NFL Is Serious About Reaching Out to Latinos

It’s an odd thing to say, that the NFL has targeted Latinos as a growth market, because most of the Latinos I know (and I reiterate, most, not all) are dyed-in-the-wool NFL fans – even some of the ones who live across the border. On the other hand it makes perfect sense. No matter what you’re selling the Latino market is a growth market and NFL ticket sales have gone flat- and flat is not a good way to describe ticket sales.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was publishing reports about this expected new emphasis even before their favorite Packers won the big game:

By all accounts, this season has been a banner year for the National Football League. On TV, the league added more than 3.5 million viewers per game. A recent Harris Poll said nearly three in 10 Americans who follow sports said pro football was their favorite, the best for any sport. And on Sunday, Super Bowl XLV is expected to set both viewing and attendance records.
But like any business or industry, the league cannot stand pat. This past season and, assuming there is a 2011 season, the NFL is making a marketing push to children, Hispanics, women and casual fans.

They’re lumping all three-Latinos, women and children-into the “casual fan” category.

Bill Glenn, senior VP at The Marketing Arm, a marketing firm in Dallas put it this way, according to JS On line: “For any NFL team to ignore the Hispanic market is at their own peril. It has a purchasing power that shouldn’t be ignored, from a merchandising and ticket standpoint.”

I’m not sure what that outreach is going to look like, but so far the NFL has already connected with Univision for help in building and connecting with the Latino audience. And that puts this Latino push in perspective. There is a big segment of the Latino market that is generations deep and  well invested in the NFL. I don’t think that’s who they’re after. But years ago, when Mexico’s Televisa first began airing NFL games they picked, for reasons unknown to me, Dallas Cowboys games as their weekly fare. So now there is a huge Cowboys fan base in Mexico. Maybe that’s what they’re getting at?

But whatever the motive and whatever the plan of action, I think the league needs to get past its looming union problems before it begins thinking about attracting casual fans.