The Motivation Behind Change in Professional Sports

It's been a rough week for the NFL.

While the NFL slogged though the mess that resulted from the video showing Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his wife in an elevator, details came out exposing injuries to the four year old son of Adrian Peterson, at least some of which, if not all, were caused by him.

It took just hours after both of these incidents first broke for them to spread around the internet like wildfire, and as it typical for the internet, opinions are divided. While most people familiar with the story have condemned Ray Rice for committing domestic abuse, opinions are a little more divided on the issue of whether Peterson was simply disciplining his child or if what he did constitutes child abuse.

The reaction from the NFL was swift. Rice has been cut from the Ravens, and the NFL has since hired three female consultants to examine domestic abuse and its prevalence among NFL players. Peterson was suspended for this past weekend's game, and could face further suspension once all the details are gathered. In response to both incidents, the NFL promoted Anna Isaacson, the league's vice president of community affairs and philanthropy, to the newly created vice president of social responsibility position.

At first glance, these responses appear to be driven by social pressure, and the NFL is more than happy to let people think that is why these changes were made. In reality, it likely has more to do with the reason players don pink cleats and gloves in October.

HINT: It isn't because they care about finding a cure for cancer. 

If the knowledge that the NFL only donates 10% of every dollar raised by their pink campaign to actual cancer research isn't enough to convince you of that, then how about the knowledge that the NFL's most targeted demographic is women? New data shows that women make up 45% of the league's fan base, which adds a whole new level of importance in how the NFL is seen to be handling these issues, specifically the Ray Rice issue.

For some feminine groups, Ray Rice being punished is not enough. Though players in the NFL have been found guilty of domestic violence before, this case is different because of the undeniable truth of the internet regarding videos. Everything is worse in video than in print. Don't believe me? Read the details about an accident on the highway and then watch a video of the incident and tell me what is more shocking. Before TMZ leaked the video from the elevator, this issue was relatively small in coverage, and had it not surfaced, this media firestorm would likely not have happened. However, since the video has circulated, activist groups and members of the general public will not give up until heads roll, specifically that of commissioner Roger Goodell.

So will he step down?

Likely, no. And I don't think he should. It is obvious that the NFL was aware of details of the case before the public was, including the video showing Rice punching his fiance. So yes, a cover up was orchestrated, very poorly, but orchestrated nonetheless. So a valid point could be made that Goodell has very questionable morals, and you could say (and plenty have) that he is a bad person for what he did. That's fine, I won't disagree with you. However the point that no one wants to take into consideration is that the NFL is, above all, a BUSINESS. They are a for profit entity, and profits are good. So while the NFL is willing to make "amends" for the wrongs of its players, it has to put more thought into the state of its commissioner. Goodell has brought the NFL some of its most lucrative media contracts in his tenure, and the league has experience nothing but growth as of late, so the likelihood of him being forced to step down is very low.

The biggest fallacy in the general public right now is that the NFL "needs" to do this, or "needs" to do that because of how it makes an individual feel. The NFL does not exist to make you feel good, it exists to entertain people and thus gain their disposable income. The NFL employs PLENTY of athletes who are better football players than people. I'm not saying it is right, or wrong, I'm just saying how it is.

Now I want to make it clear that I don't support or condone anything that Ray Rice has done. That should go without saying but this way no one has to assume I support domestic abuse. As far as the Peterson case goes, I think there is a line that was crossed in the disciplining of a child in a method that I would normally support, and in going past that point, Peterson caused significant damage to his child, and I obviously object to that. But both of these cases are not as cut and dry as people would like to make it.

Now I understand how easy it is to jump on the social change bandwagon. It's how the internet generation handles problems. Don't like something someone has done? Shame them on social media. But this is an instance where the mob mentality is not going to prevail and get everything they want. The NFL is perfectly willing to lose Adrian Peterson or Ray Rice to this, but it will not give up on the one principle it holds most dear; making ALOT of money. And if that's not something you support, then your only real option is to resist and boycott the league. After all, we all just represent dollar signs to them. I'm a dollar sign, you're a dollar sign, hundreds of thousands of new dollar signs are born every day. That doesn't change because of the poor judgement of a handful of NFL players.

That is capitalism at its finest.