NFL Uses Digital Technology, LED to Connect with Fans at 2018 Draft

By: Mark Weber

The 2018 NFL Draft Experience takes over an NFL stadium for the first time ever in Dallas this Thursday through Saturday.

It is the league’s largest free football festival, representing “our most ambitious vision yet,” says Peter O’Reilly, NFL Senior VP of Events. “We are creating a record number of free experiences and enabling the largest live audience ever to view the NFL Draft.”

One highlight is the 40-Yard Dash, where fans will race down the field against opponents and digital NFL players on a giant 40-yard long LED wall, feeling like they are actually playing alongside famous players. There is also the FedEx Air Challenge, where fans test their passing accuracy on specially designed targets. For kids, the NFL Play 60 App Station involves running, jumping and turning through a simulated world in an app designed by NFL Play 60 and the American Heart Association. For those who want to feel like they are in the locker room on a game day, they can experience the sights of a real NFL pregame inside a video tunnel.

AT&T Stadium, both inside and out, has been transformed. Outside, the free NFL Draft Experience presented by Oikos Triple Zero spans nearly 26 football fields, with interactive exhibits, immersive games, virtual reality experiences and free autograph sessions to have fans connect to their teams and the NFL experience as a whole.  Indeed, fans can register for Fan Mobile Pass, where they receive a personal scan code giving them exclusive access to NFL Draft Experience attractions.

One collaboration to note is the Pepsi NFL Helmet Photo Opp. As a consumer enters the NFL Draft Experience, he or she will find his or her favorite NFL team’s oversized helmet and have a photo taken by a Pepsi brand ambassador. Then that photo gets shared on a social channel as well as Fan Mobile Pass.