Why is the NFL so socialist? To indoctrinate current and future fans.
- Sean Singleton
- 1 day ago
- 12 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
The NFL is as synonymous with America as apple pie, democracy, freedom of speech, and free enterprise. But as this series of articles has attempted to show, a lot about the league appears inherently socialist… at least at first glance.
Our first article looked at why the NFL's approach to TV rights distribution is surprisingly egalitarian. Our second article looked at why the NFL tries so hard to ensure equality of opportunity to compete and win amongst its own teams.
Now, our third article looks at a topic that is often synonymous with socialism: propaganda. The very word conjures up (at least for those of us born in the 1980s or earlier) images of drab eastern bloc posters, television, movies, and so on; all extolling the virtues of the state, its leaders and loyal workers, whilst decrying the outside world.
Meanwhile in America, the NFL has long operated a slick propaganda machine. Unlike a socialist government, the NFL is at its core a capitalist organisation. It uses propaganda to maximise its revenue and profit in the crowded sports and entertainment market. It wants to win 100% of this market. A lot of what the NFL does to promote itself could therefore be written off as “marketing,” but we would argue that the league goes above and beyond mere marketing.
Nailing down a definition of propaganda is surprisingly hard, but consider the following from the American Historical Association:
“Most students of the subject agree that propaganda has to do with any ideas and beliefs that are intentionally propagated. They agree also that it attempts to reach a goal by making use of words and word substitutes (pictures, drawings, graphs, exhibits, parades, songs, and similar devices). Moreover, although it is used in controversial situations, most experts agree that it is also used to promote noncontroversial, or generally acceptable, ideas.”
We would argue that what takes the NFL beyond mere marketing and towards orchestrated propaganda activities on par with a nation state is the sheer number of “marketing channels,” its large-scale ambition and grandiosity, and the myth-making nature of its activities as self-appointed custodian of “America’s Game.”
Let us look at some specific examples to prove this argument.
Keeping football in the public consciousness: 365 days of football
The NFL started as a Sunday afternoon league. Then came Monday Night Football in 1970, which was a TV ratings hit. Then came Sunday Night Football in 1987, followed by Thursday Night Football in 2006, and Black Friday Football in 2023… During the 2024 season, the NFL played on all seven days of the week, including two games on Christmas Day (a Wednesday), which has traditionally been the NBA’s territory. There is an argument to say that, through this increased exposure, the NFL is diluting its own product. But it’s clear that the NFL doesn’t want to miss an opportunity to engage its fans.
This carries over into the offseason, too. Although competitive games are played only six months of the year, the NFL’s offseason events keep it in the public consciousness 365 days per year.* State run propaganda in communist countries typically make it difficult for dissenting voices to be heard. Similarly, the NFL’s year-round agenda crowds the sports and entertainment market, making it more difficult for competitors to engage fans, albeit through less-nefarious means.
* Note: The lack of credible alternatives for NFL fans during the offseason may be helping here. NFL fans may be so desperate for their sport that they’ll consume anything American football-related in the offseason.
The scouting combine (February-March):
This used to be simply an opportunity to gather draft prospects together so teams could medically assess them
Now, it is a marquee, televised, multiple-days-long event where all sorts of tests and exercises take place (of varying relevance to actual football)
The NFL draft (late April):
This was previously done on one evening, behind closed doors
It is now spread over three days and televised, with hundreds of thousands of fans attending live
There is a cottage industry dedicated to predicting the draft, driving hype for one of the NFL’s biggest offseason events
Other events also fill the news cycle:
Early March see lots of player movement before (players cut due to salary cap constraints, players given the franchise tag) and after (players signed as free agents) the start of the league year
In May, social media teams compete to create the most interesting video announcing their franchise’s playing schedule
Teams’ offseason programmes start in April (before the draft) and continue through July
Training camp starts in July
Preseason starts in August)
Lessons for other sports:
Some other sports do have significant events throughout the year: soccer kit launches (news big enough to cross national boundaries); F1 75 Live, soccer transfer windows.
But these events are less frequent than the NFL’s and some are suboptimally timed. For example, soccer has two transfer windows: summer and winter. However, the winter window creates headlines during the season, when additional headlines are not needed.
Shorter off-seasons might be making it more challenging to create out-of-season events. Soccer’s, rugby’s, and F1’s offseasons are typically only two or three months long, compared to the NFL’s six. Perhaps these leagues could explore longer off-seasons, which would (i) allow their players more rest and (ii) allow the leagues more space to create news-worthy events.
Story-telling (the pure propaganda machines)
NFL Films
Moving pictures remain one of the best ways to persuade and influence an audience. The NFL cottoned on to this fact long before many other sports, with the formation of its “NFL Films” business unit in 1962.
NFL Films productions also have a truly distinctive style. To prosaically recap and replay some of the great moments in the sport is insufficient. Great games, plays, teams, and players are mythologised to the hilt through tight camera angles, slow motion, orchestral music, baritone narrators, and lively on-field audio. As Salon.com once put it, it is undoubtedly "the greatest in-house P.R. machine in pro sports history...an outfit that could make even a tedious stalemate seem as momentous as the battle for the Alamo."
