When Tim Ellis joined the NFL as chief marketing officer in late 2018 from Activision, the league appeared healthy—at least to the casual observer—including on TV, where it continued to draw a massive audience. But beneath the surface, there were troubling signs. Ratings were on a downward trend and the NFL was struggling with controversies including how to deal with players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police violence and social inequities. It all contributed to an erosion of the NFL’s young fan base. 

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“We were still very dominant in the industry form a pure fan-development, ratings perspective—just the scale of our audience was still very, very strong,” Ellis recalled. But “when I looked closely at all the data, I could see there was this slow but steady decline in that 12-to-24 audience. I approached that with a real sense of urgency. I started ringing the bell immediately.”

Today, the NFL is in a much better spot, thanks in part to a new marketing strategy that has included a more progressive and honest approach to social justice, highlighted by the league admitting it erred in how it responded to player protests like the kneeling initiative led by Colin Kaepernick. The new “Football Is for Everyone” campaign included the line “football is gay” and was released in the wake of Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib coming out as the first gay active player in the NFL. 

The league has also stepped up its youth outreach via influencer and celebrity marketing that has included deals with dozens of stars ranging from Miley Cyrus, who headlined a “TikTok Tailgate” at Super Bowl LV that streamed on the platform, to 2 Chainz, who appeared in the league’s 2020 Draft-a-Thon pandemic relief virtual fundraising event. The NFL has also hooked up with gamers including Twitch streamer Nickmercs of FaZe Clan. He appeared in the 2021 kickoff ad, “We Run as One,” whose diverse cast also included the Apex Predators, a female flag football team from Las Vegas.

These moves have made the league more relevant than ever, both as a TV ratings powerhouse and pop culture force. It has reversed the slide with younger viewers; in 2020, the NFL was the only pro sports league to grow its base among avid male fans ages 12 to 17, according to data cited by the league from the SSRS/Luker on Trends Sports Poll, which measures more than 35 different sports and activities.

This season, the NFL has been helped by easing pandemic restrictions allowing for stadiums to again be packed with fans, which helps the TV watching environment. Games drew an average of 16.9 million viewers on TV and digital platforms through week 12, the highest ratings since 2015. NFL games have accounted for 48 of the top 50 TV shows season-to-date, according to league data. For its three Thanksgiving Day games, the league drew an average of 29.7 million viewers on TV and digital—the largest Turkey Day audience for games since 1998.

“As much as the league may have made headway on important social initiatives in the eyes of its fans and business partners, the ongoing success of the league may be its overarching, ongoing juggernaut status,” said David Carter, a sports business consultant and sports marketing professor at the USC Marshall School of Business. "Both hard-core and casual fans, as well as the growing gambling demographic, likely welcomed the return to a semblance of normalcy, both at the stadiums and on their couches.”

Under Ellis, the NFL has adopted a “helmets-off” marketing approach that puts more emphasis on player personalities. The league now assigns about four “local content creators” to each team to collect not just on-field behind-the-scenes footage—like sideline banter—but also off-field player activities, like a trip to the mall. 

“Before Tim got there, football was portrayed in one way: It was alpha male-centric, almost [like] these gladiators,” said Zach Hilder, executive creator at 72andSunny Los Angeles, the NFL’s creative agency of record. Now the NFL spotlights “the people and personalities—and that goes to the diversity of who these people are and what they believe in.”

It also means the NFL is giving players a bigger platform to talk about the causes they believe in, which it failed to do with Kaepernick. “There was a perception that there was some tension between players and the league, and that’s not good for anyone,” Ellis said. Programs include “My Cause, My Cleats,” which features players plugging causes they believe in, ranging from social justice initiatives to health and wellness. During week 13 of the season, players wore custom-designed football shoes that plugged their causes. For instance, Los Angeles Ram and Pittsburgh native Aaron Donald backed AD99, an organization he founded to address racial inequalities in Pittsburgh.

The NFL has also committed to spending $250 million over 10 years to help advance social justice via donations to organizations involved with education, criminal justice reform and police-community relations. The league’s reawakening has included marketing such as etching phrases like “End Racism” on fields. 

“The actions the league has taken specific to social responsibility are certainly great for the long-term health of the league, especially in terms of bringing in younger fans. Combine this with the return to having fans in the seats as well as out-of-home viewership environments, a smart non-linear strategy, and most important of all, stars playing like stars in terrific match-ups this season, and you have a winning play for moving the needle” Jeremy Carey, managing director Omnicom-owned sports agency Optimum Sports, stated in an email interview.

Progressive critics have called the NFL's social justice moves hollow gestures, while conservatives bash the league for playing politics. But Ellis suggests the NFL has no choice but to get involved—and to promote its moves. “We reach tens of millions of people every time we come on air,” he said. “And that is an opportunity to create a level of awareness and understanding about the importance of these issues. So it can’t be one or the other, it has to be both.”

See all of Ad Age's 2021 Marketers of the Year here.