Imagine that time travel is a reality. A bruising football player from back in the day, say Lionel Conacher, is transported to this past weekend to see a CFL game. He'd look out on fake grass, and that would amuse him. He'd see players wearing face masks and that might disgust him. And he'd see players, referees and a stadium draped in hot pink. What would he have to say about the Toronto Argonauts or B.C. Lions with pink spats and wrist bands, referees throwing pink flags and coaches garbed in pink?
Once he got over his shock and was told that the pink represents "women's cancers" (CFL) or simply breast-cancer awareness (NFL) he'd have to wonder who was running the show. Then someone would tell him that, hold on, next month it'll be a different colour dotting the football landscape and guys wearing patchy mustaches for prostate cancer awareness. You ain't seen nothing yet.
In an era that fetishizes health care, the competition for TV visibility – and donation dollars – is as cut-throat as any football game. Or baseball, hockey or basketball game. The ubiquity of pro sports has made it a central battleground between cause-related marketers with a ribbon, wristband or T-shirt to sell. The "Race For A Cure" slogan screams out an athletic approach to disease control. And traditional gender lines don't apply.
As October shows, the breast cancer industry may be the Anthony Calvillo of charities, the maestro showing everyone else how it's done. While it kills fewer women than heart or circulatory disease, and more women die of lung cancer, breast cancer has used the medium of sports to help it become the slickest marketing arm in the present time. For a generation growing up today, it is synonymous with charity-giving.
With governments having to tighten their fiscal belts, the race for private funds does indeed go to the swiftest – in this case the power of pink. The power of the breast cancer lobby has come under fire from groups that dispute its bare-knuckled methods, its reliance on consumerism and controversial messages about testing for early detection. Yet it prospers.
But isn't sports supposed to be the domain of men? Yes, but to a greater extent than ever, women are watching televised sports and attending games, with and without guys around. In most households, women control the buying decisions on everything from product purchase to charitable deduction of choice. TV viewing that targets women has long been saturated with the breast-cancer message about checkups and mammograms (pro and con), but if you want to maximize your reach you need to mine previously untapped markets.
And nothing draws the eyeballs of men (and their incomes) like televised sport. In a short five years, breast cancer has wedged its way from the sidelines to today, when players are literally carrying the pink message on their equipment and jerseys. Speak to leagues and teams and they will tell you about the ultra-competitive battle amongst cause-related marketers to have their slogans and signage plastered on the field, the boards or the goal posts.
Making decisions between causes – all of them deserving – can come down to intense executive decisions by clubs over whom to favour and whom to tell, "Sorry, no room at the game." Choosing a charity partner can be as wrenching a decision as whom to pick first in the draft. Make a controversial choice and be seen opposing cancer or Alzheimer's or AIDS, and you will reap the whirlwind in your community.
As the pink wave bathing the CFL and NFL demonstrated this weekend, those decisions are not always based on statistical significance. If it was, heart disease and circulatory problems would predominate. But just as coaches with the best game plans dominate football, the people in pink know how to get the dollars waiting in the end zone.
Hooked up
The NHL is finally getting its European TV act up and running – in Scandinavia at least. After leaving ESPN as its one source for European rights, the NHL has signed customized deals throughout the continent to maximize its flexibility. The deal makes every NHL game available in the Nordic region and opens opportunities for customizing platforms to deliver highlights and material unique to the nation. If the plan works, Swedish fans will be able to access highlights of the Sedin brothers, Henrik Lundqvist or Daniel Alfredsson from the night before.