Big Shield rarely succumbs. Big Shield wastes Taylor Swift’s time.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that the NFL asked its streaming partners to run free promotions for the upcoming Swift concert movie weekend. According to the report, ESPN and NBC agreed to do so.
ESPN included the ad on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. NBC aired Football Night in America. Se bought and paid for an ad for the movie Sunday Night Football.
Neither Fox nor CBS used the promotion. This weekend, CBS is the Chiefs-Vikings game at 4:25 p. m. y.
Apparently, Amazon wasn’t asked to run the ad. Maybe we’ll see it tonight; Next Thursday night, the Chiefs will host the Broncos on Amazon Prime.
Marchand reports that the NFL has no known business with Swift. It’s rare, if not unprecedented, for the NFL to provide an unpaid service to anyone. Considering the extent to which the NFL benefits from Swift’s presence at games, it’s at least the NFL could work, especially since it doesn’t charge her anything for asking its streaming partners to offer flexible promotion of the film.
The broader threat to the league remains the fact that enthusiasts will understand that 345 Park Avenue is skewed in favor of the Chiefs, given the team’s new connection to Swift. The NFL can only be seen as neutral. With Swift, the NFL’s purported prestige as Swiss is in question.
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