OVERVIEW
NFL Schedule Release is the content team's version of the Super Bowl. Each May, release concepts vie for the headlines, share of the internet and post-mortem rankings.
Each year, the Falcons and NFL bring a new challenge on how to integrate the upcoming slate of games in a way that will engage fans, create conversation and "win the internet". The task is a significant one. It takes many months of planning, many hands on deck, all working in the background to make any level of project come to life.
As the season begins to wind down, clubs will get into "offseason mode". While that can seem as though that means "time off mode", for NFL clubs it means how to prepare for the March-May timeframe of Free Agency, Draft and Schedule Release - in what feels like a mad dash of tentpole moments for the organization and the city.
As the Falcons organization came together to discuss ideas, we had the inclination of tapping into video game nostalgia in some way. That discussion led us to the ever-adored game NFL Street. But how were we going to make this come to life? How could we create a fully-fledged video game in just a few short months? Enter Project XIV, led by two gentlemen overseas in the UK: Antek & Ellis.
This group had a proven track record of working with sports conglomerates and teams alike and jumped in head first with the Falcons Schedule Release Task Force. The Falcons Social Media Team led the way with scripting out just how to fit in 18 games, 15 teams, and keep folks engaged throughout however long the duration of the video may be. The task force met weekly for three plus months to track the project and made adjustments on the fly. As the club received the full 2024 schedule, 24 hours before it was made public, the team stepped into action and shared what became one of the best-regarded social media/schedule release videos in recent memory.
In total, the ATL Streets video garnered over 6 million video views and was lauded by national pundits from ESPN, to Awful Announcing, to Bleacher Report. The video was a "must-watch."
THE STRATEGY
Goals
- Create discussion around the Falcons matchups, opponents
- Resonate with fans of the team, but also sports and the internet
- Produce content that drives earned media both in linear and online
- Think of sharability and re-watchability
Technical
- Unreal Engine 5
- Cinema 4D
- Substance Painter
- Marvelous Designer
- Zbrush
- 3ds Max
- Maya
- Blender
- Rizom
- Adobe Creative Suite
THE PROCESS
ATL Streets took approximately xxx hours and weeks to create into the final 2:37 final product
Promo of the concept began the day of, by sending players and characters a "character selction" edit. A version of something a video gamer would see on any menu for a game. These videos, shared across social, created buzz and proved a successful holistic approach to the final video
THE VIDEOS
ATL Streets: FULL Length
The first run through video of Project XIV
Misc. images from the timeline of production
MEDIA Response
- USA Today: "NFL Street was such an epic game, and the Falcons got so many good disses"
- Sports Illustrated: "Grab some Mountain Dew, Doritos and the PlayStation 2 controller. It's time for some NFL Street."
- Awful Announcing: "The Falcons took it to the streets. Literally, with ATL Streets Vol. 24. Some of the reveals were better than others, of course. The Saints becoming the Aint’s with Kirk Cousins’ famed, “You Like That” replacing “Who Dat” was strong. Even better was the downed Dallas Cowboys fan saying, “Go Lakers. There were also good homages to great moments of the team’s past, like Michael Vick’s overtime touchdown run against the Minnesota Vikings and Deion Sanders, now Coach Prime, being the best coach in the state of Colorado."
- The Score:"Few teams were more creative than the Falcons, who stole headlines for paying tribute to the iconic video game NFL Street as part of the team's schedule drop"
- Barstool Sports:"Ughhh, watching this brought me back to my childhood man. NFL street was such an iconic game and a staple in every kids childhood. I don't know why they haven't brought it back yet. Madden is the biggest piece of dog shit to ever exist. There's no reason why they shouldn't bring this game back and give us fans a football game that's ACTUALLY enjoyable to play."
- ESPN: "The Falcons using the NFL Street theme makes the early frontrunners for best schedule release (via IG/bijan_robinson). Also, bring back NFL Street!!"
- NFL Fashion: "Where can I place Schedule Release winner futures? Because I'm about to bet the house on the Falcons."
- Bleacher Report: "The Falcons' video did make some fans nostalgic for NFL Street."
- CBS Sports: "The Falcons used the video game "NFL Street" to release their schedule, and nailed it. Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts juked, stiff-armed and ran over opponents as the order was revealed. Solid references and shade to the teams were sprinkled throughout the video, including a Cowboys fan yelling "Go Lakers," not-so-subtly calling them bandwagon fans. And, of course, they had an animated Cousins wearing a chain and surrounded by fire. The post had nostalgia, great animations and funny digs at their opponents, which is a recipe for a solid reveal video."
- Sporting News: The Falcons brought back classic video game NFL Street for their reveal, and they nailed it. An animated Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts ran all over opposing teams in a throwback to the beloved street football game, revealing Atlanta's schedule in the process. Not a single player or actor was used, so credit goes to the animation team behind the video. What truly made it an upper-tier video were the hilarious references planted throughout the clip. When Pitts jukes out a Cowboys fan, the fan yells "Go Lakers!" Yes, that's a not-so-subtle way of calling Cowboys fans bandwagoners. Unlike most teams the Falcons actually reveal the schedule throughout the video. There is no waiting. No seconds are wasted, and that makes it a must-watch.
RESULTS
- Instagram Reels: 3.1 million video views
- Instagram Impressions: 1.9 million impressions
- Instagram Engagements: 115,000 engagements
- Facebook Total Watch Time: 3m 12d 17h
- Facebook Interactions: 346,400 interactions
- Facebook Engagement Rate: 5.04%
- Twitter/X: 2.2 million video views
- Twitter/X Interactions: 9.1k interactions
- Twitter/X Impressions: 2.1M impressions
- TikTok Engagement Rate: 12.67%
- TikTok Engagements: 80k video views
- YouTube: 1,706 hours watch time
- YouTube: 61.7k video views
- Total Video Views (Falcons Platforms): 6 million
- Post Valuation: $182,000 (via Blinkfire)