Behind the scenes of the 2017 NFL Rookie Premiere

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Apr 28, 2017; Lake Forest, IL, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky holds up a jersey during a press conference at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /

Q: How do the marketing opportunities work for the players attending the Rookie Premiere?

It’s all negotiated beforehand. We have a master relationship with each of these parties. If you look at Nike, they are the licensee for the jerseys and the players, once their jerseys are for sale, make revenue personally from the sales. If you look at what Nike is doing here, it’s marketing support and collateral. FedEx is a sponsor for the NFL and they do a big promotion every year tied to the Rookie of the Year. So they’ll capture content here for that. Panini is here with trading cards and those deals are done before the players get here and the players are paid a fee for every autograph, but it’s under the auspices of our overall licensing or sponsorship agreements with each company.

Q: Do you feel this event is the first time many players think about marketing for the first time?

So I’ve been doing this for close to 10 years and I think players nowadays have been exposed to way more earlier. The fact that Darren Rovell has a million-plus Twitter followers and he’s not breaking any news. He’s not Adam Schefter. He’s not going to tell you anything about your favorite team or who they’re playing or trading for or drafting. It’s all sports business.

So I think the entire market of being a sports fan has changed. People care about things now that they didn’t even pay attention to before. That’s also extended to the players. I think we’ve got players coming into the league who are much better positioned to take advantage of the opportunities earlier in their career because they know about it coming in, and they’re chomping at the bit to be able to do that.

I think they’ve thought about it more. I think they’ve definitely been told more. They’ve been told that everyone is a brand and that they’re the CEO of their own business. What we try to do this weekend is to really put it to them, that we want them to work on this right now and work on something to present to their fellow players on how they see themselves. I don’t think many of them, if at all, have had that opportunity before.

I think they’ve been lectured and given trainings and seminars, but to sit with a blank piece of paper, essentially, and be told, “Well, you tell us. Look at examples of those who’ve come into the league. Who do you want to emulate?” I think that’s new to them.