Observed Signal · Jun 9, 2022 · Partnership · Source: CMSWire · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
NFL Says Yes to Metaverse Customer Experiences
The National Football League (NFL) is embracing metaverse-style customer experiences, according to Ian Trombetta, SVP of marketing, who says the metaverse has existed for decades via social media and gaming. At Forrester's CX North America conference, Trombetta described the league's focus on engaging fans under 35 with partnerships across Meta, Snapchat, Epic Games (Fortnite), Roblox, and EA's Madden, where fans can play as themselves. The NFL also offered NFTs as digital keepsakes to Super Bowl LVI attendees via Ticketmaster and is embedding Snapchat's camera kit in its app for stadium-targeted experiences. Forrester's Mike Proulx contends the actual metaverse does not exist yet and may not materialize until the 2030s, but he advises brands to test and learn with 'metaverse precursors' like extended reality. The NFL is targeting $25 billion in annual revenue by 2027.
Highlights a major sports brand's adoption of metaverse, social, and gaming platforms for fan engagement, signaling marketing budget shifts, but no direct AdTech platform change.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- NFL SVP Ian Trombetta said the metaverse has existed for decades through the convergence of social media and gaming.
- The NFL has partnerships with Meta, Snapchat, Epic Games, Roblox, and EA's Madden for fan engagement.
- Every Super Bowl LVI attendee received a customized NFT as a digital keepsake via Ticketmaster.
- The NFL will embed Snapchat's camera kit into its official app to deliver geographically targeted in-stadium experiences.
- Forrester research director Mike Proulx stated the metaverse does not exist yet and may not actualize until the 2030s.
Connected Companies & Entities
8 Entities mapped“Ian Trombetta and the National Football League (NFL) do. In fact, they say it’s been around for decades....”
“They’ve struck up partnerships with Meta and Snapchat and are finding new experiences to provide to fans....”
“Forrester reports the metaverse doesn’t exist outside of a 'few precursors.'...”
“They’ve struck up partnerships with Meta and Snapchat ... we'll have the Snapchat app camera kit embedded with our NFL app....”
“NFL’s got multiple gaming partnerships, including Epic, Fortnight, Roblox and EA’s Madden....”
“NFL’s got multiple gaming partnerships, including Epic, Fortnight, Roblox and EA’s Madden....”
“NFL teams are also working with partners like Ticketmaster and providing NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) as tickets to share with friends and fam...”
“According to eMarketer, 38% of people ages 55 and older spend more time watching content on cable than on any other platform....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
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