Overview
American football operates at a different scale than most sports properties in North America. The NFL reaches a national audience shaped by decades of regional loyalty, championship history, and some of the most recognizable team identities in sport.
OVO’s collaboration with the National Football League created an opportunity to reach that audience through a licensed multi team program spanning several franchises and seasonal releases. The partnership placed the brand inside a league where team identity functions as a generational marker of community and tradition, shaping how fans gather, celebrate, and represent their teams beyond the field.
Across multiple seasons, the program expanded through a series of collections built as a structured system across teams. Each release was timed to coincide with moments when football carries the most attention, allowing fans to represent their teams when the sport sits at the center of the national conversation.
My Role
From 2023 through 2025, I led creative direction across product and campaign for OVO’s licensed program with the National Football League. I helped introduce the collaboration internally and played a role in establishing the creative foundation for the program.
I designed the product framework used across franchises, defining the assortment structure and visual direction applied throughout the collections. This included establishing the core product categories and directing the graphic approach used across teams.
For each release, I oversaw product development and campaign execution, including creative direction for campaign imagery and talent integration. I worked closely with league licensing, manufacturing partners, and collaborators to carry the work from concept through launch.
OVO x NFL
"North America's Game-day Collection”- January 2023
OVO × NFL launched in January 2023 just ahead of the Super Bowl, introducing the first release from the partnership during the league’s biggest moment of the season.
The debut focused on eight franchises with deep history and national reach: the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, and Buffalo Bills. The collection established the foundation for the multi-team releases that followed.
In the National Football League, teams are defined by symbols. Those marks carry decades of history, so the collection was built around them, keeping each team identity clear and unmistakable.
Football culture lives far beyond the field. Tailgates, stadium parking lots, and Sundays built around the game informed the way the collection was designed, shaping everyday stadium gear fans could wear beyond game day.
The launch featured Lil Wayne and Benny the Butcher. Wayne’s long-standing loyalty to the Packers and Benny’s role as one of Buffalo’s defining voices grounded the project in the cities and fanbases where football culture runs deepest.
Varsity Jacket System
The varsity jackets served as the hero product of the debut release.
The goal was to create jackets that felt collectible rather than seasonal merchandise. Each piece treated the garment as a storytelling surface, combining chenille patches, embroidery, and historical references tied to each franchise.
By translating team heritage into layered graphics and patch systems, the jackets positioned the collaboration closer to sports history and memorabilia than traditional licensed apparel.
Product System
The broader assortment extended this design language across a range of garments including jersey-inspired long sleeves, crewnecks, quarter zips, graphic tees, and the brand’s signature owl hoodie.
For the first time, the OG owl hoodie was reinterpreted through a licensed sports collaboration, pairing the brand’s most recognizable silhouette with official NFL teams and color systems.
Accessories such as a custom Riddell mini helmet reinforced the connection to football culture and gave fans another way to participate in the collection.
