NFL Play 60: NFL & Several Nonprofit Partners
Created to address the childhood obesity epidemic, NFL PLAY 60 is a national youth health and fitness campaign that encourages kids to be active for at least 60 minutes a day.
The NFL activates special home games in local communities that promote the NFL PLAY 60 message and an annual NFL PLAY 60 Super Bowl Contest, which invites young fans to share how staying active improves their lives. The winner becomes the NFL PLAY 60 “Super Kid,” and attends the Super Bowl to hand the game ball to the head official prior to kickoff.
PSAs run during all NFL games, featuring some of the biggest names in football and a microsite provides activities, contests, programs and tips from NFL players.
In thousands of schools, the “NFL PLAY 60 Challenge,” teams up with the American Heart Association to teach educators and students to integrate health and fitness breaks into daily classroom lessons. “Fuel Up to Play 60,” in partnership with the National Dairy Council, teaches kids to advocate for healthier school environments via kid-determined activities such as forming walking clubs or advocating for healthy snacks. “Keep Gym in School,” provides financial support to upgrade school gyms in local communities, hire certified PE instructors and equip PE classes. Through “Back to Football Friday,” 10,000 health and wellness grants were awarded to 34 designated “Super Schools” nationwide (with visits from NFL players) .
The league also sponsors NFL Flag Football; NFL Punt, Pass and Kick; and NFL Girls Flag Football around the country and provides after-school as well as day camp fitness programs.
Since the program’s launch in 2008, the NFL’s 32 teams have hosted more than 1500 local NFL Play 60 events around the country.
NFL PLAY 60 partnerships include American Heart Association, National Dairy Council, Ad Council, Boys and Girls Club, First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative, HOPSports, KaBOOM!, Procter & Gamble, Under Armour and United Way.
The campaign has garnered national media coverage as well as extensive local coverage in all 32 NFL markets. Through this effort, youth health and fitness/child obesity continues to be the top social cause fans associate with the League. NFL PLAY 60 programs are in 77,000 schools and more than 500,000 students participated in NFL FLAG Football or NFL Punt, Pass and Kick.
Judges were impressed with the breadth of this campaign and how the NFL utilizes all of its internal assets in support of their umbrella cause of fighting childhood obesity. They also noted how effectively the NFL leveraged multiple partner relationships to bring this campaign to life.