NFL - An example for your nonprofit?
by Michael HoffmanWednesday, December 13th, 2006
Could the NFL be an example for nonprofits? (Most nonprofits I know are against violence!) What I am thinking about is repurposing content. An NFL game is a very valuable asset. And the NFL folks are marketing masters. (I get an NFL Shop catalog with a cover showing a player from my team, with my last name on the jersey!) They have found creative ways to monetize and repurpose the asset that is the game. Nonprofits need to be equally creative with their video assets, thinking about how they can get the most from their investment.
Here’s a list of ways the NFL uses a game, and how nonprofits should be thinking about their video assets:
1. Multiple channels. The entire live NFL game will be found on local TV in the markets of the teams playing, on NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV in the US and on other channels in other countries, and as the premier game in additional TV markets. The equivalent for nonprofits is posting video to YouTube, putting it on their MySpace page, and encouraging syndication of the video by allowing their constituents to embed the video on their blogs, website and social networking pages.
2. Pre-game and post-game shows. The live game is interesting to people, but so is analysis and thoughts about it. You will see the game discussed by multiple people, around the time of the game itself, but also on specially-created shows on the NFL Network and ESPN and available on iTunes for a fee. For a nonprofit, this might be some video about a program combined with other materials — video or not — that supply context and analysis.
3. Shorter Games. The NFL Network picks a couple games each week and edits out the down time. What is left is an hour-ish NFL game — play after play, with just enough time in between to think about what they should be doing next. They call this the Game of the Week. In addition, there is a 10-minute highlight edition of every game available on iTunes for $1.99. The point is, while that 20 minute video might be interesting, there is an audience for a 7 minute version at your event and an even a bigger audience for a 3 minute version on your website.
Video content, unlike print, can be reused and repurposed for ever. We are working hard to encourage nonprofits to invest in video, and to make smart use of those investments by getting as much out of it as possible.
