The PGA had the “Player Impact Program.” NASCAR has the “Driver Ambassador Program.” Could the UFL benefit from a similar system, designed to reward players for their public relations efforts in getting word out about the league?
Here’s how it all works for NASCAR, courtesy of Jeff Gluck of The Athletic: “Drivers earn one point for every 15 minutes of their time doing something considered ‘promotion’ outside of the mandatory sessions or traveling to events. And depending on a driver’s star power, which is determined by a formula, they earn multipliers on those points. Whoever earns the most points gets the most money from the DAP fund, but the payouts go down the list in an attempt to get drivers motivated to do more on behalf of promoting the sport. Via an app, drivers and their representatives can view requests (and the amount of points they’d earn) or submit time for media interviews or fan events they booked on their own. There’s even a live leaderboard anyone with access to the program can pull up.”
The UFL has an awareness problem. Not enough people know the league exists – though the two Super Bowl ads will help – and in order to survive over the long-term, the league needs as many eyeballs as possible on the product, either on television or in stadiums.
League management has acknowledged the need to improve marketing in home cities in an effort to beef up attendance. That should have a trickle-down effect of also increasing television viewership in those local markets. An easy way to do this – which would require no additional hiring by the UFL – is to incentivize players taking the initiative to get word out about the UFL and its teams via a similar system utilized by the PGA and NASCAR.
The UFL already pays players for appearances outside of the season; this would simply increase the frequency and the number of players that would be involved, both of which would benefit the league as a whole. Competitive by nature, players would likely buy into the “live leaderboard’ aspect, where they could engage in a friendly competition with teammates and rivals to see who could do the most to spread the UFL gospel, while also earning the most money in doing so.
While the on-field product in the UFL is as good as any spring league in recent history, neither the USFL nor the XFL has made any stars that have transcended into the mainstream of sports. Only when they move onto the NFL are players like Jake Bates able to become recognizable names. Encouraging players to do as much media as possible increases the chances that the UFL will find a breakout personality who could be that transcendent star. It would also help UFL viewers become more familiar with the players they watch, strengthening that bond the same way NFL fans closely identify with their favorite players.
Allowing players to take ownership of their time, rather than be dictated where and when to go, would give them the kind of freedom that spring football should allow, while also relieving some of the burden from team public relations folks, who are often a department of one. Obviously, ground rules would need to be set up from on high about what kinds of media and appearances should be prioritized and which ones players should avoid. You wouldn’t want players attending events, showing up on podcasts, or doing interviews on platforms that would reflect poorly on the UFL. The benefit of the Arlington hub is that league personnel could go over all of this once, in-person with players at training camp.
There are other, minor issues with establishing a process such as this in the UFL. Players are only under contract for a portion of the year, yet the UFL needs to get the word out as often as they can. The league and player’s association would have to navigate the legalities of paying players while not under contract. The union (now run through the UFLPA) may also have their own opinions on the viability of such a system.
This would also necessitate the UFL to set aside a potentially large pot of money to reward players for these services rendered. The league is trying to balance fiscal responsibility with the desire to improve its Q Score. They may not feel this is worth the price it would cost.
In order to reach the casual and not-so-casual sports fans, the UFL needs an “everything, everywhere, all at once” approach to advertising. Daryl Johnston, EVP of Football Operations, exemplified this mantra with all the media he did the week of the Super Bowl. Getting players to buy-in to being messengers for the league benefits all parties involved. It’s a little bit of an outside-the-box idea, but after all, that’s what spring football should be for.
