OVERVIEW
How do you top a 2023 season filled with viral aerial stunt moments? Set a world record!
Last season, the Atlanta Falcons became known for their aerial stunts with Freddie Falcon and hip-hop artist Ludacris combining for four stunts totaling 50 million video views through a combination of ziplines and rappelling performances from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium roof. In order to raise the roof on these nerve-racking stunts, the Falcons aimed for Guinness World Records.
Prior to the team's Week 1 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Guinness World Records team came to Atlanta for official measurement of Freddie Falcon's attempt at the highest indoor rope swing drop. The Falcons captured the moment via behind-the scenes video as the mascot walked through the stadium catwalk, leaping from a beam underneath the video board. In addition, the stunt was filmed with 360 camera that Freddie held throughout the stunt.
The record became official at 143 feet, 5.25 inches.
Then, the stadium filled with Falcons fans and Freddie Falcon did an encore performance for the new audience, duplicating the world-record leap and setting social media on fire. The single post garnered 48.9 million video views on Instagram alone, nearly matching the total of all four stunts from the 2023 season across all social platforms. With 2.7 million engagements on Instagram, it became the most engaging post across any platform in the history of the Atlanta Falcons social accounts. It's also the most viewed and most engaging post by the NFL or any club on Instagram during the 2024 season.
While Instagram was the platform that went particularly viral, the video also garnered 1 million engagements on Facebook, the highest for any NFL team during the 2024 calendar year, surpassing all of the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory content that year. In addition, the video received 21 million video views on Facebook. On X/Twitter, the video had 4 million video views, the most for the Falcons X/Twitter account during the 2024 calendar year.
Including re-shares by other social accounts, the single video had a post valuation of $1.3 million. The valuation is particularly important as the stunts for the 2024 season were sponsored by Crocs as Freddie dawned the custom footwear that showed up front-and-center in the video.
What will Freddie do next in 2025?
THE STRATEGY
- Build upon success of 2023 stunts, furthering the Falcons leadership in in-game entertainment
- Use Guinness World Records platform to expand reach
- Collab with Freddie Falcon, NFL, and Guinness World Records to target expanded audience
- Showcase Mercedes-Benz Stadium as a unique and best-in-class facility
- Appeal to non-traditional football fans by going beyond the game
- Appeal to non-football audience
- Use a 360 camera to allow for reframing throughout the video and stabilization
- Allow for earned media around the video and stunt
- Showcase the sponsor, Crocs, throughout the content to maximize visibility
THE PROCESS
The Falcons game entertainment team reached out to Guinness World Records during the offseason after identifying the possibility of besting the previous record for "highest indoor rope swing drop." After setting up the stunt time and location, an official measurement team was enlisted to record the exact height of the drop, and an official from Guinness World Records flew to Atlanta to commemorate the occasion.
THE VIDEOS
The behind-the-scenes video provided a more technical view of the stunt and what went into the record-setting moment.
After Freddie's record-setting fame, Kaylee Hartung of the TODAY Show and Prime Video performed a zipline stunt just two weeks later. The video was featured on the TODAY Show as well as during the Falcons' Thursday Night Football broadcast.
RESULTS
- Instagram Reels: 48.9 million video views
- Instagram Engagements: 2.7 million engagements
- Facebook: 21 million video views
- Facebook Interactions: 1 million engagements
- Twitter/X: 4 million video views
- Twitter/X Interactions: 32,700 interactions
- TikTok: 7.2 million video views
- TikTok Engagements: 325,900 engagements
- Total Video Views (Falcons Platforms): 81.1 million
- Post Valuation: $1.3 million (via blinkfire)
- Shared Across Other Accounts (total): 73.4 million views