Drawing the Porter Connection

In an earlier posting I shared some quick information about what I perceived to be a portion of the NFL's Porter Value Chain. The NFL does so much that it would be hard to examine every single operation across the 32 teams but I feel I found an opportunity to help the NFL.

In a Monday night game, New York Giant's player, Odell Beckham, ran towards the end zone as Giant's quarterback, Eli Manning, threw a pass over and behind Beckham. Instead of missing the pass, Beckham did the amazing, and reached back to catch the ball with THREE fingers. While Odell is a talent player, his gloves had a great impact on his ability to deliver. Here is Skip Bayless and Steven A Smith debating the catch:

No offense to Odell, but if the NFL can design a glove to catch a ball traveling over 40 mph behind your head, with three fingers, then I think they can use their performance enhancements to increase safety. For instance, if the NFL designed helmets to better protect their players' brains. Here is one area where the research has begun:

Magnets for Your Helmet

This may be the strongest area for drawing CSR into the actual product that the NFL produces: its players. If the NFL had the ability to reduce the head injuries and traumas current players face then it would help the organization across the board. First, it would allow current players to continue playing longer throughout their career. Great players in their prime, like Troy Aikman and Lawrence Taylor, have had their career cut short because of brain damage. Fans were sad to see them exit the field early. A safer helmet may have kept them on the field, which would have then continued to build strong fan bases around superstars. Second, the NFL relies on getting new players into the system, however, people like President Obama have come out in opposition to the NFL, feeling that the game is too dangerous. If a safer helmet could help protect younger brains then more parents may be open to their children playing the game, which either leads to the future stars or at least engaged fans who remember playing the game as a child. Third, safer helmets would help them with their former players, many who have issues or disabilities from their time playing the game. In fact, they have an active suit against the NFL seeking financial assistance because of the damages done/injuries endured while they played. Creating a safer helmet would reduce the risks of these lawsuits. It would also allow these players to continue to live a functioning life where they can meet their fans after they have exited the game. Those later in life meetings would draw fans and players together with a total focus on the game of football, and this would help them generate more fans and revenue.

I believe over the next few years the NFL will take a stronger stance on their individual player safety. We have already seen it with the rules that have been implemented, the next step is for the technology to match the rules. If this happens, the NFL would align their CSR with financially positive strategies.