With the NRL finals only weeks away, Fox League is about to launch one of its biggest promotional packages to date in collaboration with Parkway Drive and Jack Harlow.
Mediaweek was on location at the new Allianz Stadium last week for a night of filming that featured Parkway Drive as well as several of the teams that will feature in the finals, including the Melbourne Storm, Penrith Panthers, Sydney Roosters, and Brisbane Broncos.
Mediaweek also spoke to Fox League host Lara Pitt, the voice of Fox League Matt Nable, and the creative director for Fox Sports, Charlie Lambert.
Nable told Mediaweek that since he started at Fox Sports that these promo packages have continued to get bigger and bigger.
“Charlie Lambert is really talented, it’s his brainchild, then Steve Crawley writes the scripts and I come in at the end and get to voice them. It’s gradually gotten bigger and we do something with me on camera, maybe three or four times a year and try and keep them as the big ticket items.
“It’s all vying into this wonderful new stadium in front of the semi-finals, where there’s a lot of interest, so it’s going be fantastic.”
Lara Pitt said that these promo packages are important for Fox League because it gets viewers and broadcasters alike pumped for the finals.
“The players absolutely love it. First and foremost it is what gets you pumped up for having that month of footy where only eight teams are left. Charlie and his team put something together each and every year to try and make it different. I think we’ve nailed it – I mean this is the perfect setting. We’re getting a brand new set of stadiums as well.”
When asked how this campaign compared to his previous work, Charlie Lambert said that this one was up there as one of the biggest.
“We’ve never done four songs before. Usually, it’s just a one-lead single that we push but we wanted to make this a campaign that lasted for six weeks, from now all the way through to the grand final. Rather than having one song, we thought why not give three of the new songs ago and then one of their older songs? We’ll have way more variety in all of our edits and promos.”
Left: Charlie Lambert
Lambert said that planning a six week campaign allowed the project to have flexibility and diversity as a long offseason looms, giving the team a few aces up their sleeves.
“It allows us to make better, more up-to-date promos, rather than just flogging a dead horse and running the same thing over and over. We’d rather update our edits and run things into kickoff when everyone’s engaged, rather than run the one 30-40 second promo a million times during the week and everyone’s over it.”
Fox Sport’s promotional videos have become a signature of the channel, due to their cinematic qualities. Lambert has credited his work in this area to both the support from Foxtel CEO, Patrick Delaney, and Fox Sports executive director, Steve Crawley but also from his team.
“It takes an army, it’s not just about me or Matt Nabel or Steve Crawley. We’ve got multiple cameraman, we got producers, we got production assistants, there’s a set build, pyro, getting music rights cleared. Probably the biggest thing is the groundwork getting into Allianz Stadium to film this, because we were the first ones to film anything on the pitch.”
The soundtrack of the NRL finals on Fox League
“They’ve chipped in financially to the shoots. From lighting to pyro, even flights and accommodation, we’ve split it down the middle. That’s rare in this type of thing. Bands don’t usually chip in, they want to be paid and that’s something we’re trying to build at Fox by collaborating more and making it more about 50/50 and them getting exposure and us being able to make some great content.”
Lambert said that pairing Parkway Drive and Jack Harlow allowed Fox League to have acts from the opposite end of the musical spectrum.
“It’s funny, a lot of the Panthers players are right into Jack Harlow. They came along to the gig where we filmed it. With the team that’s dominating the last couple of years and sitting on top of the ladder, we just thought that was an appropriate music choice. He was out here on the back of Splendour so the stars aligned.”
When asked about the song choice, Nable said that it was super exciting.
“We want to be upbeat and the song choices that they’ve got for this are incredible. This will be really moving, leaning into the nostalgia of what happened here years and years ago on this site. We were here Friday shooting. We’re here again today. So it’ll be a triple A production, that’s for sure.”
Lambert said that while the campaign features a host of big names, it comes down to how the final product makes viewers feel.
“It doesn’t matter about who the artist is or what their image is, as long as the music works with sport. Rugby League is so tribal, it doesn’t really matter who the artist is, as long as the music works and it matches up with all our footage and the shoots with the players. It’s just cool and if we can help engage fans or inspire some kids watching at home and I think we’ve done our job.”