Whether it’s the on or off season, the National Football League (NFL) has become the most lucrative business in the professional sports arena profiting year round from dedicated fans.
It’s no secret the way in which professional football strategically keeps audiences tuned in all year long.
Professional football news consistently headlines major sports networks year round. Even with the climactic season ending Super Bowl in February, die hard football fanatics are not abandoned for long.
Football gurus can stay motivated year round by getting a glimpse into the up and coming talents.
Televised events, such as the “Senior Bowl” with sponsors like Under Armor, allow fans to purchase tickets to see the freshest of newcomers in action. This year the Oakland Raiders and the Detroit Lions served as the coaching staff.
And just a few short weeks later, the polarizing NFL combine begins. This intense four day interview plucks the highest echelon of collegiate football players. Although the event is exclusively invite-only, the event is publicized where fans can analyze and predict who the rising stars will be.
The 40 yard dash has elevated into a major spectator event. Now, more than ever the fan is just as up to date as the players, coaches, and elite analysts.
And in the following month of April, the Draft begins.
Kenneth Hoffman (Freshman, Political Science) “People love drama it’s that simple. Football is like a blockbuster movie [with] your favorite players.”
As social media has taken the globalized world by storm, so has it to National Sports. Thanks to the Twitter and Instagram sensation, fans can follow their favorite athletes through their daily trials and tribulations.
Most importantly the fan is even more up to date on trade rumors and controversy before it even breaks the televised news circuit.
Fans more than ever get an inside watch on the nuts and bolts of the NFL. Specified television shows have brought the fan even closer to the athlete.
In 2003 the launching of the NFL Network, appropriately sloganed “when all you want is football” brought viewership to a whole new level.
Fans could re-live the emotions of past games. And HBO’s “Hard Knocks” goes even further into the daily hustle and bustle of an NFL team before, after and during the games.
Today, 9% of adults polled by Harris Interactive in December said football was their favorite sport. Gallup also found football as the “runaway leader” in their favorite sport poll with 41%.
Although it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, clearly no other sport gets that much coverage.
The fans can follow along year round from spectator events, to memorabilia, to the actual games. They are present both with the screen and their wallets.  The NFL has locked in lifetime customers.