The NFL'S strategic deployment of flag football as a second-level agenda-setting mechanism in public health communication: A critical discourse analysis of corporate risk management in youth sports The NFL's strategic deployment of flag football as a second-level agenda-setting mechanism in public health communication
Main Article Content
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.
Article Details
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
References
2. McKee AC, Stern RA, Nowinski CJ, et al. The spectrum of disease in chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Brain. 2013;136(1):43-64.
3. Mez J, Daneshvar DH, Kiernan PT, et al. Clinicopathological evaluation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in players of American football. JAMA. 2017;318(4):360-370.
4. Aspen Institute. State of Play 2019: Trends and Developments in Youth Sports. Project Play; 2019.
5. Bachynski KE, Goldberg DS. Youth sports & public health: Framing risks of mild traumatic brain injury in American football and ice hockey. J Law Med Ethics. 2014;42(3):323-333.
6. American Academy of Pediatrics. Tackling in youth football [policy statement]. Pediatrics. 2015; 136(5):e1419-e1430.
7. Bachynski KE. No Game for Boys to Play: The History of Youth Football and the Origins of a Public Health Crisis. University of North Carolina Press; 2019.
8. International Olympic Committee. IOC approves inclusion of flag football and four other sports for LA28 Olympic Games [press release]. October 16, 2023.
9. National Football League. Statement from Commissioner Roger Goodell on flag football's Olympic inclusion [press release]. October 16, 2023.
10. National Football League. NFL launches "Football for All" initiative to expand youth access [press release]. February 4, 2020.
11. McCombs M, Llamas JP, Lopez-Escobar E, Rey F. Candidate images in Spanish elections: Second-level agenda-setting effects. Journal Mass Commun Q. 1997;74(4):703-717.
12. Entman RM. Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. J Commun. 1993;43(4):51-58.
13. Suchman MC. Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Acad Manage Rev. 1995;20(3):571-610.
14. McCombs M, Shaw D. The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opin Q. 1972; 36(2):176-187.
15. Weaver DH. Thoughts on agenda setting, framing, and priming. J Commun. 2007;57(1):142-147.
16. Vargo CJ, Guo L, McCombs M, Shaw DL. Network agenda setting: A third level of media effects. J Commun. 2014;64(2):180-199.
17. McCombs M. Setting the Agenda: Mass Media and Public Opinion. 2nd ed. Polity Press; 2014.
18. Kiousis S, Popescu C, Mitrook M. Understanding influence on corporate reputation: An examination of public relations efforts, media coverage, public opinion, and financial performance. J Public Relat Res. 2007;19(2):147-165.
19. Sweetser KD, Golan GJ, Wanta W. Intermedia agenda setting in television, advertising, and blogs during the 2004 election. Mass Commun Soc. 2008;11(2):197-216.
20. Benoit WL. Accounts, Excuses, and Apologies: A Theory of Image Restoration Strategies. State University of New York Press; 1995.
21. Benoit WL. Image repair discourse and crisis communication. Public Relat Rev. 1997;23(2):177-186.
22. Coombs WT. Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: The development and application of situational crisis communication theory. Corp Reputation Rev. 2007;10(3):163-176.
23. Proctor RN. Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition. University of California Press; 2011.
24. Oreskes N, Conway EM. Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. Bloomsbury Press; 2010.
25. Elsbach KD. Managing organizational legitimacy in the California cattle industry: The construction and effectiveness of verbal accounts. Adm Sci Q. 1994;39(1):57-88.
26. Pfarrer MD, Pollock TG, Rindova VP. A tale of two assets: The effects of firm reputation and celebrity on earnings surprises and investors' reactions. Acad Manage J. 2010;53(5):1131-1152.
27. Elliott C. Pharma went to med school: The relationship between the pharmaceutical industry, doctors, and patients. Hastings Cent Rep. 2018; 48(Suppl 1):S14-S17.
28. Katikireddi SV, Bond L, Hilton S. Changing policy framing as a deliberate strategy for public health advocacy: A qualitative policy case study. Milbank Q. 2014;92(2):325-353.
29. Godfrey PC. The relationship between corporate philanthropy and shareholder wealth: A risk management perspective. Acad Manage Rev. 2005;30(4):777-798.
30. Yoon Y, Gürhan-Canli Z, Schwarz N. The effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on companies with bad reputations. J Consum Psychol. 2006;16(4):377-390.
31. Brammer S, Pavelin S. Corporate reputation and social performance: The importance of fit. J Manage Stud. 2006;43(3):435-455.
32. Scherer AG, Palazzo G. The new political role of business in a globalized world: A review of a new perspective on CSR and its implications. J Manage Stud. 2011;48(4):899-931.
33. Christensen LT, Morsing M, Thyssen O. CSR as aspirational talk. Organization. 2013;20(3):372-393.
34. Kourula A, Laasonen S. Nongovernmental organizations in business and society, management, and international business research. Bus Soc. 2010;49(1):35-67.
