Online Marketing and New Media Usage in the National Football League

As innovations in technology continue to occur at a rapid rate, marketing as once known continues to drastically change as well. This has provided organizations several new and improved marketing tools, while simultaneously presenting numerous challenges. The sport industry has adopted these innovations and uses internet marketing and new media frequently. The National Football League, the most profitable sports league in the United States, has been identified as a leading force in the use of new marketing initiatives. This research critically analyzes each of the 32 NFL organizations official websites to determine the different aspects of new media and internet marketing each team is utilizing, and to what extent. Houston, Kansas City, Denver, and Green Bay had websites that made the most extensive use of these new tools. Although there was no correlation between demographic information and the usage levels, the yielded information is integral to each organization in understanding how they compare to one another as well as the effectiveness of their current online marketing schemes.