The NFL and Its Concussion Crisis: Adapting the Contingency Theory to Examine Shifts in Publics’ Stances

Abstract

The National Football League (NFL) is immersed in a serious conflict involving a disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and conflict appears to have manifested into a crisis with the release of Sony Motion Picture's film Concussion. This study uses the contingency theory of conflict management, which explains how an organization adopts toward a given public. No research has been done to identify if various unorganized publics can develop stances like an organization. A quantitative content analysis of 1,035 tweets about the movie and the NLF concussion issue was done immediately before and after the movie's release. Findings revealed some initial evidence that publics can develop a stance. In particular, most of the publics favored the movie and assumed a hostile stance toward the NFL. Only the health community revealed a stance suitable for cooperating with the NFL on the issue. Keywords: crisis communication, contingency theory of conflict management, public relations, sports communicationThe release of the Sony Motion Picture's film, Concussion is a crisis tipping point in a serious long-term conflict facing the National Football League (NFL), American football, and the numerous industries it supports. The movie is highly critical of the NFL, highlighting the discovery of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in deceased NFL players. It negatively portrays the NFL's sub-optimal response to the conflict as nefarious. The ability of motion pictures and other forms of popular media to shape public opinion is well established (Turner, Foley, Kinsella, O'Callaghan, & Clarke, 2014). Magnifying the seriousness of the CTE crisis is that it threatens an entrenched American cultural institution and a very profitable industry. The NFL has over a hundred million fans of varying loyalties across the US and a growing global fan base (Associated Press, 2014). Thus, understanding the reaction of various publics to Concussion is vital for the NFL to understand in order to adopt the optimal stance toward them. Literature ReviewThe NFL was founded in 1920 for American football and was composed of 32 US based teams. Controversy has accompanied prosperity as the NFL is perpetually plagued by player misconduct that garners outsized media attention. Hazing and homophobia are prevalent as the league seemingly ignores the problem  Corresponding author: Douglas Wilbur, doctoral student, major in US Army (Retired), School of Journalism, The University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA; research fields: strategic communication and public relations.Dani Myers, doctoral student, School of Journalism, The University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA; research fields: strategic communication and public relations.