NFL launches leaders’ program to expand Retail Licensing Portfolio with Diverse Brands

By Pat Freeman, The Mighty O’Ba

PAT FREEMAN THE MIGHTY O’BA

The NFL is certainly doing things to help to level the economic participation in the use of the NFL brand. This program will no doubt give the business owners access to NFL licensing which will help open the door that has normally been closed to marginalized com munity businesses. The problem that I have with the league pertains to the economic policies of the 32 individual owners who could easily make a difference in the regions where their franchises are located.

The current owner of the franchise in West ern New York still has not created reciprocal relationships that would grow the economic bene fit of having an NFL franchise in this region. The professional franchise can put pressure on its sponsors to do business with accredited media outlets that cover the franchise on a full-time basis. This would help those entities pay competitive salaries to their journalists that cover the team on a regu lar basis. This writer has covered the professional franchise for 29 years, struggling to keep up with other outlets who receive these residual economic benefits.

The three outlets that I speak of are the Buffalo Criterion Newspaper, Challenger Community News, and Power 96.5 radio who have provided coverage of the franchise on a year-round basis for years and struggle each year to do so because of the practice of Segregated Economics by the NFL franchise located here in Western New York. This grossly unfair practice is a story I here all over the country by Accredited African American media outlets that cover these franchises on a regular basis.

Reciprocal business relationships help both parties involved, but the franchise here thinks that our outlets are insignifi cant. This practice occurs in every NFL city that I have visited, and it’s become normal accepted practice. If each indi vidual owner would just create reciprocal relation ships in their respective regions, it would better solve this league wide issue. Many of the more recent policies are good but this issue must be solved on an individual franchise basis to make it effective. Western New York could be the fran chise model if the owner ship group would commit to increasing reciprocal relationships with accred ited media outlets that cover the franchise on a regular basis. This would in turn increase the effec tiveness of league wide policy to increase diver sity and inclusion.