NFL Stages Over-the-Top AI Parade in 2025 Kickoff Spot

With Jalen, Druski, Major Tuddy and more

Nothing screams NFL Kickoff like Druski riding a dolphin.

You’ll drink in that splashy sight and so much more as the league floats an AI-live action extravaganza to launch its 2025 season.

Indeed, a fantastical parade float features prominently in this celebration all 32 teams and their fans. We get outrageous imagery, nonstop action, Easter eggs galore and Normani’s fresh football take on Quad City DJ’s “Come On, Ride the Train.”

Jalen Hurts shows up too, along with TikToker Rizzler. And the Washington Commanders’ pig mascot Major Tuddy gets airborne via jetpack.

Clearly that tries way too hard—but it totally succeeds at elevating football to the level of full-scale, multimedia extravaganza.

“Our fans are at the heart of this campaign—their joy, optimism and belief in what’s possible,” says NFL CMO Tim Ellis.

The league and its partners approached the project with “a joint determination to experiment,” Lora Schulson, head of production at 72andSunny, which developed the campaign, tells Muse. “We knew the ambition would require tools beyond traditional production.”

There’s copious AI—but also heart, soul and self-aware humor—unlike some generative misadventures we could name.

Here, viewers can tell what’s real and what’s not. There’s no art of deception, just artistry. The results resonate with goofy gravitas and gobs of charm.

Titled “You Better Believe,” the push “was driven by a human vision of creativity and craft, and we chose the right cutting-edge tools to bring it to life from there,” Schulman says.

“We wanted the creative freedom to build a world that couldn’t exist in reality, and AI tools gave us the ability to imagine without limits,” Schulson says. “The result is what happens when you combine tools with the craft, taste, and experience of creative teams.”

The advert drops today across NFL Network, NFL+ and national broadcasters, with behind-the-scenes content and “You Better Believe It” vignettes set to follow.

Kerry Furrh and Olivia Mitchell (aka Tusk) directed through m ss ng p eces.

The 2025 Clio Sports Awards are open! Enter your most creative work HERE by Sept. 5.