Tide and NFL team up to do 176,000 pounds of laundry a week

The NFL draft starts tonight but the National Football League has already made its No. 1 pick—Tide laundry detergent. Tide is now the "Official Laundry Detergent of the NFL" and all 32 of its teams after the signing of a multi-year deal by the league and Procter & Gamble. It couldn't be a better match-up—Tide is also a top pick in Consumer Reports' tests of laundry detergents.

Procter & Gamble decided to make the play after research showed that many NFL teams already used Tide to clean their uniforms and workout gear. "The NFL is the ultimate test for a laundry detergent and we're proud that our brand is one the equipment managers trust to keep uniforms clean," said Sundar Raman, P&G's North America Fabric Care Marketing Director in a statement.

NFL teams clean more laundry in one week than the average American household does in two years, according to P&G. An average team can clean more than 5,500 pounds of laundry a week, compared to the average household, which does 41.5 pounds.

In our tough laundry detergent tests, Tide has tackled such stains as ring around the collar, grass, blood, tea, chocolate and clay with impressive results. In our tests of detergents for front- or high-efficiency top-loaders, Tide products took first, second, fourth and sixth place. And in tests of detergents for standard top loaders, Tide products ranked second, third and fifth. Only Tide Plus a Touch of Downy was second string, coming in at No. 12.

Expect to see the NFL logo appearing on Tide packaging before the regular season begins in September. Consumer Reports will be updating its laundry detergent Ratings well before kickoff.

—Mary H.J. Farrell