The idea was to tell the story of the young men and women, who at only the age of 17 or 18 decide to commit the next decade of their lives to serve their country. That's what sets this game apart from any other college football game, the young men playing in it aren't going to go on to professional stardom, they're committing themselves to military service after they graduate. It's much more than just a game.

In order to highlight the commitment and sacrifice that these young men and women are making, we reenacted scenes from over the last one hundred years that showed what it would've been like to receive that fateful acceptance letter and captured the array of emotions that came along with it.

Furthermore, we interviewed real parents of current cadets to get their raw and authentic emotions regarding the commitment their children are making.

Implementation

This film was given nearly 5 minutes of air time before the kickoff of the game, which is an unprecedented amount of time for one of our opening "teases." It was also broadcast during our pregame studio show to ensure that it had the most possible number of impressions on live TV as possible before the game.

Timeline

This piece was held until the day of the Army-Navy broadcast to maximize its impact on game day when viewers would be tuning in and invested in the broadcast.

Placement/Scale

This film aired before the kickoff of the game, when nearly 10 million viewers are tuning in, during the pregame studio show, and placed online on Facebook and Twitter where a combined 5 million followers could watch our content.

Reach

Not only was the film broadcast to nearly 10 million viewers at home, but it was also shared on various social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. Resulting in an additional 1.3 million views in 24 hours.

Engagement

Those same social media platforms also saw over 16,000 retweets and shares in a 24 hour period, including shared and mentions from Senator John McCain and former White House Press Secretary, Ari Fleischer.

Impact

This film drove views on CBS Sports' social media pages and helped the Army-Navy game trend on Twitter beyond what the live broadcast could do on its own. When sitting Senators, political commentators and other people outside the sports broadcasting industry recognize your work, it helps open us up to a whole new audience.

This piece played before the 2017 Army-Navy football game which draws nearly 10 million viewers annually on CBS. Although it's a sporting contest, it is ultimately the most popular sport in the United States and the popular form of sports entertainment. This piece is a part of that and meant to engage the viewer prior to the game in a way that gets them excited and set the stage for the contest.

The strategy was to create a strong and impactful piece that would air before kickoff of the Army-Navy game, first and foremost. Time restrictions on the length of the film weren't considered, the main goal was to craft a strong story and not worry about hitting a specific time.

Once that was accomplished we then looked to distribute it to as many social platforms as possible and broadcast it in our pregame show as well as before kickoff during the live broadcast.

Situation

Each year the Army-Navy football game is played on a Saturday in December when no other college football games are being played, thus it's the only game available for the audience and captures their attention. As such, we produce content around the game to elevate the spectacle and importance for the viewer. This includes our opening film or "tease" before the game.

Brief

This film depicted the emotional moment every family faces when their children are accepted into the military and naval academy, and what that commitment and sacrifice mean as it relates to the Army-Navy football game.

Objectives

Our objective was to produce creative content that we could broadcast in our pregame studio show as well as prior to the game to create a buzz both for the audience at home as well as on social media.