Tell us about your organization. How big is your team? Where are you based? What is your organization’s specialty in the film and video space?
Livewire is a global gaming marketing and gametech company, with a team of more than 60 people across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. We help leading brands and rights holders connect with gaming audiences through media, content, creators and immersive experiences. In film and video, our specialty is building platform-native entertainment formats that sit at the intersection of gaming, sport, music and culture. That includes creator-led series, social content and livestreamed events designed around how gaming audiences actually watch and engage.
Why do you do what you do? Was there a transformative moment that solidified your career choice, your org’s success, or your commitment to storytelling?
Simply put. It’s fun. Gaming gives established sports and entertainment properties an opportunity to meet the next generation on their terms. With NFL Race to the End Zone, the idea really came to life when we saw how naturally NFL players and gaming creators connected when both were given the space to show their personalities. It stopped feeling like a marketing campaign and started feeling like a genuine entertainment property. That is the work I find most exciting: creating something audiences actively choose to watch, which also delivers value for the league, the talent and its commercial partners.
Tell us about your Telly Award winning piece. What’s the story behind it?
The ambition was to create a new entertainment format that could bring sports fans and gamers together, while introducing the NFL to an entirely new audience.
NFL Race to the End Zone powered by Verizon was the product of this ambition. The program is a first-of-its-kind weekly series built at the intersection of NFL culture and gaming. Across 21 episodes, we paired NFL players with leading gaming creators and gave fans a different perspective on the personalities, traditions and environments behind the league. The creators entered the players’ world, while the players took on games and challenges their younger fans care about. Nineteen NFL clubs participated, with the season building towards a 24-player Fortnite invitational during Super Bowl LX week.
Can you share a behind the scenes story or fun fact about the making of your piece?
One of my favorite things about the series was the range of places and challenges we were able to bring together. We filmed inside stadiums, locker rooms and club training facilities, but also at a dude ranch, local football fields and gyms. Within a single episode, a creator might run routes, battle in Madden, work on their celly and receive an official team jersey if they complete all the challenges. The most fun part of this series is seeing the players take off their helmets and share a side of themselves people rarely see. Letting their personality shine through, while playing video games and sharing their experience allows you to more deeply connect with them.
What was your biggest challenge during production and how did you solve it?
The biggest challenge was delivering 21 episodes across 19 clubs while making the series feel consistent without becoming formulaic. Every club, player, creator and location brought different schedules, access requirements and personalities. We solved that by creating a strong, repeatable narrative structure while leaving enough flexibility to make each episode feel specific to the people and place involved. The platform strategy was equally deliberate. YouTube provided the home for the full episodes, while Shorts, TikTok and Instagram cutdowns were designed from the outset to build awareness and extend the story.
What are you most proud of about this piece? What is the most memorable response you got from this work?
I am most proud that we proved a completely new format could deliver both cultural relevance and genuine audience growth. The series generated more than 173 million views, finished 35% above its viewership target. The most memorable response was the engagement. Seeing that people did not simply sample a clip and move on, but rather spent meaningful time with the series, followed the weekly story and embraced gaming creators as part of the wider NFL ecosystem. In content, viewership is the greatest measure of your product’s success. Seeing our content resonate with fans is something our team will always remember.
You won a Telly Award for this piece. Why is recognition important for you, your team or your work?
First-of-its-kind work requires a lot of conviction before the results exist, so recognition from the Telly Awards is incredibly meaningful. It validates the ambition behind the format and recognises the collective effort of the NFL, Livewire, the participating clubs, creators, players, brand partners and production teams. It also helps demonstrate that gaming-led storytelling can sit alongside more established entertainment formats and deliver work that is both creatively strong and commercially effective.
Tell us what you’re up to! If there’s a new project, launch, or milestone you’d like us to celebrate with you, let us know, and we might share it with our community.
We are well underway both delivering and filming the second season of NFL Race to the End Zone. The opportunity to continue evolving the format while staying anchored in what made the first season work: authentic access, creator-led storytelling and content designed for YouTube and social audiences from the outset, is incredibly exciting. It is fulfilling to see an idea that began as a first-of-its-kind experiment develop into a repeatable entertainment franchise connecting NFL fandom, gaming culture and the next generation of fans.