But don’t take our word for it; check out just two of hundreds of examples of this propaganda machine at work:
Lessons for other sports:
Highlights and recaps are just “table stakes.” To really drive fan engagement you need to be able to dramatise and storytell around the sporting spectacle. Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” (Formula 1 motor racing) and “Full Swing” (professional golf) series that follow sporting stars on and off the track / course achieve a similar effect but in a different way, more akin to “reality TV.” The UFC also managed to popularise itself in a similar way through “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Hall of Fame
The Hall of Fame “mythologises” players and their achievements as well as the sport itself. And it does so with the pomp and grandeur reminiscent of a ceremony to award a nation’s highest honours.
Every August, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival takes place to induct a small class of honorees (six maximum). The festival begins with an enshrinement parade, which is the fifth-largest parade in America. For each player enshrined, there are two televised speeches and a bronze bust is unveiled. (The bust is displayed in the hall year-round for fans to visit.) Enshrined players also receive decorations (a gold jacket and a Hall of Fame ring) to recognise their achievements. The festival concludes with the first game of the NFL (pre-)season: a show of force similar to a communist state’s military demonstration.
Lesson for other sports:
Many sports have halls of fame at global or national levels; however, none are as prominent as the NFL’s. For example, although World Rugby’s hall of fame was established 2006, it’s questionable how many fans know of its existence or could correctly identify inductees.
Enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame didn’t become the ultimate individual honour overnight; it took years of focused attention and celebration by the NFL.
Sports organisations wanting to achieve a similar level of reverence for their past players must continuously invest in their own halls of fame over a sustained period of time. This means actively promoting their halls and publicly celebrating their inductees, rather than launching the halls and waiting for them to become popular.
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the pinnacle of the NFL calendar each year, and is perennially the most watched event on American television year in, year out. This is seen in 30-second advertising slots fetching as much as US$7m and the half time show being an event in and of itself, featuring some of the biggest musical stars on the planet.
Super Bowl winning teams, players and coaches achieve near immortal status in the sport, with the very best performers usually on a fast track to enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
The NFL’s propaganda machine pumps up the heightened sense of occasion expertly through every means possible. Every Super Bowl even has its own logo and promotional collateral to go with it.
Note the use of Roman numerals to portray a sense of history, importance and timeliness (except for the 50th one, since the Roman numeral “L” corresponds to a loss in sporting jargon).
Also prominent in most Super Bowl imagery is the Vince Lombardi trophy awarded to the winning team: the ultimate symbol of success in the game.
Lessons for other sports:
It’s hard to beat the sense of occasion from a singular, winner-takes-all grande finale that is the pinnacle of a sport, especially when that event has storied history. Think the FIFA World Cup final, the European Cup final (now Champions’ League) football, the FA Cup final (English football), the AFL Grand Final (Australian Rules football), the NRL Grand Final (Australian rugby league), and so on.
Fan pipeline (indoctrinating future generations)
Brand / Cartoon tie-ins
The NFL is one of the best sporting bodies at actively seeking out new fan bases across myriad geographies, ages, races and preferences. It is not content with marketing to just its own fans, or even sports fans in general.
Brand tie-ins with “Spongebob Squarepants” and “The Simpsons” are an example of this in action. In 2024, the Spongebob tie-in involved the cartoon’s characters watching and commenting on the Super Bowl on the Nickelodeon children’s TV channel. Later in 2024, the NFL’s tie-in with “The Simpsons” digitally altered the live broadcast of the game to mimic the iconic TV show’s classic animation style in three dimensions. (See highlights of The Simpsons broadcast here.)
The NFL’s relationship with Nickelodeon actually dates back many years, with simulcast game commentaries airing on the channel since 2021. These broadcasts also featured many iconic kid-friendly sound and video effects (e.g., slime) along with plenty of education for younger viewers about the rules of the game.
Figure 9: The Simpsons did it (image source: Awful Announcing)
Lessons for other sports:
Make sure promotional tie-ins are more than just “skin-deep.” For example, Marvel-themed team jerseys seen in Australia’s National Rugby League and Super Rugby Pacific are literally superficial in contrast to the NFL creating immersive experiences involving Bart, Homer, Spongebob, Nickelodeon, et al.
Just because you can sell a tie-in doesn’t mean that you should. The NFL has never allowed sponsors on team jerseys and stadiums are kept very “clean” with minimal advertising hoardings and banners.
Fantasy football
Fantasy football is a major channel by which the NFL introduces itself to new audiences. The nature of American fantasy sports leagues (they’re closed, just like the real leagues on which they’re based) means that there’s often at least one participant who’s there to make up numbers. That participant may churn or may eventually become a fan of the NFL and / or a specific team (that’s how one of these writers has been an Indianapolis Colts fan for 21 years!).
What may be more surprising is that fantasy football makes “better” fans. Fantasy football players are interested in a wider variety of games: not just games of their home team, but the games of all the players on their fantasy football roster. Nielsen ratings show that games featuring fantasy-relevant players get approximately 10% higher viewership numbers. And NFL research from 2002 showed that fantasy football players were more engaged fans, watching 25% more NFL each week.
