Favre: Playmaker, moneymaker for Packers

Playmaker, moneymaker

Favre worth millions for Packers on and off the field

By DON WALKER

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jan. 6, 2007

For the past 15 football seasons, Brett Favre has provided much of the horsepower that keeps the economic engine of the Green Bay Packers humming.

Couple his image as a throwback player with his swashbuckling playing skills at the game's most important position, add a dash of national fame and celebrity, sprinkle in a compelling personal story, and you have the complete package.

The Packers can rightfully claim they are a national team, and team officials and fan sites often hear from fans from around the world. But until Favre showed up at Lambeau Field in 1992 and became, in effect, the franchise's pitchman on and off the field, the Packers didn't register much on the national football scene.

Even as Favre arrived from Atlanta in the early 1990s, things began to change for the better. The victories became commonplace, there were two Super Bowl appearances, including one championship, and the team began making multiple appearances on national television. Suddenly, everyone seemed to be on the Packers bandwagon, and buzz and merchandise sales grew.

Despite all of that success, the Packers front office knew that aging Lambeau Field had to be refurbished. With Bob Harlan's leadership and Favre's commitment to the franchise, the iconic stadium was transformed into a money machine for local revenue.

Today, there are suggestions the Favre era is about to end. Favre's tearful interview last Sunday night on national TV led many, but not all, observers to conclude that he would retire.
If and when he does, the Packers will not only have lost their most important player but a significant meal ticket.

Pro shop sales

To be sure, the Packers will still sell out Lambeau Field next year and in the years after that. And fans, feeling optimistic after an 8-8 season, might feel good times are ahead even with a new quarterback. But in the Packers' business office, the loss of Favre will force some tinkering and rethinking.

Here's one reason why: In the fiscal year ending last March, Favre merchandise on the shelves at the Packers Pro Shop in Lambeau Field generated $1 million in revenue, the highest ever for a single season. And that doesn't count the untold millions in licensing and sponsorship deals the team has produced, largely from companies and businesspeople wanting to be aligned with the Packers and Favre.

Harlan, the team chairman who himself is retiring in the spring, still marvels at the attention Favre has brought to the organization.

"He's our rock star," said Harlan.

"Sure, you see his jersey at Lambeau and in Green Bay all of the time, but we go on the road and I can't believe the number of No. 4's you see in the parking lots and in the stadium," Harlan said. "He's just a popular national figure, and he's brought unbelievable things to this organization, no doubt. His popularity and the fact that we had just reawakened on the football field when Brett came here was enormous for us. He has been a huge factor."

Generating millions

Kate Hogan, the team's director of retail operations and a 14-year employee with the franchise, said it is accurate to say that Favre is responsible for generating millions of dollars in merchandise sales in the years he has been in Green Bay. Whether it's jerseys, T-shirts, bobbleheads or books, Favre has been a consistently big seller for the franchise at the Packers Pro Shop.

"We certainly understand and acknowledge the importance of Brett Favre," Hogan said Friday. "He's universally liked by everyone."

Hogan said retail sales figures she has seen from the National Football League put Favre in the top 10 in terms of jersey sales in the country, although a spokesman for a national group that follows merchandise sales for the sporting goods industry said interest in Favre had waned considerably.

What makes the Favre name-reign so remarkable is that he never changed teams once he came to Green Bay. In the jersey business, sales of some players - notably Terrell Owens - go up every time they change teams.

Still, Hogan said she has seen a renewed interest in the past two years in Favre jerseys, largely because people sense his days as a football player are soon over.

In the Packers' home markets of Green Bay and Milwaukee, TV ratings have always been high, especially in the Favre era. While winning delivers ratings, Favre still steals most every scene.
In 1992, the local rating for Packers' games was 31. In 1997, a Super Bowl year, the ratings had jumped to 48.5. This past season, the 16 Packers games averaged a 35.9 rating, or 316,997 households.

"It's the Packers they're watching," said Eric Steele, director of research at WITI-TV (Channel 6), which broadcasts many of the games. "Brett is part of that, though. And we've been fortunate to have him for so long."

Last year, after a horrendous 4-12 season, Harlan fretted that angry fans would call and complain about the team. Instead, most of the calls he got centered on one theme: Is Brett coming back?What's right about the league

Nationally, Favre still has a strong presence, both as the face of the Packers and in his own right as a personality and pitchman.

"He's definitely what's right about the National Football League," said Scott Sanford, senior client director for Davie-Brown Talent, which matches celebrities with brands for advertising programs. "He's who you want to see to drive marketing. He's one of the faces of the league and the franchise, and his love for the game and the fact that he is the same person and player he was when he started is fantastic. He embodies what the NFL would like to be."

Sanford's firm has developed the Davie-Brown Index, an index for markets and agencies that determines a celebrity's ability to influence brand affinity and consumer purchase intent. Favre ranks in the top 30 of all sports celebrities in the index. In terms of the separate categories of a person's appeal, influence and trust, Favre still ranks high compared with other celebrities.

Last year, American sports fans surveyed in a Harris Poll said Favre was their favorite football player. Favre topped the 2003 and 2004 Harris polls, as well, and placed second to Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts in 2005.

Among all sports figures in the 2006 Harris Poll, Favre trailed only golfer Tiger Woods and retired basketball superstar Michael Jordan.

"If I get a call from somebody from around the country asking for an autograph, it's always a Brett autograph," Harlan said. "In his real heyday, I believe he had the same impact as a Michael Jordan. In his prime, his popularity was just unbelievable."

Not many ads

For such a recognizable and believable personality, Favre himself does not do a lot of endorsements. He has done ads for a worldwide credit-card company and has endorsed a toothpaste for sensitive teeth, a lawn-tractor company and a medication for heartburn. One blogger has joked online that Favre apparently appeals to geezers.

Sports media experts said national ratings are driven by teams, not necessarily individual stars. But Favre certainly has provided his share of emotional moments, such as his stirring performance on "Monday Night Football" in December 2003 against the Oakland Raiders shortly after his father, Irv, died.

"The only time he would have an impact is when the Packers play on Monday night or Sunday night," said Mike Trager, a sports media consultant. "At that point, he might have an influence on the ratings. But the league itself is so strong, no one player can affect the ratings."

Favre has said that he will make a decision about retirement sooner rather than later this time around. Every little bit of information and insight about Favre in the days ahead will be magnified, chewed over and analyzed. And Harlan and the rest of the Packers faithful will be waiting to hear what Favre has in mind.

"The main thing I would say is that it's going to be a sad day for us when he walks into that tunnel for the last time," Harlan said. "But it also will be an enormous loss to the National Football League. They love his daring, his gunslinger attitude, the enthusiasm of the boy in the sandlot. The league will miss him tremendously. And I think a few years from now we will say how lucky we are to have seen him play."