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The NFL continues to fail women while profiteering off breast cancer

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by bigpern23, Oct 5, 2014.

  1. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    This isn't new news, but with the first full slate of October NFL games almost over, I thought it was worth discussing the sham that is the NFL's breast cancer awareness campaign.

    Each year, the NFL bathes itself in pink and declares its advocacy for the fight against breast cancer. That advocacy has thus far raised $7 million to fight breast cancer since its inception in 2009 (according to NFL Red Zone). The league made $9 billion in revenue in 2013 alone.

    Only 8 percent of sales of pink NFL gear goes to actual cancer research, as seen in this graph from Business Insider. When you look at this graphic, please note that since pink NFL gear is largely sold on NFL.com and in team stores, the 50 percent that goes to "retailers," largely goes to the NFL.

    [​IMG]

    So the NFL's campaign to raise awareness of breast cancer is less a philanthropic mission than it is a revenue generator for the Shield.

    Read more from this article published last year: http://www.businessinsider.com/small-amount-of-money-from-pink-nfl-merchandise-goes-to-breast-cancer-research-2013-10

    If you want to support the fight against breast cancer, skip the pink NFL towel and donate directly to the American Cancer Society, a Better Business Bureau accredited charity that spent more than $300 million actually fighting cancer in fiscal year 2010 alone. https://donate.cancer.org/index

    Also, in part because of the NFL's support and a phenomenon called "pinkwashing," breast cancer has sapped donations to other worthy causes, most notably domestic violence, which also uses October as its awareness month. You can donate to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, also accredited by the BBB, at www.nnedv.org.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  2. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    I think we've seen the past couple of months the NFL being exposed as an arrogant, out-of-control, me-first, money-only organization -- going on about, oh, 40 years. The NFL does not do anything out of the kindness of its heart unless it means more money -- green or pink -- into its coffers.
     
  3. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    That's not entirely true.

    The NFL partners with eBay Enterprise (formerly GSI Commerce) to run their e-commerce site.

    http://ebayenterprise.com/clients/
     
  4. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    Outsourcing their e-commerce is a business expense. The revenue generated by merchandise sales on NFL.com still goes to the NFL.
     
  5. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    True, but was anybody really surprised by that?
     
  6. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Huh?

    I don't know how the revenue split works, but the NFL doesn't get it all.

    eBay Enterprise handles everything. They stock and ship all the items. If you call customer support, you'll talk to an employee of eBay, not the NFL.

    They are basically the retailer. They just make it seamless for their clients.
     
  7. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    Three weeks ago the NFL was still selling Ray Rice jerseys for women online. They might still be for sale on discount.
     
  8. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    I don't think it's surprising - nor is it even necessarily wrong - that the NFL is a money-grubbing organization. I think the part that's disappointing and/or hard to swallow is that the NFL is using breast cancer to increase its revenue.

    The NFL is not alone in this. Staples is another company that sells pink products, but very little of the money actually goes to cancer research, and I'm sure there are countless others. The Better Business Bureau has warned consumers about the practice of companies that claim to support breast cancer and instead pocket the profits.

    But the prevalence of the NFL and its message that it supports the fight against breast cancer (usually followed by a directive to visit NFL.com/shop) is really quite offensive.
     
  9. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    In other words, the NFL outsourcing its e-commerce hosting to eBay isn't much different than leasing space in New York City for a storefront, rather than buying a building. When someone walks in and purchases a sweatshirt, the revenue goes to the NFL. Now, out of that $75, the NFL must pay overhead costs such as rent, electricity, wages for employees, etc.

    So, no, not every dollar you spend in that store goes into the NFL's pockets because it has business expenses. But when the graphic denotes 50 percent of pink merchandise sales go to "retailers," they're talking about the storefront, not the landlord. Know what I mean?
     
  10. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    In this case, eBay is much more similar to the retailer, than to a landlord renting space to the NFL.
     
  11. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    And, not for anything, but if you really want to dicker about the NFL only gets X% of each sale, while eBay gets X%, the bottom line is that the American Cancer Society is only getting 8 percent, and that's really where people believe their money is going.

    You can bet your bottom dollar the NFL is pocketing a hell of a lot more than the 1.25% it claims.
     
  12. cjericho

    cjericho Well-Known Member

    Not a fan of Goodell and agree it's been going on for a while. Then why were so many media members infatuated with Tagliabue.
     
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