LIVE SPORTS EVENT ACTIVATION
SCAD PROJECT (2025)
MADDEN LIVE
Planned as an extension of the NFL Madden Mobile app, this activation turns (American) football fans into quarterbacks during halftime, using stadium digital signage to bring live audiences into the game.
A GAME BUILT FOR BROADCAST
The average NFL match lasts over 3 hours, but only has 15 minutes of on-field action. From its inception, the tournament has been optimized for the rhythm of television, where roughly 50 minutes of commercial breaks alternate with replays and commentary, creating a joint commercial-storytelling spectacle. Inside the stadium, while digital signage lets the advertisements live on, these pauses often feel too long, since the narrative doesn't continue.
KEY QUESTION
How to reclaim timeouts in order to keep live audiences engaged?
INSIGHT
For digital-native audiences, participation isn't a feature, but a default expectation: they chat on livestreams, vote on broadcasts, and comment and like posts. Therefore, additional spectacles that pile onto the game itself don't classify as reclaiming lost time. Instead, an opportunity must be given for the crowd to actually interact with their environment.
OPPORTUNITY
Once a year, the Super Bowl hosts the most famous halftime show of any sport in the world, but what about the halftimes of the other 284 games in an NFL season? The idea is to leverage the existing screen infrastructure inside NFL stadiums, in partnership with EA Sport's Madden Mobile app, to turn halftime into playtime - for the fans.
THE SOLUTION
Madden Live is a new gameplay mode inside the existing NFL Madden Mobile app that's unlocked for fans who enter the stadium on match day. Using their phone as a controller, the audience can aim at moving targets on the stadium's big screens, throw passes as a quarterback, and compete against each other for prizes.
HOW IT WORKS
Create AWARENESS before the game starts, prompting the audience to download Madden Mobile
Let the audience DISCOVER the A.R. LIVE gaming mode during the first half
When halftime arrives, look for the receivers on the big screen and PLAY along
ANIMATION EXAMPLE FOR HALO SCREEN
THE RESULTS
By the end of each game, a leaderboard is displayed and the top scorers are rewarded with prizes such as team merchandising and NFL Madden currency.
Beyond the interaction, Madden Live transforms halftime from logistical downtime into an interactive ritual. It increases engagement with live crowds, drives Madden Mobile downloads, and extends NFL's digital ecosystem into a collective, physical space.
