Could the NFL be the best sign for the future of DEI?

As DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) continues to be a polarizing subject, business and organization leaders are being asked to state or clarify their intentions.

This includes the National Football League (NFL), and leading up to Super Bowl LIX, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed their DEI position.

While many leaders have either punted the conversation with clever wordsmithing or turned the ball over on DEI by retracting their efforts, it was refreshing to hear Mr. Goodell speak candidly and emphatically on his position.

“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League, and we’re going to continue to do those efforts,” Mr. Goodell said. “We’re not in this because it’s a trend to get into it or a trend to get out of it.” He also stated that diversity is a “reflection of our fan base and our communities and our players.”

Excuse me, commissioner: Can you say it again for those in the cheap seats?

At a time when publicly running away from diversity efforts is becoming status quo, America’s most popular sports league is digging in.

The truth is, investing in diversity—although imperfect at times—is good business, especially for the NFL, if last year’s Super Bowl was any indication. The event was the most-watched television broadcast in US history, with 123.4 million average viewers.

The NFL Has Come A Long Way On Diversity

In 2020, as protests over racial inequities and police brutality began showing up across the streets of America, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wanted some changes implemented across the league. For instance, “End Racism” would be stenciled into the back of every team’s end zones. “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the “Black national anthem,” would be played or performed before games, and the league planned to commit a lot of money and resources—$250 million dollars—to equality initiatives. The owners agreed to these changes. And five years later, as others are sunsetting their DEI efforts, the NFL is seeing the results of theirs.

So much so that they announced their 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner, Kendrick Lamar, during the season’s opening weekend, to tap into the buzz off his song “Not Like Us.” The song had become a near anthem throughout American culture, and since then has picked up several Grammy Awards, including song and record of the year.

It’s been ten years since the NFL concussion settlement was resolved in 2015. If you recall, it was a tough moment for the league’s reputation, as bad negative headlines splashed across the front page of newspapers, parents pulled their children out of Pop Warner, and the movie Concussion was released, in which Will Smith portrayed the doctor who discovered CTE. That would prove to be the lead-in to even more scrutiny of the league, which escalated when 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who knelt on one knee on September 1, 2016, during the national anthem, to protest police brutality.

The public’s raised awareness posed a serious threat to the policies and perception of America’s most lucrative sports league.

Fast-forward to the present, and while the 2024 season didn’t fare as well as 2023, when the NFL represented 93 of the top 100 most-watched broadcasts on US television, across all programming. The NFL is the closest thing to unity we have in the great U.S. of A because it is finally bringing in something for everyone. In a fractured society, the NFL seems to have become our monoculture, in part because of their efforts to be more inclusive and diversify the game experience in person and on television.

In 2019 the NFL signed a partnership with Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s empire, to empower his influence over the league’s most important music events, including the halftime show. Since then, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Usher, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre have all taken the stage during the country’s most-watched television event.

But it was 2023 that would somewhat serve as a tipping point for the league. That summer, the Washington Commanders were purchased for north of $6 billion by a group of diverse investors that includes business legend (and the best point guard to ever lace ’em up), Earvin “Magic” Johnson. And those values will increase, as the owners voted for team investments from private equity firms to diversify their financing options to include this long-sidelined group.

In September 2023, Taylor Swift attended her first Kansas City Chiefs game. Her Swifties started tuning in, to watch her enter the stadium, cheer in the skybox and celebrate on the field with her man, Chiefs player Travis Kelce. From that game until the Chief’s Super Bowl appearance, it’s estimated that ratings increased from 9% to 15% versus games when she didn’t appear. Women, who have historically watched the game less than their male counterparts, have flocked to the games since Ms. Swift’s appearance:

• Women’s viewership of the NFL increased by 18%.
• Female fans have driven a 400% increase in NFL apparel sales.
• More women are now participating in fantasy football and engaging with NFL content.
• The Chiefs’ fanbase grew by 30%, largely due to new female viewers.

The profits flooded in. The NFL would pay over $400 million to each team (up from $374 million in 2022), hitting $13 billion in national revenue and passing $20 billion in total revenue—all league records.

The NFL Proves There Can Be Unity In Diversity

When you see the constant headlines about how Americans are divided—they’re not seeing eye-to-eye and can’t get along on even basic issues—turn the channel to an NFL game to see what progress looks like, when an organization improves its perspectives and evolves with the times.

American culture has long learned from, and turned to, sports for inspiration on social issues. From Jackie Robinson breaking through the segregation prior to mainstream American society to the integration of college football as the spark to push many Universities to do the same.

Perhaps our generation should look to the NFL to learn how diversity can, in fact, be turned into unity – for everyone.