In 2000, only five NFL teams stayed in their own practice facility for the rigors of preseason training camp, this year with the New York Giants returning to the newly-named Quest Diagnostics facility and the Philadelphia Eagles leaving Lehigh University for the Nova Care Center in South Philly, 19 of the 30 NFL clubs will stay home for the summer. The Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens have also done the same. Given the investment teams make in building facilities, the cost associated with travel, and the ability to showcase their players and their brand in front of hometown fans who don’t need to travel hundreds, if not thousands of miles, to see their favorite players early on, the idea of staying home seems like one that is smarter and smarter for both the on and off field growth of an NFL team.
Ironically one of the teams that traditionally stayed home years ago was the Jets, who trained year round at Hofstra University on Long Island. The team was one of the first to open training camp to its fans, and in doing so helped build long-standing credibility with its core and casual fans who would turn out in droves to see their favorite players. It was only in the last 10 or 15 years or so, since the teams full migration to New Jersey, that the team went on the road for training camp, which is now held in Cortland, New York. Originally the idea made great sense, as the teams new training facility, the Atlantic Health Care Facility in Florham Park, was not yet finished. Now however, with a gleaming new facility, one of the best in professional sports, it makes sense for the Jets to join the Giants and stay home for the summer.
Why? It makes great business sense. Teams are all about year-round routine, and keeping players and staff together in a first class environment that the team has invested millions in helps strengthen ties to the community and to each other. Even with the best of college facilities and the ability to physically transport thousands of pounds of equipment from New Jersey to Cortland, the experience is still not 100 percent the same. The idea of “getting away” to focus on training camp in an era where social media rules, and players are not used to such isolation is quickly passing by…no one can really hide any more, and the creature comforts the teams take to make their facilities best in show make staying home more of a natural these days than ever before.
Then there’s the off-field question of ROI. Teams are doing everything possible to hold on to and cultivate brand and fan relationships in times that are still somewhat challenging for the discretionary dollar. Moving a team hundreds of miles away, which limits access and in some ways keeps the team a bit out of mind of the consumer and the team’s core brands, can slow growth and affinity with the team at a time when access is probably greater than at any other time of the year. Granted most major media will travel wherever a team trains, but keeping the team closer to home does ensure even more consistent coverage, which re-building teams like the Jets covet. On the brand side, a company like Atlantic Health Care has spent a good amount of money associating itself with the jets brand, and to have SUNY-Cortland in the press vs. their name during the preseason is a bit of a disconnect. Other brands who would love more activation with the team and its thousands of fans who still go to training camp in upstate New York would also probably do more should the jets, like the Giants and Eagles, now stay home for camp.
Yes there is some perceived value to getting away for the three weeks. It may help grow the team brand away from its core and it certainly pouts dollars back into the small town where the teams go. However for the long run, from a business and player development standpoint, the trend of not travelling for training camp is a growing one, and one which the Jets, when their deal with SUNY-Cortland ends, is one that should be strongly considered. There is no place like home, especially with the billion dollar investment of an NFL team.
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