#LeadershipTuesdays: When Trust Means Everything...Roger Staubach

"If you don't have trust inside your company, then you can't transfer it to your customers."

--Roger Staubach, NFL Super Bowl-winning quarterback

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Last week, Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the National Football League (NFL), denied an appeal and upheld a 4 game suspension of the New England Patriot's Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady for his role in Deflategate. This latest Patriots' scandal came to light after the Patriots' win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game in January 2015, several days before Super Bowl 49. For those who are not aware of the scandal, some of the Patriots' footballs that were used during the AFC Championship game, the playoff game right before the Super Bowl, were found to have been underinflated and not up to the NFL required specifications. Tom Brady has consistently declared his innocence in the scandal and has vowed to appeal the latest decision in federal court.

Goodell's decision to uphold Brady's suspension made a couple of things clear: 1) No one is above the rules of the game; and 2) The integrity of the professional football game is essential to the NFL. Apparently, Tom Brady destroyed a cell phone that contained some 10,000 text messages, a high amount of which included texts between he and the Patriots' equipment manager. The NFL had requested that he provide the cell phone to them along with two others during their investigation of Deflategate. In an article posted on USAToday.com, "Tom Brady's cover-up worse than crime" by Nancy Amour, Goodell said:  

"Rather than simply failing to cooperate, Mr. Brady made a deliberate effort to ensure that investigators would never have access to information that he had been asked to produce. Put differently, there was an affirmative effort by Mr. Brady to conceal potentially relevant evidence and to undermine the investigation. All of this indisputably constitutes conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public confidence in, the game of professional football."

Why is this so important? The NFL with its 32 teams and owners is a "$9 billion a year enterprise".  This figure includes ticket sales, television revenues, sponsorship, licensing and merchandising, and advertising, etc. The NFL reportedly has an estimated 150 million fans. Women make up about 45% of those fans and the percentage is growing. Women fans, who make most of the purchasing decisions for households, represent an important and lucrative demographics for advertisers.

The Super Bowl, the crown jewel game of professional sports, is the most watched television event of the year. This game had a 114.4 million viewers in 2015 which was a more than a two million viewer increase over the 2014 game. With regards to social media, 28.4 million tweets about the game were sent during the live telecast. Lastly and most important to the NFL, the price for 2015 Super Bowl television commercials was $4.5 million per 30-second ad. The NFL draws in a lot of revenue during this game.

All that being said, what is the "So What?" Goodells' ruling and sanction against Tom Brady is sending a strong message to the league's fans and sponsors that you can trust in our brand, organization and the way we play the game and do business.  He is saying that, 'we value you and your commitment to and confidence in our organization and we want you to continue to support our teams with your time and money.' He made it clear to everyone that even an undisputedly talented, golden quarterback like Tom Brady will not be allowed to break the rules and compromise the trust the fans have in the NFL. And at the end of the day, that's good business.

Nona O.

Also check out a previous blog by Nona O. on the Deflategate scandal, "Patriots' Deflategate: How You Play The Game Matters!".

Sources:
1) Women are pro football’s most important demographic. Will they forgive the NFL?, Drew Hartwell, washingtonpost.com, September 12, 2014.
2) Super Bowl XLIX posts the largest audience in TV history, Frank Pallotta, money.cnn.com, February 2, 2015.