NFL is teaming with Cirque du Soleil to draw new fans

By Ken Belson, New York Times News Service

Thursday, June 23, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Cirque du Soleil, known for breathtaking acrobatics, and the NFL, known for bone-crushing hits, are joining forces in the latest iteration of the sports world’s race for young and international fans. Together, they will open an interactive exhibit and theater in the heart of New York next year.

It may seem an odd pairing, but the two sides say their partnership makes business sense. Cirque gets to align with the country’s most popular sports league, and the NFL, battling bad publicity over concussions, domestic violence and other issues, is uniting with a popular, uncontroversial entertainment brand with a broad, international following.

The as-yet-unnamed showcase, which will include an interactive theater and digital exhibits, is expected to open in November 2017 on the first four floors of a tower being built at the north end of Times Square, at Seventh Avenue and 47th Street.

Cirque du Soleil will spend about $40 million to build the 40,000-square-foot space and pay a licensing fee to the NFL, which will provide memorabilia and access to the NFL Films library. The profits will be shared by both sides.

For a league as popular as the NFL, trolling for new fans in Times Square, home to the Naked Cowboy, roaming cartoon mascots and wax dummies, may seem unnecessary. But many of those visitors are not obvious football fans or are from abroad, and the NFL has stepped up its effort to attract fans overseas.

“Anything they can do to build the brand and take the tension away from any of the negativity around the brand is a positive,” said Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing expert at Baker Street Advertising in San Francisco. “They can get in front of an audience who might not be NFL fans but Cirque fans, and it can bring in more younger fans without having to have them play peewee football and getting a concussion.”

Cirque du Soleil has staged events at the Super Bowl. This time, the NFL and Cirque envision a permanent exhibition that appeals to avid fans eager to see historical displays and in-depth exhibits as well as more casual fans who may never have attended a game.

“This attraction is both a simulation of what it’s like to go to a live game for 20 minutes and an exhibition,” said Dawn Hudson, the NFL’s chief marketing officer. “There will be something for everyone.”

The partnership with Cirque du Soleil will borrow from the NFL Experience, a family-friendly carnival of football that the league produces at the Super Bowl, the draft and other events. But as a permanent fixture, it will also include digital displays and a state-of-the-art theater that will recreate what it is like to be on the sideline during a game.

The NFL is not the first league to try to engage new and younger fans and international audiences on nongame days. For four years, Major League Baseball operated a Fan Cave in Manhattan that was designed to be a kind of living room where hard-core fans watched games and used social media. It also became a promotional hub for current and retired players, who regularly visited.

The NBA has operated a retail store in New York since 1998 with interactive elements and an event space for player appearances. The league has also opened the NBA Playzone in Manila and Shanghai with jungle gyms, an obstacle course and a dunk zone. Another store is planned for Qatar, and an interactive exhibit is being developed at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

For Cirque du Soleil, working with the NFL on its first nontheatrical endeavor is a way to expand its presence in the sports world, where it has put on shows at All-Star games and other marquee events and works with sports federations. (Half of the company’s performers are former Olympic athletes.)

“It’s new for us,” said Daniel Lamarre, the chief executive of Cirque du Soleil. “We try to push the boundaries of new technology in live entertainment.”

Lamarre said the entry price would be “affordable” and comparable to the cost of visiting the observatory at the Empire State Building, or about $30. Market research with fans, he said, was positive.