ESPN is home to the biggest game in college football - the College Football National Championship. We needed to create excitement for the game on ESPN, build fan love and show fans that no one gets college football like ESPN. It needed to be scrappy, it needed to travel, and it needed to break through the noise of an always-on media landscape, reaching fans where they are - across ESPN broadcasts, in social media and during the championship game itself. The idea: The Big Ring - an oversized championship ring that could live in broadcast, at fan activations and, most importantly, on the players’ hands during the celebration on the field and in social media.

To create excitement for the College Football Playoff National Championship on ESPN, and celebrate the teams that made it to college football’s biggest stage, we partnered with ESPN to create a championship-sized ring: the Big Ring.

The Big Ring debuted on social, was featured in ESPN broadcasts ahead of the game and appeared at Fan Central in Houston Texas so fans could have the hands on experience. During the trophy ceremony, newly minted National Champions like Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards celebrated by wearing the ring, and photos of the celebration circulated widely on social.

College football is extensively covered across the media in the United States. To help ESPN break through we wanted an idea born of college football culture, that uniquely connected with fans and could be used throughout ESPN’s broadcasts and appear on social media.

Our strategy was to lean into the culture and tradition around the sport and create an object that amplified the celebration of the fans and players after the game. It tapped into the history of using rings to honor champions, and leveraged a cultural insight around fans and players wearing oversized sports memorabilia, like caps that are ten times the size of normal hats.

The Big Ring debuted on ESPN social handles and during the ESPN trophy ceremony broadcast after the National Championship game. Photos of the Rings worn by players celebrating on the stage and the field were shared after the game. The Rings appeared on broadcast ahead of the game on First Take with Stephen A Smith, Molly Qerim & Shannon Sharpe, as well as Jess Sims during College Game Day. The rings also appeared at Fan Central in Houston Texas ahead of the National Championship to bring excitement ahead of the game.

ESPN College Football, the College Football Playoff & the Michigan Wolverines also took to social media to share the Big Rings with fans everywhere. After posting featured content around the rings with the players, fans, and ESPN reporters these posts saw:

- 334K total engagements (across ESPN, CFP and Michigan social)

- 2.8M impressions

- 2.3M total video views