Detroit Lions: The Business

We are all huge fans of the National Football League and our respective teams. The simple reality check that all fans need to know is that the National Football League and the Detroit Lions are – and operate as – a business that requires an inflow of revenue.

The main product sold by professional football teams are the players on the field – that’s obvious. In order to create more revenue, all of the teams branched out into selling team based apparel.

With the increased use of the internet by consumers, all NFL teams use their own website as a source of e-commerce to sell their products. My Lions use http://shop.detroitlions.com/ as their e-commerce site.

So how effective is the digital marketing of the Detroit Lions’ organization?

If you are associated with an NFL football team, you already have national brand recognition – but where exactly does their traffic come from. I know – through experience – that if you follow the Detroit Lions on social media, they advertise their online store heavily. This is known as unpaid referrals and it makes up a large portion of their traffic (it is also completely free).

Another large source of traffic is through searching in Google. When you google “Detroit Lions apparel,” it is the second website listed. This organic search lags behind only www.Nflshop.com. Although it seems counterintuitive, NFL Shop is a competitor of the Detroit Lions’ website as the revenue will go to the NFL instead of the Detroit Lions. The Lions need to improve their SEO strategy

The next criteria are conversions that lead to their revenue. Below is a picture of the Detroit Lions’ website:

As you can see, it is a very aesthetically pleasing website that is easy to follow, it has a large call to action “Shop Now” and has a large promotional banner right on top. All of these factors are put in place to boost conversions and click-through rates. This website holds true to the Lions’ brand with the unique Lions’ Honolulu Blue and the “One Pride” banner on the left.

Overall, I think the Lions have an effective website and should be more proactive with their SEO campaign. Especially because their team is the biggest disappointment in professional sports.

If you would like to go into a more in-depth analysis of the use of digital marketing in the National Football League, I encourage you to read the work of Dr. Michael Pepe’s analysis of the Minnesota Vikings. Anything from Dr. Pepe is worth looking into!

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Stafford is Starting (Finishing) Right

If you need to know anything about me, it is that I love my family and my Detroit Lions. If you would like, please read the “Why the Detroit Lions?” tab to see how this weird obsession started.

Throughout the semester, I will be blogging about the multiple facets of the Detroit Lions whether it is a recap of their game or questionable marketing/business decisions. So please, relax and enjoy my blog as I want to spark conversations and debates. It is going to be a great semester!

The Detroit Lions earned their Week 1 win on the road against the Andrew Luck and his Indianapolis Colts, 39-35, on a game-winning field goal.

As a Lion enthusiast, I saw this win coming from months away and it was obvious.

Almost every “expert” picked the depleted Colts to walk all over the lonely Lions to kick off the 2016 NFL Season. Why? Because the Lions’ star receiver, Calvin Johnson, retired from the football field and was hired to the dancing floor (check him out on Dancing with the Stars) leaving the Lions’ offensive “clueless.”

My bold prediction for the Detroit Lions in 2016 is that Matthew Stafford will have his best season statistically – and yes, without Megatron. How can this be? Because of Johnson’s departure, the Lions now have over $20 million dollars of salary cap where they can allocate to find multiple, meaningful contributors whether it is linemen or new weapons on both sides of the football.

I know everyone is looking at Marvin Jones here. I get it – replacing Megatron with Jones is like replacing your 1970 Ford Mustang with your Uncle’s 1999 Honda Accord with 150,000 miles. But think about this, Megatron’s departure and the addition of Decker, Bush, Boldin and Jones is like adding subwoofers, detailed interior and auto-park feature to your 2017 Tesla. We are moving in the right direction here.

Now because week 1 is over, I can even provide proof. Stafford had an 80% completion percentage, 128.6 passer rating and a game-winning drive that moved faster down the field than any Tesla on full throttle ever could.

All of this… Stafford without Calvin Johnson.

The NFL season is long and requires consistency on the Lions’ part, but if each player can contribute and perform their roles correctly, then maybe, just maybe, the Lions can become strong closers in the fourth quarter and give their fans a Super Bowl victory!