Rozelle: The Greatest Sports Marketer Ever?
This week's podcast looks at Pete Rozelle, the National Football League Commissioner from 1960-1989, who is largely responsible for turning the NFL into the brand it is today. Rozelle started his career in the NFL as the public relations director for the then Los Angeles Rams. He left briefly to work on the Melbourne Olympics but found himself back with the Rams as their general manager in 1957. Then, in 1960, after 22 candidates for commissioner were voted down by the NFL owners, Rozelle was voted to become commissioner, essentially by default. An interesting side note is that while waiting for the votes to be tallied, Rozelle was in the basement bathroom of a fancy hotel rather than more conventional places such as the lobby or a suite. Somewhat symbolically, Rozelle literally started in the outhouse and moved to the penthouse as the commissioner of what quickly became the most successful professional league in the United States. Tagliabue certainly held his own, and the jury is still out on Goodell, but it's clear that Rozelle laid the foundation for a league that is now America's most popular sport.
All of this begs the question, was Rozelle the greatest sports marketer of all-time? If not, who is?
