Super Bowl LVI is right around the corner with the LA Rams and the Cincinnati Bangals
vying for the biggest prize in professional football.
We here at Chrono24 are sports fans in addition to watch fans, so we thought it would be fun
to find common ground between the two passions.
Just as professional sports teams are forever locked into an arms race for key players and
championships, so to do watch brands battle it out for press coverage, popular releases,
and market share.
With that in mind, let’s take a quick and light-hearted look at how NFL teams compare
to the watch brands we know and love (or hate!).
When I think of the Buffalo Bills, I think of Breitling, and I’ll tell you why.
The Bills have been on the up and up the past few years thanks in large part to young talent
like their star quarterback Josh Allen.
Likewise, Breitling has seen their own resurgence under the leadership of Georges Kern, who
has a reputation for reviving downward brands.
The Bills are known as one of the unluckiest teams in the NFL, losing four super bowls
in the 1980s.
Breitling had similar close calls with bankruptcy during the quartz crisis in the late 1970s,
and the brand image has struggled a bit in the last decade as consumer preferences swing
away from the large case sizes that make up much of Breitling’s lineup.
Breitling is also known for making straightforward tool watches, particularly for pilots.
This pairs well with the historically blue-collar crowd from Buffalo.
The “Bills Mafia” as we know them now has become internet famous for their high-flying
antics at pre-game cookouts, slamming their bodies through cheap plastic tables like they’re
in a professional wrestling battle royale (it’s worth a search on YouTube if you’d
like to see it for yourself).
So while this ravenous crowd may not be pilots, they sure do reach high altitudes on their
own.
The Green Bay Packers are one of the most storied franchises in professional football
with many hall of fame players, historic coaches, and championships to their name.
The Packers are also unique in that the fans can own stock in the team, becoming even more
invested than the average football fan.
You can draw a comparison here to the legendary Audemars Piguet who remain independent and
family owned even after a long history in the top tier of horological brands.
When we look at the factors driving the success of these two organizations, we see further
similarities.
The Packers are largely reliant on their team leader and star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
This uneven dependence on one player as led to friction between Rodgers and the Packers
administration as he practically begs for the team to hire more offensive talent for
Rodgers to throw to.
What do the Packers do?
Instead of recruiting more receivers, the team hires a backup quarterback – essentially
the future replacement for the aging Rodgers.
With Audemars Piguet, it’s been a long-running joke among watch fans that the only model
worth paying attention to at AP is the Royal Oak.
This now famous watch has helped solidify AP’s status as a horological powerhouse,
but the brand has struggled to build excitement around any other watch in their lineup.
The CODE 11.59 was supposed to be the next big thing from the brand, but it has been
largely ignored, if not ridiculed, since its release.
The Dallas Cowboys are known as “America’s Team.”
The organization has a fancy new stadium, a huge and dedicated fanbase, and enough spending
power to attract high-caliber players like Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott.
That said, Cowboys fans seem to be caught in an annual cycle of optimism and disappointment.
The team has not had a Super Bowl win since the 1990s despite having all the necessary
tools at their disposal.
Doesn’t this sound a bit like Vacheron Constantin?
The brand has long been in the trilogy of top manufactures (alongside Patek Philippe
and Audemars Piguet).
But despite their rich history of watchmaking, the brand has not had anywhere near the traction
and enthusiasm that its competitors have.
VC does have hype-worthy watches like their underpriced Overseas and perpetual calendar
models, but for whatever reason, they lack the sex appeal of Patek, AP, or certainly
Rolex.
Perhaps the hottest team in the league for the past few years is the Kansas City Chiefs.
They’ve had a phenomenal 2021-2022 season, and they won the Super Bowl in 2020 thanks
to the leadership of their wunderkind quarterback Patrick Mahomes who can seemingly complete
any pass in any circumstance.
We can compare this to the meteoric rise of the Malaysian watch brand MING who has gone
from prototypes to sold out releases in only a few years.
The brand has made a name for itself though a razor sharp design language that’s recognizable
from across the room.
Whether you’re MING or Mahomes, it’s rare to see so much success so quickly.
Unlike some other teams on this list, Patrick Mahomes is not the sole reason for their team’s
success as he does have a talented offensive lineup to work with.
Likewise, MING has bolstered their surging popularity by collaborating with other upstart
brands like Massena LAB for even hotter releases and secondary market prices.
We’re going to Hollywood, baby!
With their recent move to Los Angeles, the Rams have become the favorite team of many
celebs, much like their NBA equivalent, the Los Angeles Lakers.
The high-powered offense is led by quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Odell Beckham
Jr.
Thanks to his natural athleticism and flashy style, “OBJ” has become a celebrity in
his own right, attending fancy parties, starring in commercials, and wearing high-priced watches
of course.
OBJ made headlines a few years ago for rocking one watch in particular during a game, a Richard
Mille 11-03 McLaren Flyback.
He is of course not the only celebrity to don the brand as seemingly anyone with a blue
check mark on social media has to have an RM.
The Rams are also led by their talented coach with a photographic memory, Sean McVay, who
is one of the youngest coaches in the league at only 36 years old.
In a short amount of time, the young players and coaches on the Rams have created a championship-level
team much like a young Richard Mille built his eponymous brand into an object of desire
around the world.
The Rams and Richard Mille thrive at the nexus of star power and technicality, and love them
or hate them, they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.