On July 28, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and pop star Madison Beer jointly announced their engagement with an Instagram post liked over 6.7 million times.
Shortly afterward, Herbert reported to Chargers training camp, and this video showing Herbert and Beer mid-PDA on the practice field went viral. It seemed easy enough to explain: a newly engaged couple at the height of euphoric love knows no bounds. But then, there were more PDA-adjacent training camp videos, so something felt… weird.
Cameras captured New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart having a “quiet moment” with his model girlfriend, Marissa Ayers. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow sat on the field with his rumored girlfriend, Olivia Ponton, after practice.
For years, players’ loved ones have attended training camps. This is not a new phenomenon. So, what’s the big deal? Well, Taylor Swift is likely entering her final season supporting Travis Kelce at Kansas City Chiefs games, so the NFL is desperate to catch lightning in a bottle twice.
According to Ellyn Brigs of Front Office Sports, “The viral canoodling-at-camp videos are part of a larger content campaign, a source close to the NFL told Front Office Sports.”
“On the league and club level, we’ve engaged our players’ families and loved ones for years,” Ian Trombetta, the NFL’s SVP of social and influencer marketing, told Briggs. “Whether it’s training camp, weekly practice, or a major event like the Super Bowl, we look for authentic opportunities to highlight our players and the people who are part of their journey […’ The content is authentic, genuine and relatable, and that’s resonated strongly with women and young fans, who are key growth audiences for the NFL.”
Briggs additionally relayed that the NFL will be “scaling up its female-focused content.” The Chargers, however, stated that the team has no plans of any “formalized content” around Beer and her relationship with Herbert.
Yes, Swift’s romance with Kelce undeniably surged the NFL’s female demographic in multiple quantifiable ways. And it was fun! Pop culture nirvana, for some. But Kelce and Swift are very comfortable in their fame and didn’t mind displaying their epic love story for the world. It didn’t hurt that the Chiefs were in the midst of a dynasty and constantly in high-stakes, high-profile games, either.
Herbert and Burrow, while stars, are two of the most intensely private quarterbacks in the league and openly detest the fame that comes with playing football. Neither the Chargers nor the Bengals have had playoff success in recent years. Dart, meanwhile, is entering his second year as an NFL quarterback, and the jury is still out on his staying power. In other words, the Kelce-Swift ingredients aren’t replicable.
This whole purported strategy also neglects the millions of women who have long watched football because they simply love the sport. No pandering required.
Years ago, the NFL clumsily attempted to appeal to women by slapping pink on everything, a strategy known as “pink-it-and-shrink,” per Forbes in 2012. All these years later, by attempting to enter its WAG era, the NFL is showing that it still woefully misunderstands (and underestimates) women. The NFL doesn’t need to catch lightning in a bottle twice; it just needs to treat women normally.
The post Justin Herbert, Madison Beer PDA video foreshadows NFL’s misguided WAGs marketing plan, per report appeared first on Awful Announcing.