This article was created in partnership with Livewire
In the old high school trope, the jocks and the nerds never mingled. Times have certainly changed.
The National Football League has teamed up with Livewire, a global gaming marketing company, to produce NFL Race to the End Zone powered by Verizon, a 21-episode docuseries that unites NFL players and celebrity gamers through playful challenges and authentic connection.
The series debuted on the NFL’s official YouTube channel in September 2025 and culminates during the week of Super Bowl LX with NFL Race to the End Zone LIVE powered by Verizon that began February 4, 2026, from 4-7 p.m. P.T., which will be streamed on the NFL’s YouTube channel. This event is a live, 24-player Fortnite tournament featuring NFL players like Dion Dawkins from the Buffalo Bills and Zay Flowers from the Baltimore Ravens, as well as content creators like MMG and the Botez Sisters.
“The partnership works because it’s authentic on both sides,” said Indy Khabra, co-founder and co-CEO of Livewire. “For brands, that’s where the value lies. These collaborations create cultural moments that traditional media buys can’t replicate because they’re rooted in shared passion, not borrowed attention.”
On average, episodes drew 6.4 million viewers and leveraged the cross-over appeal of players and gamers. In an episode with Todd Gurley and Andrea Botez, Gurley put Botez through drills like pass catching, while she challenged him to chess.
Ed Kiang, VP video gaming at the NFL, believes connecting with fans off the field is key to building the NFL’s massive appeal.
“Getting the opportunity to showcase our players off the field expands our reach and creates the potential for more points of connection,” Kiang said. “This helps bring new fans into the ecosystem, makes players more relatable and may sometimes add context to what happens on the field. This drives deeper engagement by giving fans more to connect with and ultimately more to root for.”
As gaming continues to grow, Kiang saw a unique opportunity in partnering with Livewire, which calls itself as a “next-gen attention platform.”
“Livewire’s expertise is tapping into the intersection of sports and gaming culture and translating that into engaging content,” he said. “So, it definitely felt like a natural fit to partner with them on developing a mash up of football and gaming on the platforms where we know fans are already spending a majority of their time.”
Khabra believes this partnership portends more collaborations that are original, authentic, and interactive for audiences.
“The future of collaboration is so much more than just placing logos onto content,” Khabra said. “Co-creating IP, building interactive formats, and meeting audiences where culture is already being shaped is critical. Sports, gaming, and entertainment have already converged. Partnerships like this are simply acknowledging reality and building for it.”
