Dive Brief:

• DirecTV has teamed with Travis Kelce and Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs for an audio content play meant to soothe “Sunday Scaries,” the feeling of anxiety often associated with the end of the weekend, per details shared with Marketing Dive. The rollout comes as the NFL has expressed criticism for recent DirecTV ads with Kelce. 
• Available on Spotify, “Sack the Sunday Scaries” includes 11 football-inspired tracks featuring the voices of Kelce and Jones, including “Lawn Care for Football Venues,” and “The History of the Forward Pass.” The effort also features a new video spot.
• Consumers can enter an online sweepstakes for the chance to win merchandise, including a full-size body pillow of Kelce wearing pajamas. The move follows an earlier campaign between Kelce and DirecTV in August that has stirred up controversy.

Dive Insight:

DirecTV is again teaming with NFL star Kelce to keep its satellite TV services top-of-mind for football fans come game day. As the TV provider continues to position itself around sports appeal, it has come under fire from the NFL.

The league recently accused DirecTV of deceptive advertising, claiming the original Kelce ads mislead viewers regarding as to where they can find NFL Sunday Ticket, Ad Age reported. The subscription package for football viewing this season jumped to YouTube after decades under the DirecTV umbrella, part of a massive deal that is part of the pro football organization’s larger shift to streaming.

The NFL claims that some fans have been left confused by DirecTV and Kelce’s prior effort, “Overly Direct Sportsperson,” which was first released in August. The ad asserts that people can watch every football game via DirecTV. However, it takes reading the fine print to gain clarification that viewers would not be able to access every game on DirecTV itself, but rather through its Gemini streaming device, which requires consumers to subscribe to third-party apps (YouTube and YouTube TV, for example) where specific content is hosted.

In response to the NFL’s concerns, Jon Greer, DirecTV’s head of communications, credited the confusion to a sports viewing landscape that’s “more fragmented than ever,” according to Ad Age. The company’s latest Kelce tie-up, “Sack the Sunday Scaries,” is billed in release details as an extension to “Overly Direct Sportsperson,” with both efforts falling under DirecTV’s broader brand strategy platform, “TV Without Compromise.”

The controversy makes the timing of the relaxation-focused “Sack the Sunday Scaries” awkward. Key to the effort is an 11-track collection of “sleepy” audiobook-type content on Spotify meant to help fans unwind after a tense game and as they prepare for the weekday grind.

Each track features either Kelce or Jones unpacking mundane topics, like how a football is made or a guide to applying face paint. The collection also includes a 10-minute track where Kelce constantly blows a whistle, along with a seven-minute track of the NFL player saying “bruh.” A 30-second anthem spot featuring Kelce introduces the so-called bedtime stories.

“Sack the Sunday Scaries” will be available for listening throughout the regular season. Additionally, DirecTV is promoting a line of merchandise that includes a life-size Kelce body pillow, along with a Kelce pajama jersey, coined the “Pajersey.” Consumers can enter to win the items on a designated microsite, and the sweepstakes will last four weeks.

In addition to DirecTV’s recent marketing plays around football season, its connected service DirecTV Stream is attempting to appeal to consumers during the season via a social media takeover that launched Sept. 8. For the effort, the company teamed with sports media company Team Whistle to create a series of social media segments featuring appearances from a variety of sports figures, like former NFL players Spice Adams and Sony Michel.

Football marketing continues to ramp up with campaigns from brands like Lowe’s, which also teamed with Kelce, and Smirnoff.