NFL COO: Needs to Be 'Ordinary' to See Women in Sports Leadership Roles
*By Conor White*
Though last season's 10 percent [drop in ratings](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanberr/2018/08/28/the-nfls-ratings-probably-will-continue-to-decline/#75a6e8dc6666) has stirred questions about the appeal of football broadcasts in the streaming age, the NFL's COO thinks the internet is a useful learning tool for marketing her league.
"What Netflix and Google taught us is that ubiquity and ease are key," the league's chief operating officer Maryann Turcke said in an interview on Cheddar.
"When I think about my own kids, I have a 23-year-old and an 18-year-old; if they can't find something \[quickly\], they're going to stop looking."
Some leagues might be fazed by the rapid rise of eSports, but in certain ways the NFL, which kicks off its season on September 6, has been part of the movement from the beginning ー largely thanks to the success of the Madden franchise of games.
While last weekend's [deadly attack](https://cheddar.com/videos/social-media-livestreams-face-scrutiny-after-jacksonville-shooting) at a qualifying event for the Madden 19 Championship raised concerns over safety at these tournaments, Turcke said the league is poised to take the next step and embrace the eSports craze.
"What Madden did is they brought football into gaming," Turcke said. "I think we need to bring gaming to the broadcast."
"There's a secret sauce out there somewhere, that someone's going to figure out, around how to gamify what we do." she added.
As for the concern about ratings, the NFL's chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp thinks the issue is being exaggerated.
"I think a lot of other people are more worried than we are," he told Cheddar.
While ratings for NFL games are down, [they're also down for everyone else](https://deadspin.com/for-the-last-time-nfl-ratings-are-not-down-theyre-up-1827378925) ー and not just in sports. NBC and CBS both saw viewership fall by 19 percent in 2017, and broadcast networks overall lost 16 percent of their viewers.
"The television industry and media industry is going through some huge changes," Rolapp said. "No one's immune to that."
And live sports ー the NFL, in particular ー are in a better position than most to attract viewers and actually may become more valuable to advertisers in the long run, Rolapp said.
"There is a premium in this marketplace that will continue for any content that can aggregate large number of audiences at one time," Rolapp said. "They are very few, and they are becoming fewer. Live events works, sports works, and the NFL specifically works."
"Whenever you have a product that aggregates audiences, people will find that valuable."
The 2018-19 NFL season officially starts Thursday, when the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles take on the Atlanta Falcons.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/nfl-gears-up-for-another-season).
It's no secret tech giant Amazon has a mission of becoming a major player in sports media, and the company is poised to make progress on that goal in 2022. Amazon Prime Video will be the exclusive home to Thursday Night Football for the 2022-23 NFL season. In December, the New York Post reported that Amazon is in the beginning stages of developing studio sports programs, and hopes to soon have a full daily lineup of sports shows. Front Office Sports senior reporter A.J. Perez joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The seven-time Pro Bowler Antonio Brown thrust himself into the spotlight again after an on-field meltdown against the New York jets that ended with him pulling off his jersey and exiting the field at MetLife Stadium, leading his Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians to say that Brown was "no longer a buc." Sports commentator and former quarterback Lester Ricard Jr. joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to discuss the troubled star's latest actions as well as his checkered past few years in and around the league. "About three or four years ago, Antonio Brown, his career was trending towards a Hall of Famer, one of the best wide receivers of all time," said Ricard Jr. "I don't know if he's self-imploding or whatever's going on with him." Ricard went on to speculate about a specific hit Brown may have taken years back he felt could have led to the current behavior.
Sports betting is going mainstream in the United States. Dozens of states have legalized it, California is set to do the same this year. Arizona, which legalized sports betting in September, set new national records for gambling in its first months. Daniel Graetzer, CEO of Maximbet, joins Cheddar News to discuss what's next for the booming industry.
There is a new player in the mobile app stock trading space.
Zingeroo recently announced a funding round of $8.5 million. The company says it aims to bring 'friendly competition' to stock trading, by literally breaking trading down into daily and weekly competitions between friends. Zingeroo also says it hopes its new approach can make trading more accessible, educational, and social than ever before. Zingeroo co-founder and CEO Zoe Barry joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell for more.
Back in July of 2021, the NCAA announced a new policy in favor of allowing student-athletes to be given the chance to gain income through endorsement deals as well as public appearances. The Name, Image, and Likeness policy have found great appreciation among athletes who now can grow their businesses without having to sacrifice their playing eligibility. However, some critics believe this new policy could cause some chaos in the locker room. Sports Reporter at the Wall Street Journal Laine Higgins, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Chris Vannini, National College Football Reporter for The Athletic, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he breaks down the complications COVID-19 is having on college bowl season, with five games cancelled as of Thursday.
Eric Mitchell, sports analyst and co-founder & head of media relations at Lifeflip Media joins Cheddar News to discuss how covid-19 is impacting pro sports.
Brandon Marcello, National College Football Reporter for 247Sports, breaks down each of the two semifinal matchups and explains why the smart money is on the two SEC teams.
Sponsored by BetMGM