Although the NFL’s research may have suffered from selection bias, it led the NFL to more actively embrace and promote fantasy football. Broadcasts now feature fantasy statistics on a live ticker at the bottom of the screen. And most media platforms covering the NFL will offer fantasy content in some form. Individual teams are also embracing fantasy football. The Los Angeles Rams run leagues for season-ticket holders, driving demand for season tickets and keeping season ticket holders engaged throughout the season.
Figure 10: Fantasy stats displayed during game broadcasts (image source: Reddit)
Lessons for other sports:
Today, some form of fantasy sports feels like a bare minimum for all sports and tournaments. Is there a sport that doesn’t have a fantasy version?
But fantasy football’s cultural significance is in a tier of its own. It has even inspired sitcoms (The League). Few other fantasy sports share this level of popularity, nor are they fan generation engines on the same scale as fantasy football.
Fantasy Premier League has a media ecosystem similar to fantasy NFL, with a programme on BSkyB, weekly podcasts, YouTube series, etc. And it might be the non-American fantasy sport that comes closest to fantasy NFL in terms of popularity and cultural significance.
Other sports should invest in and integrate their fantasy formats and ecosystems to boost participation. That would, in turn, boost the sport’s engagement and popularity within the public.
Individual clubs should consider offering various forms of fantasy sports (e.g., picking game results) through vendors such as Hunch. While the main driver for team-led fantasy sports is probably to engage the current generation of fans and capture their data, it may also help develop the next generation of fans.
Madden
The cover star for each year’s edition of Madden is announced in June, and it is big news. The Madden 25 reveal trailer (released in June 2024) has racked up over 800k views on YouTube. Individual players’ Madden ratings are announced in August and are such big talking points that mainstream media devote articles to them. And there were reports last year that a team owner vetoed a trade because the player’s Madden rating was too low.
But Madden isn’t just a useful tool for keeping the NFL in the public eye; it is another development pipeline for fans. As with fantasy football, people don’t just become NFL fans as a result of playing Madden; they become more engaged fans. Research by the University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center found that “fans who play the Madden NFL video game series are not only more knowledgeable about the game of football, but are also more avid, devoted fans.” They watch more NFL content, understand more about the sport, and / or spend more related to the NFL.
Figure 11: Madden covers from 1988 to 2021 (image source: Clay Travis)
Lessons for other sports:
Video games are great ways to introduce complicated concepts to new audiences because they necessarily simplify whatever they’re simulating. Few sports are as complex as American football, so Madden’s influence may be difficult to replicate. Most other sports have tried to establish video games similar to Madden, with varying levels of success.
EA Sports’ FIFA was probably the only video game with a similar level of cultural impact as Madden. (Note: EA Sports lost the licence to FIFA so the current version of its game, EA Sports FC, is unbranded.) However, soccer being the global behemoth it already is, it’s unlikely that a video game will significantly affect the sport’s popularity (outside of, perhaps, North America).
Flag football
The NFL has been increasing its investment in flag football since 2016. The NFL is using flag football as a way of capturing share in untapped market segments (e.g., women and girls in the USA or teens outside the USA through its Global Markets Programme). As of 2023, “half a million girls ages 6 to 17 play some form of organised flag football in the USA.” In the UK, the NFL has a well-structured pipeline for signing up schools to flag football, which includes clear processes for converting leads and induction.
Unlike other fan pipeline channels (e.g., fantasy football), flag football creates both fans and active participants (albeit, participants of a variation of traditional, full-contact football). The NFL claims flag football is now played in over 100 countries. And the NFL was instrumental in flag football becoming an Olympic sport (for both men and women) starting in 2028, which will surely further boost participation.
Lessons for other sports:
This is one area where the NFL has possibly learned from other sports. Rugby Sevens became an Olympic sport in 2016, and the competitiveness of World Rugby’s Sevens Series has noticeably improved since. Olympic status will encourage many countries to invest in flag football’s growth, thereby lessening the burden on the NFL to do so.
However, other sports can still learn from the NFL. The NFL hasn’t rested on its laurels now that flag football is an Olympic sport. It has implemented structured processes to further grow the game at the grassroots level both domestically and internationally. This focus on grassroots growth shows a level of investment and professionalism to which all sports should aspire.
Conclusion
When examining the NFL's multifaceted approach to marketing and fan engagement, it is clear the league operates far beyond traditional promotional activities. Through its year-round presence, compelling storytelling, and carefully constructed Super Bowl spectacle, the NFL has cultivated a deep and pervasive cultural significance akin to a national narrative. It has reinforced its position by investing in the grassroots to develop the next generation of fans. This orchestrated effort is obviously capitalist in its aims. But it undeniably shares characteristics with state-sponsored propaganda in its ambition to saturate the public consciousness and mythologise its product. The lessons for other sports are clear: true fan loyalty and market dominance are achieved not just through selling a product, but by consistently and actively cultivating participation, knowledge, and emotional investment across generations.