Nuggets Trail NBA Schedule Release

ABOUT THIS ENTRY

While brainstorming for the highly-anticipated NBA schedule release, our team wanted to create a video to showcase our schedule that aligns with the Nuggets, the city of Denver, and the Rocky Mountain region.

We landed on the idea of tying in these aspects through a Nuggets version of the video game, The Oregon Trail.

How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?

This was our first "long form animation" piece from our content team. We wanted to test our limits and creativity with the NBA schedule release. We wanted to show our fans that this kind of content is possible from their favorite team and that we could go a step further than a static graphic.

Objective

We wanted to use the inspiration and concept of the throwback video game, The Oregon Trail, to bring the Denver Nuggets' schedule to life in a creative and engaging way. We came up with marquee matchups and "obstacles" that our top 3 players would face along the journey to the playoffs. We wanted to tie in sports and video games for this highly anticipated release.

Strategy & Execution

This was a complete team effort to tie the biggest games on our schedule into a throwback video game. We collaborated and brainstormed as a team to come up with what the “video game” would look like and how the Nuggets brand would tie into the look and feel.

Some of the critical features we showcased were the storyline and “obstacles” the characters faced along the way. For each match-up on our schedule, we determined what our players would "face" on the trail on their way to each game and what they would have to "defeat" to get to the next opponent.

Our designers had to create each background, character, and element with the same feel as The Oregon Trail, which took a lot of time and attention to detail. From our graphics team to our motion designer, this "game" came to life and allowed our future season “story” to be told in a captivating way with the style and flare of a video-game.

Organizations

• Denver Nuggets

Credits

Hali Oughton
Director, Social Media & Digital Content
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Jared Harding
VP & Executive Producer
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Bryan Smith
Manager of Digital Design
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Daniel Slovis
Digital Graphic Coordinator
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Matheus Peulen
Sr. Graphic Designer
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Jaelyn Hershberger
Motion Graphic Designer
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Henry Collins
Social Media Coordinator
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Megan Goldin
Content Strategist
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Sizhe Liu
Digital Content Strategist
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Sarah Pineda
Manager, Social Media & Digital Content
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Francesco Todaro
Director, Digital Video/Creative Production
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Shayna Glazer
Manager, Digital Video Production
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

JT Brown
Digital Video Editor
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

Austin Carriere
Digital Video Producer/Editor
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment