T-Mobile
Patrick Mahomes just led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl title in February and is one of the most recognizable athletes in the United States. Unsurprisingly, this isn’t his only appearance on this list.
T-Mobile’s spot uses one of the NFL’s biggest names to not only sell its Go5G Next plan—with help from Chronicles of Narnia actor Ben Barnes—but to ambush the NFL’s official wireless sponsor, Verizon. With its rival imposing its presence on NFL broadcasts, T-Mobile launched its 30-second Mahomes spot during a primetime episode of NBC’s Law & Order SVU and flooded cable networks including Adult Swim, A&E, BET, Bravo, Comedy Central, Discovery, E!, Hallmark, HGTV, TLC and USA.
And while the NFL’s opening weekend games were somewhat closed off to T-Mobile’s Mahomes ads, the company exploited its sponsorship of Mexico’s Liga MX soccer to air spots through all of the weekend’s matches.
Delta Air Lines
Tom Brady is out of the NFL, but just getting started at Delta.
Instead of throwing Brady in an ad or centering a campaign on him, Delta picked the NFL’s opening week to announce that the seven-time Super Bowl champion and five-time Super Bowl MVP would be joining the airline as a “long-term strategic adviser.”
Brady’s going to be working on training and teamwork tools for Delta’s more than 90,000 employees, as well as marketing to connect with customers and community outreach programs.
“Growing up with a mother as a flight attendant, I have always admired the people that make seamless air transportation possible,” Brady said.
State Farm
The Kansas City Chiefs dropped their season opener to the Detroit Lions, but the reigning Super Bowl champs are still a huge marketing draw—especially for brands looking to steal the spotlight from NFL sponsors.
State Farm loaded up its three-ad, TMA-produced campaign with appearances from Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and coach Andy Reid. The insurer is bundling teammates the way it’s hoping customers will bundle home and auto insurance with the Personal Price Plan it’s pushing, but it’s also teaming the Chiefs stars with its Jake From State Farm mascot to take a piece of NFL sponsor Nationwide’s turf.