It won’t be too much longer before NFL fans will be treated to Super Bowl LIII, as the New England Patriots will compete against the Los Angeles Rams to determine which team will take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy and be declared champions of the professional football league’s 2018-2019 season. Of course, with this comes a bevy of high-production advertisements aimed at influencing viewers at home, as the sporting event is usually one of the most-watched broadcasts on the planet.
One of the ads expected to drop during Super Bowl LIII’s halftime show is a special commercial from the “NFL 100” campaign, which is a celebration of the organization’s 100th season, and it includes current and former players such as Tom Brady, Richard Sherman, Marshawn Lynch, and more. In addition to these familiar faces, the two-minute promotional spot also includes the professional gamer and Fortnite pro Tyler “Ninja” Blevins.
In a blink-and-miss-it moment, the ad shows Ninja briefly talking to the current Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, which is a reference to the two having played Fortnite together. Thereafter, the likes of Jim Brown, Michael Strahan, and Dick Butkus comment on the pro gamer’s appearance at the NFL 100 festivities, with the commercial even having Peyton Manning explain to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell that Ninja is a “video game master”.
Of course, with the NFL 100 ad being primarily designed to promote the league itself and highlight some of the most well-known athletes from its annals, the inclusion of Ninja speaks to how much of an impact Fortnite has had ever since its release. And with there being a good chance that many young audience members might not know a lot of the former players in the commercial, putting Ninja in the promo will likely cause them to sit up and take notice. After all, Ninja was the most-viewed Twitch streamer of 2018.
Source: NFL – Twitter
