Picture this... It's Friday afternoon and practice just wrapped up for the day. You walk into the locker room and see the Friday Challenge sign is out. You know what that means... kinda. There's no knowing what's in store behind the door, but whatever it is, it's probably going to be off the wall.
This project is made up of two different components, the challenge itself, and the edits that we present to fans. The in-person event is key because it needs to be able to create funny moments and get guys to excited to come back. The edit then needs to take those moments and shape it in a way that’s consumable for fans. Having those things working together is key.
This series was launched in 2021 when our content had to adhere to the constraints of the NFL’s rules around the pandemic. We looked at it as a unique way to engage with our players from a distance. There was no formal introduction of this content series, we just put up a couple of signs leading players to the room and let their curiosity handle the rest. Since then, it’s evolved into a unique opportunity to test the wits our athletes in a setting that’s very different from being on a football field. Each week we try to create something new and unique that players won’t see coming.
Friday Challenge has been able to build a reputation within the facility for being off the wall and something that’s fun to participate in. We never push our players to participate, and we never hint at what’s coming next. We let our players lead the charge on getting more guys to join in. This organic aspect is something that I think not only the players appreciate, but the fans as well. By making it something that players want to do instead of have to do really changes the dynamic of the content itself.
We consciously choose to set this up in the secondary locker room, because having it near where players will already be removes even the slightest hesitation that might come with having to walk to a location farther away. We also do this on Friday afternoons, because at that point the “hay is in the barn” and the majority of meetings and practices are done for the week, so players tend to be in a much more laidback mood and therefore more eager to participate in something slightly strange.
This is content that’s formatted for a variety of different platforms and gives us an opportunity to reach a variety of fans regardless of where they consume their content.
In addition to fans, there’s something to be said about the player engagement on the front end as well. This is a content piece that’s entirely driven by player participation and to have 30 guys on the team voluntarily participate is something extremely unique to this content. This isn’t just a camera that guys talk to on their way past, this is a full-blown challenge that players know will take time to solve. If you work in sports, you know that kind of voluntary participation is very uncommon and a testament to the content itself.
The Setup
Each week I brainstorm some sort of task that I want players to try and complete (i.e. opening a safe). From there I walk things back step by step to provide unique twists and turns. For instance, maybe I’ll hide the safe, so that initially players won’t even know what they’re looking for. In order to find that safe, I’ll put a doorbell buzzer inside it and then I look for where to hide the doorbell, and then I continue down that path… I do this until I reach what seems like a logical starting point.
As I’m going through each step of the challenge, I need to make sure it’s something that someone could reasonably figure out without any help. If no one can solve the challenge, what’s the point. For each juncture in the challenge, I also try to provide multiple solutions to better the odds of players reaching the end.
Every detail needs to be stripped back so players can focus on what’s important in the challenge and not get hung up on anything that has no vital role in the challenge.
After the room is setup, I leave it to the players uninterrupted
The Details
- Over 30 different players participated throughout the season
- 2.5 million views on TikTok
- Only $1,170 total dollars spent across 6 episodes
This project reinforces to players that our content isn’t just about utilizing them for their likeness. We want to provide opportunities that are just as fun for players to participate in as they are for fans to watch, and I think that goes a long way.