Abstract
Objective: This study examines how the National Football League's strategic promotion of flag football functions as a health communication response to chronic traumatic encephalopathy research and declining youth tackle football participation. Employing second-level agenda-setting theory, this Critical Discourse Analysis investigates attribute engineering patterns wherein safety, inclusivity, and legitimacy attributes are systematically bundled with flag football while maintaining unified "football" branding.
Method: Analysis of 330 texts (National Football League communications n=124, media coverage n=178, public health statements n=28) from 2020-2024 employed four-phase coding: initial thematic identification, attribute frequency analysis, framing analysis, and agenda transfer mapping. Content analysis documented linguistic bundling patterns, authority source citations, and temporal shifts in discourse salience.
Results: Three strategic communication patterns emerged. First, 89% of National Football League flag football communications employed safety terminology while 76% used the unmodified term "football," creating linguistic conditions for attribute transfer from non-contact variant to general category. Second, gender equity and inclusivity framing appeared in 94% of flag communications, positioning the National Football League as progressive institution while potentially displacing injury discourse through agenda competition. Third, Olympic legitimacy leveraging following the 2028 Games announcement transferred international prestige to "football" broadly, creating bifurcated discourse environments wherein flag football operates within corporate-dominated legitimacy space while tackle football remains subject to medical authority contestation.
Conclusion: Findings demonstrate sophisticated organizational deployment of second-level agenda-setting mechanisms to influence discourse salience regarding youth football. This "agenda hack" maintains brand viability by strategically promoting a lower-risk variant while higher-risk tackle football continues generating revenue. Results contribute to health communication scholarship by operationalizing attribute agenda-setting in corporate crisis contexts, integrating crisis communication and legitimacy restoration frameworks, and documenting media mediation of strategic messaging. Future research should test whether discourse patterns influence parental risk perceptions and participation decisions.