Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, 15 January 2015

CONTACT: Molly Haigh : 907-750-1999 : molly@fitzgibbonmedia.com or Brett Abrams : 516-841-1105 : brett@fitzgibbonmedia.com

SUNDAY: Women’s Group Flies #GoodellMustGo Banner Over AFC, NFC Championship Games

New Video Ad Slams Goodell for Repeatedly Mishandling NFL’s Violence Against Women Problem

** WATCH HERE: http://bit.ly/goodellmustgo **

On Sunday, January 18th, UltraViolet, a national women’s advocacy organization, will fly planes over the AFC and NFC championship games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA and CenturyLink Field in Seattle, WA with banners reading: @UltraViolet: #GoodellMustGo. In conjunction with the planes flying over the AFC and NFC Championship games – UltraViolet is releasing a new video ad that slams Goodell for repeatedly mishandling the NFL’s domestic violence problem under his tenure. The edgy new ad is part of a five-figure online ad buy and will appear on Sports Illustrated’s website SI.com.

VIEW THE AD HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0s2-WL4mqY

The planes, which have flown over other NFL games this year, are designed to call attention to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s mishandling of more than 55 domestic violence cases and explicitly call for Roger Goodell to step down.

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP — WHERE/WHEN**: The New England Patriots v. the Indianapolis Colts @ Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The plane will fly over the stadium for two hours before the start of the AFC Championship game set to begin at 6:40pm ET.

NFL CHAMPIONSHIP — WHERE/WHEN**: The Seattle Seahawks v. the Green Bay Packers @ CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington. The plane will fly over the stadium for two hours before the start of the NFC Championship game, set to begin at 12:05pm PT.

The protest comes after the National Football League released a report last week by former FBI Director Robert Mueller which confirmed that Roger Goodell and the NFL were derelict in their duty by taking no initiative to uncover the facts in the Ray Rice domestic abuse case – continuing the NFL’s track record of failing to prosecute cases of domestic violence by NFL players and employees. The report highlighted the need for additional scrutiny of the NFL’s prosecution and handling of domestic abuse cases.

“Under Goodell’s tenure, more than 55 cases of domestic abuse went unanswered and the latest charges of rape against Colts linebacker Josh McNary, who was set to play in the AFC Championship, underscore the need for action. Plain and simple – NFL has a domestic abuse problem, and it simply doesn’t have the leadership to fix it.” explained Shaunna Thomas, cofounder of UltraViolet. “It is clear that Roger Goodell’s NFL took no initiative to prosecute domestic abusers and protect their victims and it is clear that the NFL will not take domestic violence seriously until Roger Goodell is gone.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2015/01/08/mueller-report-five-takeaways-from-the-ray-rice-investigation/

Due to security concerns, no air traffic is allowed over the stadiums up to one hour prior to the start of the game.

For more information, or for interviews with UltraViolet, please contact Brett Abrams at 516-841-1105 or by email at brett@fitzgibbonmedia.com.

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UltraViolet is an online community of over 600,000 women and men who want to take collective action to expose and fight sexism in the public sector, private sector and the media. Find out more at WeAreUltraViolet.org