Oakley announced a four-year partnership with the National Football League, becoming an official on-field partner and licensee of the NFL. The partnership — the biggest sports deal in the brand’s history — will commence at the start of the forthcoming football season, with Oakley shields and eyewear Powered by Prizm Lens Technology being available for all 32 teams, as well as making Officially Licensed NFL Eyewear available for fans.
As a brand rooted in sport performance optics, Oakley’s primary focus for the partnership is to deliver leading lens technology to the game, as well as to consumers around the world. In such a fast-paced sport where quick decision-making is key and clear vision is crucial, Oakley shields are designed to enhance performance, and we are working with the NFL to improve the safety of NFL players.
“The Oakley brand started in stadiums and now we will continue our brand journey inside the biggest and most relevant stadiums in North America: football stadiums,” Benjamin Goss, Oakley’s global marketing director. “We are thrilled to partner with the National Football League and its players to push the boundaries of performance and help them see the game differently through Prizm.”
As part of the partnership, for the first time in NFL history, all players will have the option of wearing Prizm Clear shields during games. Prizm Clear, grounded in decades of research, has a slight color tint engineered to help optimize detail recognition in the football environment. As the sport and shields evolve, Oakley’s Prizm Lens Technology will be at the forefront of football gear.
“We see Oakley as an ideal partner because we’re united by the same goal: supporting some of the world’s best athletes in their quest for elite performance,” said Renie Anderson, chief revenue officer and EVP, NFL Partnerships. “Our game is faster and precision is more fundamental than ever, and Oakley provides the technologically-advanced gear that players, coaches and personnel need for peak performance.”
In order to showcase the benefits of Prizm Clear, Oakley launched a new brand film, putting the audience onto the NFL field and letting them experience what the world’s best football players will see through Prizm during a game. To achieve this, the brand created a variety of custom POV camera rigs to bring the experience to life through the eyes of Team Oakley athletes, including 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes II of the Kansas City Chiefs, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Derwin James Jr. of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Additionally, as Oakley is an official licensee, fans can now represent their favorite team with a special-edition NFL eyewear collection from Oakley, available for all 32 teams in two men’s styles, Holbrook and Flak 2.0 XL, and seven teams in a women’s style, Low Key. The special-edition NFL eyewear collection comes equipped with Prizm, official team logo etched on the lens and team color accents throughout. Fans can also customize select frames with the Oakley Custom Program, building a unique piece of eyewear with their NFL team’s logo and preferred colors.
To celebrate the landmark partnership, Oakley took over New York City’s iconic Times Square on the evening of August 26, hosting some of football’s most influential personalities and athletes, both past and present, for a spectacular launch moment.
In an immersive and impactful 360 experience, the giant billboards in Times Square went dark, creating a disruptive blackout moment. The area then quickly roared back to life as a larger-than-life visual spectacle showcasing Mahomes, Smith-Schuster and James in a creatively-orchestrated and high-energy content piece specially developed to run across the various screens.
Following the dramatic content piece, Oakley announced that the brand is now a partner of the New York Giants.
Mahomes joined Team Oakley earlier this year and was the brand’s first ever contracted NFL player. Oakley further bolstered their football roster with the signings of Smith-Schuster and James. In addition to being an official on-field partner of the League, the brand is also a partner of the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers and New York Giants.
Oakley has produced football shields for helmets for more than 20 years.
