Athletes as PR Spokespeople: the NFL’s “A Crucial Catch” PR Campaign Explored

Abstract

The present study examined the National Football League's (NFL) "A Crucial Catch" breast cancer awareness campaign in the United States. Variables included identification with NFL athletes, exposure to the campaign, NFL fanship, and intention to schedule a breast cancer screening (the action promoted by NFL athletes in this PR campaign). Social media outlets and an e-mail listserv of the School of Communication at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, USA were employed to solicit participants (n=119) in a survey. A questionnaire composed of items modified from Brown and Bocarnea's (2007a) CelebrityPersona Parasocial Identification Scale to investigate identification with NFL athletes was used. Statistically significant relationships were found between identification with NFL athletes and exposure, identification with NFL athletes and intention to schedule a breast cancer screening, and identification with NFL athletes and NFL fanship. NFL fanship was also significantly related to exposure to the campaign. Implications for future studies analyzing PR campaigns produced by the NFL and FIFA are suggested.

A “Crucial Catch”

“…Additionally, we see evidence of individuals willing to CORF and not limit their displeasure to on-field activities but rather extend it to charitable social behaviors. Losing teams were able to salvage limited positive social media engagement by posting about an individual athlete, thus adding evidence to Trible’s (2015) proposition that parasocial interaction between fans and athletes positively influence CSR behaviors. From this, we suggest winning teams leverage their success to further benefit the cause knowing they are less likely to receive negative engagement online.…”

“…The existence of a unique level of fanship and parasocial interaction occurs among the sport audience (Arkin, 2008). As a result, sport is effective for increasing credibility for the campaign and encouraging behaviors for those exposed to the message, with evidence showing a positive correlation exists between fans' parasocial interaction and intention to get screened after exposure to a BCA message (Trible, 2015).…”

“…Teams may also voluntarily participate in off-site fund-raisers and survivor-support events throughout the month. Social media channels such as Facebook allow teams to showcase and communicate their efforts to their fans and other external stakeholders who do not attend games in person (Trible, 2015). Social media then provides a digital space for these external stakeholders to view, engage with, and share the team’s message.…”