As the mad scramble begins in the NFL, one area that will have a scramble of its own will be media relations. The time-honored off season ritual of pulling together the printed media guide will go into overdrive as teams decide who and what will go in, and what will come out of what is still the most valuable tool anyone who needs information on a team can have. What was once months to assemble now becomes days or short weeks, and even with a boost from digital printing, assembly and photographers, rush orders for printers will no doubt be in place, with boxes to be sent around the league in time for the season opener.
However what once was the biggest concern of angst and anxiety for media departments, meeting the printing deadlines, have gone to another time, and the reduced budgets, concern for green initiatives, and the rise of technology, along with a shortness for turnaround, may be the beginning of the end for such printed works. Already leagues like the NBA and the NHL have had some teams go almost all digital with their media guides, and a good number of colleges have followed suit. The several hundred page printed guides are a large budget expense and in most cases have little return in terms of sales. They are a necessity of information which largely become outdated once a season begins, and this NFL season may be outdated before they are even printed, due to the fluctuations of budgets. Slowly and steadily teams have produced more interactive and updatable online versions of such behemoths, which with a little tech savvyness can become invaluable to the media, even more so that printed guides of the past. Now the need for having some printed materials should never be totally done away…there are people who do not carry laptops and need printed books for reference, and sometimes being able to search manually can outdo an online search for those who know the material…the day of printed guides being the rule more than the exception may be going away. Even sponsor ads, which used to offset costs, can be more vibrant and even useful in an online publication these days, all at a fraction of the cost.
The 24/7 world we live in today will get a great test for the media in the craziness of the weeks to come for the NFL. Rosters will flip, players will come and go like never before, and the struggle to complete a printed media guide that is efficient and fully usable will be challenged like never before. The challenge will lend its way to more technology, and although no teams will toss all their printed books in the garbage, the need for the printed media guide this year for gridiron media will be less than ever before, and maybe will mark the beginning of the end of the printed media guide in football at some point sooner than expected.