Tell us about your organization. How big is your team? Where are you based? What is your organization’s specialty in the film and video space?
Livewire is a global gaming marketing and gametech company, with a team of more than 60 people across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. We help leading brands and rights holders connect with gaming audiences through media, content, creators and immersive experiences. In film and video, our specialty is building platform-native entertainment formats that sit at the intersection of gaming, sport, music and culture. That includes creator-led series, social content and livestreamed events designed around how gaming audiences actually watch and engage.
Why do you do what you do? Was there a transformative moment that solidified your career choice, your org’s success, or your commitment to storytelling?
Simply put. It’s fun. Gaming gives established sports and entertainment properties an opportunity to meet the next generation on their terms. With NFL Race to the End Zone, the idea really came to life when we saw how naturally NFL players and gaming creators connected when both were given the space to show their personalities. It stopped feeling like a marketing campaign and started feeling like a genuine entertainment property. That is the work I find most exciting: creating something audiences actively choose to watch, which also delivers value for the league, the talent and its commercial partners.
Tell us about your Telly Award winning piece. What’s the story behind it?
The ambition was to create a new entertainment format that could bring sports fans and gamers together, while introducing the NFL to an entirely new audience.
NFL Race to the End Zone powered by Verizon was the product of this ambition. The program is a first-of-its-kind weekly series built at the intersection of NFL culture and gaming. Across 21 episodes, we paired NFL players with leading gaming creators and gave fans a different perspective on the personalities, traditions and environments behind the league. The creators entered the players’ world, while the players took on games and challenges their younger fans care about. Nineteen NFL clubs participated, with the season building towards a 24-player Fortnite invitational during Super Bowl LX week.
Can you share a behind the scenes story or fun fact about the making of your piece?
One of my favorite things about the series was the range of places and challenges we were able to bring together. We filmed inside stadiums, locker rooms and club training facilities, but also at a dude ranch, local football fields and gyms. Within a single episode, a creator might run routes, battle in Madden, work on their celly and receive an official team jersey if they complete all the challenges. The most fun part of this series is seeing the players take off their helmets and share a side of themselves people rarely see. Letting their personality shine through, while playing video games and sharing their experience allows you to more deeply connect with them.
What was your biggest challenge during production and how did you solve it?
The biggest challenge was delivering 21 episodes across 19 clubs while making the series feel consistent without becoming formulaic. Every club, player, creator and location brought different schedules, access requirements and personalities. We solved that by creating a strong, repeatable narrative structure while leaving enough flexibility to make each episode feel specific to the people and place involved. The platform strategy was equally deliberate. YouTube provided the home for the full episodes, while Shorts, TikTok and Instagram cutdowns were designed from the outset to build awareness and extend the story.
What are you most proud of about this piece? What is the most memorable response you got from this work?
I am most proud that we proved a completely new format could deliver both cultural relevance and genuine audience growth. The series generated more than 173 million views, finished 35% above its viewership target. The most memorable response was the engagement. Seeing that people did not simply sample a clip and move on, but rather spent meaningful time with the series, followed the weekly story and embraced gaming creators as part of the wider NFL ecosystem. In content, viewership is the greatest measure of your product’s success. Seeing our content resonate with fans is something our team will always remember.
You won a Telly Award for this piece. Why is recognition important for you, your team or your work?
First-of-its-kind work requires a lot of conviction before the results exist, so recognition from the Telly Awards is incredibly meaningful. It validates the ambition behind the format and recognises the collective effort of the NFL, Livewire, the participating clubs, creators, players, brand partners and production teams. It also helps demonstrate that gaming-led storytelling can sit alongside more established entertainment formats and deliver work that is both creatively strong and commercially effective.
Tell us what you’re up to! If there’s a new project, launch, or milestone you’d like us to celebrate with you, let us know, and we might share it with our community.
We are well underway both delivering and filming the second season of NFL Race to the End Zone. The opportunity to continue evolving the format while staying anchored in what made the first season work: authentic access, creator-led storytelling and content designed for YouTube and social audiences from the outset, is incredibly exciting. It is fulfilling to see an idea that began as a first-of-its-kind experiment develop into a repeatable entertainment franchise connecting NFL fandom, gaming culture and the next generation of fans.
