NFL · National Student Advertising Competition · 2026
1,200+
Research responses
3.7B
$10.4M
Media budget
12
Impressions
DMAs
The NFL runs some of the most powerful youth programs in the country. NFL PLAY 60, NFL FLAG, and Character Playbook all help kids build confidence, character, and a love of the game. The problem was that they lived in separate places with no shared voice. Our job was to bring them together under one campaign that could speak to casual fans, especially Latino families and women, at the same time.
The Brief
The Challenge
70%
of kids quit organized sports by age 13.
Youth sports participation is in crisis. Kids are walking away from the game, and the families who need it most are often the last to know support exists. The NFL had the tools to help. No one knew.
The Insight
The problem was never belief.
It was awareness.
Parents already trusted the NFL. When we tested it, most agreed the league supports youth development. The gap was not skepticism. Families simply did not know these programs existed, or that they were built for moments far bigger than the final score.
The Campaign
EYES UP
A reminder that the game teaches kids to look up. At their teammates. At their coaches. At the person they are becoming. Not just the scoreboard.
Moments are more than the clock.
Winning is more than scoring.
Character is more than the playbook.
The game is more than the game.
Who We Were Talking To
Three audiences.
Every placement aimed at one.
PLAYMAKERS
The mom. A casual fan and the primary household decision maker. She wants positive influences in her child's life but feels most options lack credibility or are too expensive. She needs assurance that what she signs up for will actually prepare her kids for the future.
ACHIEVERS
Naturally competitive kids who feel accomplished when they win. Girl achievers are often overlooked, making them apprehensive about joining new spaces or quitting at a young age. They take losses personally and need to be reminded to look at the bigger picture.
SOCIAL BUTTERFLIES
Kids who believe activities are about having fun and building friendships. They tune out when play turns into pressure. They need to see that the NFL is a place where connection comes first.
My Role
Media Planner
Team 706
I owned how and where Eyes Up reached families. Every DMA, every dollar, and every placement decision came through the media planning team.
→ Selected 12 DMAs and wrote the geographic rationale behind each market
→ Allocated $10.4M across channels based on audience behavior and KPI fit
→ Built a pulsing strategy timed to youth sports enrollment windows
→ Wrote the media rationale behind the placement in the plansbook
→ Designed the concept testing and evaluation framework
→ Contributed to audience research that produced 1,200+ data points
Our three KPIs
Before we chose a single channel, we defined what success looked like. Three KPIs shaped every decision in the media plan.
Every placement had a goal.
Educate
Most Playmakers had no idea the NFL ran programs beyond game day. This KPI was about closing that gap — making sure families knew what existed and what it was built to do.
Influence
Knowing the programs existed was not enough. Playmakers had reservations. This KPI was about shifting belief — positioning the NFL not just as a sports league but as a genuine partner in youth development.
Connect
Once families believed, they needed a path. This KPI was about turning attention into action — enrollment, microsite visits, and the kind of organic sharing that happens when a campaign actually moves someone.
The Plan In Action
Every channel chosen.
Every placement earned.
13 touchpoints, 12 markets. Every buy mapped to a KPI.
Connected TV
Playmakers live on streaming. We opened on the Roku home screen before they pressed play.
KPI : Influence
Audience : All, led by Playmakers
Impressions : 9.5M
Transit OOH
Full bus wraps across 12 markets. "Eyes Up" on the destination display, meeting families on their daily routes.
KPI : Educate + Influence
Audience : All
Impressions : 136.6M
Retail Partnership
A Nike Eyes Up Collection kids wanted to wear, with proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Club of America.
KPI : Connect + Influence
Audience : All
Impressions : 850M
Digital OOH
Lenticular boards ran two ads on one screen. One at kid height, one at parent height. Same environment, different message for whoever was standing there.
KPI : Influence
Audience : All
Impressions : 51M
Social media
Carousel posts and short-form video on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok reached the Playmaker in her daily scroll with content built around her kids.
KPI : Educate + Influence
Audience : Playmaker
Impressions : 197.6M
Murals - Ojos Arriba
Localized for Spanish-speaking markets. Each mural designed for the city it lived in — papel picado, local skylines, and a QR code built for sharing.
KPI : Connect
Audience : All
Impressions : 44.8M
Streaming
Toyota Passport to Play in three cities plus branded play spaces in five markets. Kids competed, parents enrolled.
KPI : Educate
Audience : All
Impressions : 120M
NFL FLAG Championships
Custom event fencing at the biggest youth sports event of the year, reaching families already immersed in the NFL ecosystem.
KPI : Educate + Influence
Audience : All
Impressions : 24M
OOH
From subway cars to highway billboards, Eyes Up ran across out of home in all 12 markets. When Playmakers drove their kids to school or rode the train, the message was already there.
KPI : Educate
Audience : All
Impressions : 392.6M combined
Experiential
Toyota Passport to Play in three cities plus branded play spaces in five markets. Kids competed and connected while the Playmaker learned and enrolled.
Anchor : Super Bowl LXI
KPI : All
Audience : All
Impressions : 24M
Banner ads in parenting communities found the Playmaker mid-search. 42% of parents turn to online forums for advice. We were there when she was looking.
KPI : Educate
Audience : Playmaker
Impressions : 24M
Microsite
Every QR code in the campaign led here. One destination for the Playmaker to explore programs, find upcoming events, and enroll her kids.
KPI : Connect
Audience : Playmaker
Impressions : 38M
Broadcast + Social — Four films. One Super Bowl.
Right Voice · Accidental Hero · Rewrite the Statistics · MVP Caliber — four films each built for a different persona and a different reason to believe, running across broadcast and social from kickoff through Super Bowl LXI. The Nickelodeon Wild Card game added an AR experience with Sandy Cheeks explaining every NFL youth program to kids watching live.
3.7B
Total impressions
Six channels, twelve markets. Every placement ladders into 3.7 billion impressions, pulsed to align with youth sports enrollment windows across the campaign flight.
Concept Testing
89%
of parents who saw the campaign believed the NFL encourages positive character and teaches transferable skills.
We did not just make work we liked. We tested it with nearly 100 Playmakers using real-time interactive surveys. 84% loved the overall message. 78% said they would be more likely to explore NFL youth programs. The campaign moved every belief it was designed to move.
The result
3rd
Place
Nationally · 2026 NSAC
Eyes Up placed 3rd in the nation at the 2026 National Student Advertising Competition, out of more than 100 university teams. For a campaign that started with one question about why kids walk away from sports, finishing top three in the country meant the strategy held up under the brightest lights, against the best student teams in the country.
I am proud of where the media plan took this work, and prouder of the team that built it with me.
Takeaway
The National Student Advertising Competition pushed me to think at a scale I hadn't before. Competing at the national level meant every decision had to be justified, every number had to be real, and every strategy had to connect back to a human truth. Eyes Up taught me that the best media plans don't just reach people, they move them. And that a single clear message, placed in the right moment, can change how an entire audience sees a brand.