NFL Zone
View the case- Brand
- NFL
- Year
- 2022
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Mini-Games
- Platform
- In-Game
- Agency
- Beyond Creative
Objective
The NFL wanted a foothold with a younger audience that increasingly skips traditional TV, using a persistent social space inside Fortnite to build fandom outside the stadium rather than run a one-off tie-in. Visa, the league's presenting payment-technology sponsor, wanted its brand woven into the actual play space rather than bolted on as an ad.
Solution
Players enter NFL Zone through Fortnite's Island Code menu or Discover tab and land in The Hub, a tailgate area where they can hang out with other fans before heading into a Visa-branded stadium lined with NFL shops. From there, portals lead to team-specific maps — starting with the San Francisco 49ers and later adding clubs like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills — each built around its own minigame, such as Blitz the Bag or Seek and Sack. Every match a player completes counts toward their division in a running NFC-versus-AFC rivalry, with results tracked on a giant scoreboard inside the hub and the whole season building toward a playoff for the championship.
- 1
The player enters NFL Zone in Fortnite Creative by typing the island code or finding it under Discover, loading into The Hub, the game's central social space.
- 2
In the Hub's tailgate area, players simply hang out with other football fans — there is no required objective here, just a social gathering spot.
- 3
From the Hub, players enter a Visa-branded stadium housing NFL shops.
- 4
Inside the stadium, players can join "Blitz the Bag," a free-for-all sprint to grab a bag first, then race it to one of the NFL shops without dropping it or getting overtaken.
- 5
Portals in the Hub lead to separate team-themed maps that were added over time, starting with the San Francisco 49ers at launch, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers (January 18, 2023) and the Buffalo Bills (March 30, 2023), each reachable by its own island code or via Discover.
- 6
On team maps, players compete in "Seek and Sack," a team-based search-and-destroy variant with rounds split between attacking and defending.
- 7
The Buffalo Bills map instead outfits players in Bills gear for a hardpoint mode, where a team scores by holding a contested zone with more players than the opposing team.
- 8
The hardpoint zone relocates periodically, forcing players to abandon fixed positions and chase the active zone across the map.
- 9
Individual and creator wins feed into a season-long NFC vs. AFC standings tracked on a large scoreboard, culminating in a playoff for the division championship.
