairy Management. (I looked them up, they’re a trade association of 37.5k dairy farmers in the U.S.)
The NFL having an official cloud services provider (Amazon, obviously) is a great indicator that we’re a long way away from the days of Mean Joe Green handing a kid a jersey in exchange for a bottle of 1970s NFL sponsor Coca Cola. Who knows what kind of sponsors the NFL will have 20 years from now?