Microsoft Paid NFL $400 Million To Use Surface, But Announcers Call Them iPads

mpicpp sends this news from Business Insider: Prior to the season, Microsoft and the NFL struck a 5-year, $400 million deal with one of the major components being that the Microsoft Surface would become "the official tablet of the NFL," with coaches and players using the Surface on the sidelines during games. But Microsoft and the league ran into a problem during week one of the season when at least two television announcers mistakenly referred to the tablets as iPads, giving a huge rival some unexpected exposure. The biggest blunder for the league came during the nationally televised Monday Night Football game when ESPN's Trent Dilfer joked about how long it took Cardinals assistant head coach Tom Moore to "learn how to use the iPad to scroll through the pictures." In a separate incident, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints was spotted by Fox commentator John Lynch using a Surface on the sideline. Lynch remarked that Brees was "not watching movies on his iPad.

Comments

How much!

[MrL0G1C]

Am I the only person here who thinks MS are nuts for having paid so much for a product placement. Surely $400,000,000 could have been better spent through other advertising methods. $400m seems like at least 10x too much.

They expected that product placement would lead to millions of extra sales of an expensive item!!!

Re:How much!

[nine-times]

Yeah, I'd be suspicious that Microsoft could buy $400 million worth of Surface tablets from themselves and hand them out on the street, and it would increase adoption more than this deal will.

Or, Apple could be fearful of comoditization

[Albanach]

The last thing Apple wants is for any tablet to be identified as and referred to as an iPad. For their laptops, you get the huge light up apple logo to make sure everyone looking at you knows just what you're using.

The last thing Apple's marketing office will want is for anyone who sees a tablet to refer to it as an iPad. I don't see the name become generic at any point soon, but it's a big fear of many companies. With Apple so reliant on branding and recognition I'd expect them to be more concerned than most.

Re:$400 million

[OzPeter]

Take a moment to think about that.

If you think all that is bad, then consider that the NFL is a non-profit organization. Should the NFL continue to enjoy non-profit status?

Microsoft didn't pay the messengers

[SethJohnson]

Most commenters here and elsewhere assume these references to a competing product were accidental. I believe they were likely intentional. The $400m paid to the NFL did not include any money paid to the broadcast corporations. They're sitting there wondering why they should help the NFL promote something while at the same time having to pay the NFL similarly-sized piles of cash.

I think these carefully-executed comments were an intentional message to Microsoft that their promotional budget is better spent with them on commercials rather than trying to embed them in the content without paying the broadcasters.

Re:To be fair...

[Talderas]

They say you can't carry liquids on a plane..... try carrying on a bottle of ice.

Re:Hahahaha

[i kan reed]

Wait. You run with a crowd nerdy enough to regularly attend star parties, but none of them are nerdy enough to recognize an operating system?

Re:football can cause brain damage

[AmiMoJo]

I bet Apple does though. The last thing they want is "iPad" becoming so generic they lose the trademark, like hoover or cellophane or escalator or sellotape.

Re:football can cause brain damage

[Archangel Michael]

For Apple, the genericization of the term iPad is a double-edged sword. It waters down the trademark, while at the same time pointing everyone back to the source. It is one of the reasons I believe AppleWatch is not an iWatch. In fact, the whole "i-Thingy" is probably dead now. As for the NFL and Surface, that is gonna be a long term problem. The term "Surface" is an actual word, used beyond computers. It is really a dumb name to use for trademarked device.

And a Surface is nothing more than a crappy overpriced under performing laptop that wants to be a tablet. Either that, or an expensive Tablet that also wants to be a laptop. You need a laptop, you'll buy a full laptop for less than the cost of a Surface, and have a better machine. AND if you need a tablet, you buy tablet for less than a Surface. And if you need both, you get both, and use them both.