A New Stadium Doesn’t Have to be a Hail Mary: How Public Affairs Playbooks Get Teams a W.

The NFL is back. At Precision, we’re not just watching the opening weekend match ups. We’ve been watching the playbooks that NFL teams are using in some of their biggest tussles off the field: the fights to secure commitments from state and local governments to help fund their stadiums. 

The Washington Commanders are likely returning to D.C. after three decades in Maryland with a public affairs blitz that has upended years of bitterness between fans and team ownership. But in Chicago, a years-long campaign by the Bears still hasn’t made it into the endzone. 

Whether you planned your fantasy draft for weeks or it’s just what you know Taylor Swift’s fiancé does for work, there’s something to learn from these high stakes campaigns at the intersection of sports, fandom and politics.  Precision Communications SVP – and life-long suffering Bears fan – Luke Jackson takes a close look at recent stadium campaigns from the Commanders and the Bears and gives us the play-by-play of what’s working and what isn’t. 

A Tale of Two Gridirons

Last year, the Commanders famously defeated the Bears. Scoring on a last-second, Hail Mary, pass. Resulting in one of the most humiliating losses for Bears fans in a long time. I’d love to forget about it. Unfortunately, this offseason, I’ve also been forced to watch the Commanders outmaneuver, outplay, and outclass the Bears in their efforts to get a new stadium. Let’s take a look at the game tape: 

• The Scouting Report: Both teams came into their stadium campaign kickoffs with baggage. For the Washington football team, recent years saw intense controversy on and off the field – including a Congressional investigation into toxic workplace culture and harassment, fan campaigns for owner Dan Snyder to sell the team, and a grand rebrand with a new name responding to long running criticism. The Bears had fewer controversies and changes. But a costly renovation of Soldier Field in the early 2000s, and a reputation of running their team more like a mom-and-pop business rather than a billion dollar franchise, burned political and fan capital that the team struggled to restore.
• The Offensive Drives: New ownership for the Commanders created an opening to turn the page and rebuild relationships with the fanbase and local leaders in D.C. The team capitalized on the moment, and in August the D.C. City Council gave initial approval for a 65,000 seat stadium to be built at the site of the old RFK Stadium as part of a $3.8 billion development plan for the area. The Bears purchased land in suburban Arlington Heights 25-miles outside Chicago for a new stadium site. Only the Bears know whether their ultimate goal is to break ground on a brand new stadium or pass fake to create leverage on the City of Chicago or State of Illinois to unlock more concessions for renovations or a new stadium in the City. But it is clear that neither effort is going well.
• Evaluating the X’s & O’s: For the Bears, a lack of coordination, message discipline, and engagement or direction with their fans and the community at-large has left their stadium campaign with no energy to make it down field. They’ve courted politicians, but left the fans and impacted communities on the sidelines. A venerable and engaged fandom is no guarantee of political capital or community goodwill–but it helps. Meanwhile, the Commanders capitalized on their change in ownership to turbocharge enthusiasm from their fanbase and convert it into political energy. The Commanders activated the fan voice, encouraging participation and engagement from fans with their elected officials, and turned skeptics into approvers.

Takeaways For Your Playbook

If the Bears, or any sports franchise, are serious about winning these campaigns, they need to utilize campaign style communications and a public affairs playbook to get the job done. 

• Mobilize fans & local community: If you can get the fans and local community on your side, the politicians will follow. This means communicating transparently with fans. Hear their perspective, collaborate with them, and elevate their voice. A Google search for Washington Commanders Stadium or Washington Commanders Stadium get involved leads you to a landing page with a campaign slogan, a call to action, and encouragement for Commanders fans to contact their lawmakers. 
• Tell impact stories to audiences that care: Every team puts out an economic impact report. Those reports are standard operating procedure and treated as such by media and fans alike. $X billion in economic impact is a helpful headline, but it won’t feel real to the fan or community unless they know how it will actually be realized. Sharing impact stories about what a new stadium would mean to the surrounding bars or restaurants–told by the bar owner–or the good-paying union jobs–told by the welder– carry more weight than a consulting firm’s report. 
• Speak with one voice: Identify a key spokesperson, build strong coalition groups, and ensure everyone is singing from the same sheet of music. Sports and the business of sports media and commentary are critically important voices in this effort. A team needs to educate those voices and ensure they have the team’s point of view and all the relevant facts.

In October, the Bears will play the Commanders on Monday night. Despite my Pee Wee football quarterbacking success, I am confident that we can’t help either team win that game. But if it is a stadium fight, a public affairs campaign, or providing full-service strategic advice to a corporation, I like our odds. If you need help building a campaign playbook, Precision can help. Oh, and Bear Down.

Luke Jackson | Senior Vice President

Luke Jackson is a senior vice president on the communications team at Precision. He works with corporate, non-profit, and political clients. At Precision, he works with Fortune 100 companies, trade associations, non-profits, tribal governments, and political organizations to change narratives, weather crises, and adapt to the ever-changing media environment. He leads teams to help clients find their audience, improve their story, and make sure it’s reaching the right people. He previously worked in the Biden Administration, for Senator Jon Tester, and in battleground campaigns across the country.