Working Out Their Future: The NFL’s Play 60 Campaign and the Production of Adolescent Fans and Players

Abstract

This article critically examines the National Football League's (NFL) extensive "Play 60" campaign that operates in more than 73,000 schools in the United States. The year-round program-marketed as a campaign to end childhood obesity-now holds significance influence over school curriculums and operations, public constructions of health and diet, and governmental recommendations and policies on health and exercise. This article argues that the emergence of the Play 60 campaign as a major influence in these areas reflects the increasing privatization of physical education and wellness in U.S. schools. Furthermore, the program serves the commercial and political interests of the league by instilling familiarity with the labor and verbiage of football in program participants and advocating for the role of athletes (and the leagues they are a part of) in influencing youth ideas regarding nutrition and health. Most importantly, the program situates football as a safe and healthy practice for children amid increasing societal awareness and concern over the substantial health risks associated with playing youth football.

“It Might Also Be Good for Your Brain”: Cognitive and Social Benefits That Motivate Parents to Permit Youth Tackle Football

“…Media messages can increase awareness for concussion risks (Hull & Schmittel, 2015), portraying concussions in the context of larger social issues of safety and risk (Cassilo & Sanderson, 2018). As media influence perceptions of the safety and long-term health of football players (Rugg, 2019), how the media choose to frame messages about injuries can affect cultural norms for prioritizing long-term health of athletes over immediate benefits (Sanderson et al, 2016). Parents in this study also noted the effect of social influences, which can encourage athletes to not report concussions so they do not let coaches or teammates down (Register-Mihalik et al, 2013).…”

Incorporating the Protests: The NFL, Social Justice, and the Constrained Activism of the “Inspire Change” Campaign

“…Thus, the program’s focus on fighting obesity through an individualized regime of “staying active” creates space for the league to aggressively market football as a ready-made, unproblematic solution to the obesity crisis, all under the banner of altruistic public service. Concomitant with the program’s encouragement of football participation, however, Play 60 also operates as a central mechanism for recruiting children into the role of passive consumers of NFL entertainment by utilizing classroom assignments to teach them the lore, rituals, and techniques of football fandom and spectatorship (Rugg, 2019b).…”

America’s Most Divided Sport: Polarization and Inequality in Attitudes about Youth Football

“…Certainly, the NFL's reaction to this publicity indicates that its leadership understands the threat to their revenue streams and the viability of a future labor force if interest in American football declines. For example, the NFL's "Play 60" campaign goes beyond the efforts of other professional leagues -rather than focusing on simply increasing youth participation in its respective sport, the goal of this NFL program is to build brand loyalty and create lifelong fans (Rugg 2019). The NFL has created a physical education curriculum that takes advantage of a captive audience of school students (Montez de Oca et al…”

“…) and serves its own "commercial and political interests" by emphasizing the language, strategy, and appeal of American football (Rugg 2019). Because the NFL provides resources to schools who adopt its curriculum, students who attend underfunded schools, and are more likely to be from lower socioeconomic status and racial and ethnic minority families, may be particularly exposed and susceptible to the messages of these programs (Rugg 2019).…”