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Category
Integrated / Omnichannel Campaign
Annual ID
OS26_BS042M
Background
In 2024, EA Sports relaunched their college football video game franchise for the first time in a decade. The game was popular throughout the 2000s but by the mid 2010s, they were no longer allowed to use real college athletes in the game, causing the franchise to be killed. But the advent of NIL allowed the game to return. Shortly after relaunch, EA Sports College Football 25 became the best selling sports video game of all time in the US.
Fanatics is the leading sports apparel and memorabilia brand in the US. Fans look to Fanatics to purchase everything from their favorite team’s jersey to autographed items from their favorite players. Given this, the brand is naturally placed to play in the NIL space in a unique way.
Fanatics is the leading sports apparel and memorabilia brand in the US. Fans look to Fanatics to purchase everything from their favorite team’s jersey to autographed items from their favorite players. Given this, the brand is naturally placed to play in the NIL space in a unique way.
Creative Idea
We found a way to get college football fans in on the NIL action. We gave the first ever real NIL deals to virtual athletes. Players created by fans, now signed by Fanatics.
Insights & Strategy
Fanatics wanted to gain relevancy with college football fans. NIL deals were dominating conversation in the sport, but only athletes can get them. Fanatics is about the fan, & while fans can’t play on the field, they can play in the video game EA Sports College Football 25. In fact, millions were creating themselves as virtual athletes in the game.
Execution
Fans first experienced the campaign on streaming superstar Sketch’s Twitch channel. Sketch had been streaming with his own virtual athlete, Sari Fercussin, who had become popular with his followers. We chose to launch the campaign by giving the first NIL deal to Sari, leaning into a character fans already knew and loved. Then, we created an integrated marketing campaign around Sari, as if he were a real world star. We made him his own jersey, 1/1 Topps trading card, digital commercial, and even a billboard that ran in his player’s college town. The campaign elements were shared on Sketch’s and Fanatic’s social media channels & fans were asked to submit their virtual athlete’s highlights for a chance to get an NIL deal of their own. In the end, we awarded six virtual athlete NIL deals in total.
Results
The campaign gave ~5M virtual athletes NIL opportunities. It attracted 2M new fans to Fanatics on social media, including about 1.8M who didn’t follow Fanatics before the campaign. We also turned virtual athletes into legit stars. When our first virtual athlete’s trading card was announced, fans started bartering for it with some offering more than $5,000 for it.
2026 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Brand-Side / In-House Agency
Fanatics / New York City
Chief Creative Officer
Adam Lock
Copywriter
Brandon Davis
Kamri Goff
Group Creative Director
Harry Barron
Todd Bradley
Designer
Joe Chong
Editor
Jack Radutzky
Strategist
Olivia Mittleman
Strategy Director
Lindsay Faulkner
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