Misunderstood NFL Endorsement Market

The responsibilities of an NFL agent became widely known thanks to the movie Jerry Maguire. Aside from finding employment for players and negotiating playing contracts, agents must also procure endorsement deals and personal appearances. This marketing aspect of the business is commonly misunderstood and can be far more difficult than one might think. For the NFL’s best players, this can be very easy but for the rest of the players, it can be nearly impossible. Relative to other sports, football players often find it more difficult to land endorsements and speaking engagements.

According to Sports Pro Media, there is only one football player in the World’s 50 Most Marketable Athletes. Athletes of varying sports from team sports such as soccer and basketball to individual sports such as tennis and golf dominate the list. It even has multiple cricket and motorsports athletes. One of the main reasons football players aren’t as marketable is recognition. Only the NFL’s best players and key position players such as quarterbacks are ever shown with their helmets off. This makes it difficult for fans to recognize them outside of the football stadium. According to National Football Post’s Jack Bechta, players that aren’t talking to the media after every game or at every practice will not be able to gain the necessary recognition that companies seeking to endorse athletes require because they are under the helmet during games. Football players often have shorter careers than other athletes so gaining the needed notoriety is often more difficult.

There are many more issues that can make endorsement deals hard to come by such as a player’s character or even another athlete’s character. When a major athlete has character issues, it hurts the marketability of all athletes in all sports.  This became very evident after Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong had their dirty laundry aired in public. Companies quickly withdrew their endorsements and were very hesitant to seek out new players to endorse. A player’s position, lack of talent relative to other teammates and his team’s performance are also issues. While a feel good story like Jerry Maguire might entice some agents to the business, reality will eventually set in and endorsement deals may seem like a distant dream.