Rooting for Laundry

As a result of my busy schedule I've fallen a little behind on my consumption of Sports Illustrated, but I used some of my time off this afternoon catching up on the last couple of issues.  While, with the NFL Draft upcoming, professional football has been in the news lately for more than just lockout-related reasons, SI ran a great spread earlier in the month that featured a poll of self-identified NFL "diehards" on their reactions to a possible NFL work stoppage.  The two-page report (which can be found in the "Scorecard" section of the April 11 issue, in case you're interested) contained a bunch of interesting findings, but one statistic in particular caught my eye.

The poll asked the 314 people surveyed, "Will you watch the NFL if replacement players are used in 2011?"  63.1% of NFL diehards answered "yes."  Additionally, the poll asked "If the season is canceled or delayed, what effect would you imagine that having on your future interest in the NFL?"  Here, a surprisingly-low 44.5% of respondents answered that a work stoppage would have "no effect," while 10.7% actually responded with "I'd be more interested."  What does this tell us?  Well, for one, it just emphasizes the fact that football is truly America's sport now, and that nothing the league can do would really seriously damage football's popularity in this country.  The NFL has already successfully overcome countless off-field disciplinary issues (Michael Vick, Plaxico Burress and Donte Stallworth, to name a few) without any permanent damage, and if anything has been made stronger by the related publicity and news coverage.  The SI poll reiterates the notion that not even a labor dispute can stop the ever-powerful NFL train.

Secondly, though, the poll shows us how little specific players really matter, especially in football.  Yes, people love Tom Brady and Payton Manning and Adrian Peterson.  But what matters more than who's wearing the helmet is, in fact, the helmet itself.  Sports in general, and the NFL in particular, have reached the point where we, as fans, are "rooting for laundry."  We'll cheer for whatever players wear our team's uniform, and as players become increasingly mobile, team brands are strengthening while player brands are weakening.  This is true in all sports, but in the NFL it's magnified.  The players are hidden under padding and helmets, so as a Giants fan I'm not really watching Eli Manning and Brandon Jacobs and Hakeem Nicks.  I'm watching a bunch of guys in blue helmets and jerseys, and as long as they win, most fans couldn't care less about the names on the backs.

While 63.1% of NFL diehards would watch the NFL play with replacement players, only 57.3% of respondents said they'd watch more college football during a lockout, and only 50.5% would consume more NBA / NCAA basketball action (all other sports came in at less than 50%).  This means that most diehard NFL fans would rather watch replacement players wearing NFL jerseys than spend their time watching the best college players compete on the gridiron or switch over to professional / college basketball.  As the NFL players continue to fight for higher salaries, perhaps they should take a long, hard look at these survey results.  Brady, Manning and Peterson might just be a lot more replaceable than they think.