By Sean Millington,
CFL.ca
This past weekend, I watched and commentated on the Labour Day games and the magnitude of what was going on really struck me.
Across the country there were sold-out stadiums, great players making greats plays and a legend etching his name in the history books. All this, and yet the CFL game and player doesn’t get the respect and attention that it and he truly deserves.
In other professional sports, sponsorship opportunities are common; in fact, corporations are often the ones vying for the rights to have the star of the day promote their products.
When it comes to the CFL, however, all too often, if a deal is worked out it is something the player went out and got for himself. Why isn’t there a similar level of interest in having the stars of CFL teams involved in sponsorship? As far as I’m concerned it’s a win-win all around.
Now, I’m not saying that the dollars involved in such a prospective deal should be the same as they would be for, let’s say an NHLer, or an athlete participating in the big leagues down south. But there should be a similar number of opportunities.
When I open my newspaper, I see advertisements from all kinds of companies using models to sell their products. Wouldn’t the appeal of that ad be made greater by utilizing the star power of a Dave Dickenson or Milt Stegall? How about a television spot where Fred Childress tells us how great the food is in a particular restaurant?
A few players have managed to land deals over the years; a Safeway promotion that featured CFL QBs, and more recently Damon Allen featured in a spot are some that come to mind. These sorts of occurrences are rare; it’s almost as if the teams don’t realize the true marketing treasure they have on their rosters.
It’s not like teams don’t know how to make this happen. I have seen enough examples over the years. It seems to me that when a team wants to get a player a bit more money off the books there always seems to be a marketing deal around the corner that fits the bill. Why isn’t this just standard operating procedure? It would be a way to increase exposure for the club, perhaps lower its payroll, and get great publicity for the corporation involved.
A quick visit to the Web site of any CFL team reveals a list of corporate sponsors such as Sony, Future Shop, Wendy’s, Purolator etc., the list goes on. Surely each team already has a few that would be interested in deepening their relationship by utilizing players in their marketing campaigns.
In my opinion, too much time is spent trying to build brands and logos in this league and almost none trying to build stars and personalities. This is completely backwards. In any entertainment based industry, it is always the stars that drive the machine. Star power makes money and fills stadiums.
The whole “everyman” identity that the CFL tries to build of its players is completely the opposite of what they should be doing. Yes the public likes the fact that CFL players seem like regular guys they can identify with, but that’s not what they really want. People want their heroes to be larger than life; to be iconic, to be famous. Generally that doesn’t just happen — it’s created. The NFL is the entity it is today thanks to its TV contracts which are founded on the cornerstones of marketing and star power. Stars are what the public is interested in and are willing to pay to be involved with.
When you think of Hollywood, do you think of Brad, Angelina, De Niro or Pamela? Or do you think of MGM, Sony or Paramount? Of course the companies are known, but it is the stars that drive the interest. This is a concept that the CFL has yet to get its collective mind around.
Guys like former Stampeders president Ron Rooke, who now works with the CFLPA trying to market players, are some of the very few who understand the value of star power. Teams spent a ton of time and money to sell ad space inside their stadiums, rent space on their Web sites and entice people to come to games. Well guess what fellas? Your best marketing tools walk around your office every day. Isn’t it about time you started using them?
I want to see Geroy Simon hawking Fords, Arland Bruce III on my box of Wheaties and Fred Perry talking up McDonald’s. The CFL needs to get into the star building business. Check that — it already is. It just doesn’t seem to know it.
Sean Millington played 13 years in the CFL with the Edmonton Eskimos, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, B.C. Lions and Toronto Argonauts and has been a panelist on the CFL on CBC since 2003.
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