35. McKee AC, Cairns NJ, Dickson DW, et al. The first NINDS/NIBIB consensus meeting to define neuropathological criteria for the diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Acta Neuropathol. 2016;131(1):75-86.
36. Omalu BI, DeKosky ST, Minster RL, Kamboh MI, Hamilton RL, Wecht CH. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy in a National Football League player. Neurosurgery. 2005;57(1):128-134.
37. McKee AC, Daneshvar DH, Alvarez VE, Stein TD. The neuropathology of sport. Acta Neuropathol. 2013;127(1):29-51.
38. Stamm JM, Bourlas AP, Baugh CM, et al. Age of first exposure to football and later-life cognitive impairment in former NFL players. Neurology. 2015;84(11):1114-1120.
39. Ellenbogen RG. Why the American Medical Association did not recommend banning youth tackle football. JAMA. 2016;316(4):362-363.
40. Iverson GL, Gardner AJ, Terry DP, et al. Predictors of clinical recovery from concussion: A systematic review. Br J Sports Med. 2019;51(12):941-948.
41. Manley G, Gardner AJ, Schneider KJ, et al. A systematic review of potential long-term effects of sport-related concussion. Br J Sports Med. 2017; 51(12):969-977.
42. Bailes JE, Petraglia AL, Omalu BI, Nauman E, Talavage T. Role of subconcussion in repetitive mild traumatic brain injury. J Neurosurg. 2013; 119(5):1235-1245.
43. Talavage TM, Nauman EA, Breedlove EL, et al. Functionally-detected cognitive impairment in high school football players without clinically-diagnosed concussion. J Neurotrauma. 2014;31(4):327-338.
44. Broglio SP, Cantu RC, Gioia GA, et al. National Athletic Trainers' Association position statement: Management of sport concussion. J Athl Train. 2014;49(2):245-265.
45. Daneshvar DH, Nowinski CJ, McKee AC, Cantu RC. The epidemiology of sport-related concussion. Clin Sports Med. 2011;30(1):1-17.
46. Montenigro PH, Alosco ML, Martin BM, et al. Cumulative head impact exposure predicts later-life depression, apathy, executive dysfunction, and cognitive impairment. J Neurotrauma. 2017;34(2): 328-340.
47. Fairclough N. Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. Longman; 1995.
48. Van Dijk TA. Discourse and Power. Palgrave Macmillan; 2008.
49. USA Football. Flag Football Program Guide: Building Safe, Fun, and Inclusive Youth Football Experiences. USA Football; 2021.
50. National Football League. NFL partners with Women's Sports Foundation to champion girls' flag football [press release]. March 15, 2021.
51. Simmons B. Flag football empowers girls to enter the game. New York Times. April 12, 2022.
52. Johnson M. NFL's flag football push opens new pathways for female athletes. Washington Post. May 22, 2023.
53. Rodriguez S. Girls' flag football: Breaking barriers in male-dominated sport. ESPN. September 15, 2021.
54. Ahluwalia R. How prevalent is the negativity effect in consumer environments? J Consum Res. 2002;29(2):270-279.
55. Loken B, John DR. Diluting brand beliefs: When do brand extensions have a negative impact? J Marketing. 1993;57(3):71-84.
56. Olson EL. It's not easy being green: The effects of attribute tradeoffs on green product preference and choice. J Acad Mark Sci. 2013;41(2):171-184.
57. Kasperson RE, Renn O, Slovic P, et al. The social amplification of risk: A conceptual framework. Risk Anal. 1988;8(2):177-187.
58. Slovic P. Perception of risk. Science. 1987; 236(4799):280-285.
59. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HEADS UP to youth sports: Budget and program information. 2020.
60. Niederdeppe J, Farrelly MC, Thomas KY, Wenter D, Weitzenkamp D. Newspaper coverage as indirect effects of a health communication intervention. Commun Res. 2013;34(4):382-405.
61. Wakefield MA, Loken B, Hornik RC. Use of mass media campaigns to change health behaviour. Lancet. 2010;376(9748):1261-1271.
62. Brownell KD, Warner KE. The perils of ignoring history: Big Tobacco played dirty and millions died. How similar is Big Food? Milbank Q. 2009; 87(1):259-294.
63. Kessler DA, Levy DE. Federal regulation of tobacco products: An analysis of stakeholders and policy options. Food Drug Law J. 2014;69(3):399-434.
64. National Football League. 2023 Annual Financial Report and Strategic Overview. NFL; 2023.
65. Aspen Institute. State of Play 2024: Youth Sports Participation Trends. Project Play; 2024.
66. MacLean TL, Behnam M. The dangers of decoupling: The relationship between compliance programs and unethical behavior. Acad Manage J. 2010;53(6):1499-1520.