Is the NFL a Cash Cow Because of the Natural Breaks in the Action?

Rohit Bhargava brought up a very interesting point about why the NFL is able to generate bucket loads of advertising dollars from a game consisting of four fifteen minute quarters:

5 Reasons the NFL is the Dominant Sports Brand in America - Influential Interactive Marketing

"Perhaps more than any other sport, the NFL is positioned to make the most money because the sport is extremely advertiser-friendly. Though other sports have tried, this remains the one unique trait that the NFL has claimed above all others. The game has natural stops and starts, a 60 minute game lasts three hours, and all this time offers plenty of empty space needed to be filled by TV advertisers. Add to this the fact that a far fewer percentage of viewers are likely to Tivo a live NFL game, and you have an advertising gold mine."

The question that comes to mind for me is: How to you chop up content with ads without pissing off your fans?

What makes the NFL's content good enough to tolerate so many ads?

Is it because people are drinking beer while watching it and simply NEED the breaks in the action to relieve themselves? Baseball has two built in breaks per inning, which seems like plenty of breaks. How is that different?

Is the NFL doing something different from MLB, NHL, etc. going into and out of breaks to keep people from changing the channel?

Or is this simply tied to the popularity of football?

I would say yes it does. it also does help that both of these sports ( although I use the term sport loosely in regards to Nascar) are two of the more popular in the US.

Comments

1. Posted by: Jeremy on September 21, 2006 10:07 AM:

I think you are forgetting the fact that with every Change of Possesion there is a Commercial Break. These are natural breaking points in action, and when the Game returns there is instant action. Unlike in Baseball where when the game resumes there is a large pause. So people are more likely to sit thru the commercials then in a baseball game, because they do not want to miss anything. this is much more desirable from a Advertising perspective.

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