Leading up to its crowning Super Bowl event on Sunday, the “Deflategate” controversy seems to have weakened the NFL’s consumer perception even further this past week, now tracking at one-third of what is was one year ago.
Last week, the NFL’s consumer perception measured at half of last year’s score at that time.
For this research, YouGov BrandIndex measured the NFL Buzz score – along with the other three major sports leagues. The Buzz score asks respondents: "If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?"
A score can range from 100 to -100 with a zero score equaling a neutral position. Example: A score of 35 means that 35% more people said they were positive than negative about the brand. All measurements are for adults 18 and over.
One year ago, the NFL’s Buzz score was 18, compared to its current score of 6. Last Tuesday, the NFL’s Buzz score was 12, and inched up to 14 on Wednesday, and then slid again, as the Patriots addressed the “Deflate-gate” controversy with the press and the subject blossomed across all media.
The NFL has also currently fallen behind the other three major sports leagues with their respective Buzz scores: the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball are tied with a 9 Buzz score, the latter of which has not even started its spring training season. Following them is The National Basketball Association with a 7 score, and then the NFL with a 6. Normally, the NFL's Buzz score is twice the amount of the other leagues at this time.
Buzz: MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL
