The NFL’s largest corporate sponsor, Verizon, is standing by the league in spite of all of their recent issues over domestic violence. The CEO of Verizon, Lowell McAdam posted on his LinkedIn page, that the company would be better off helping the league through its situation rather than discontinuing their partnership, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell.
“We intend to use our leverage and leadership to keep the dialogue going on an issue that’s been tucked behind closed doors for way too long, and we’ll continue to work with our partners at the NFL to be a voice for change and a force for good, not just in the league but in our society as a whole,” McAdam wrote.
Verizon is in the second year of a four year contract extension with the NFL that gives Verizon mobile exclusive rights to stream NFL games on cell phones. Verizon pays $250 million annually for these rights, making them the highest paid sponsor over Anheuser-Busch which spends $200 million annually.
McAdam said that since 2001, the company has donated more than $77 million and 180,000 cell phones to domestic violence organizations and that it has “developed a deep reservoir of practical knowledge” that has allowed it to help “educate the public, empower victims and survivors and change the behaviors that lead to domestic violence in the first place.”
“In my view,” McAdam wrote, “the answer to this widespread culture of denial around domestic violence in our society is more engagement, not less.” “Because of our long-standing commitment to the issue, we believe we can be far more effective in preventing domestic violence by remaining in the arena with our partners at the NFL, rather than backing away from the controversy.”
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam should be commended for his take on the NFL’s current situation. At a time when so many corporate sponsors are looking for the first exit, or provide only skepticism and criticism, McAdam has stepped to the plate with solutions on how to educate and make a difference.