Playmakers

In recent decades, the NFL has simultaneously become an athletic, financial, and cultural powerhouse-and a League that can't seem to go more than a few weeks without a scandal. Whether it's about domestic violence, performance-enhancing drugs, racism, or head trauma, the NFL always seems to be in some kind of trouble. Yet no matter the drama, the TV networks keep showing games, the revenue keeps rising, and the viewers keep tuning in.

How can a sports league-or any organization-opera ...