NFL Teams Up With Epic Games to Bring All 32 Team Uniforms to 'Fortnite' The beleaguered league hopes to get a boost from one of the most popular video games in the world.
Between reduced viewership, controversy over players kneeling during the national anthem, and ever-growing proof that concussions are not good things, the National Football League has been having a rough go of it lately. In a bid to connect with a different audience and find some new fans, the NFL announced on Monday that it's teaming up with Epic Games, creator of one of the most popular video games in the world, Fortnite.
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Here's the scoop from the NFL:
Beginning Friday, November 9, NFL team "outfits" will be available in the Battle Royale Item Shop. This unique opportunity will give Fortnite players the ability to purchase and customize up to eight outfits representing their favorite NFL teams.
In addition to NFL team outfits, there will be football-themed emotes, harvesting tools, gliders, and even a referee outfit, so players can bring their passion for football into Fortnite.
Once a player owns an NFL team outfit they will be able to choose a uniform from any of the League's 32 teams and customize the jersey with a number of their choice (1-99). The NFL team outfits will be available as both male and female figures and can be customized with a different team/number each time a player uses the outfit in Fortnite.
The NFL team outfits will be available in Fortnite's Battle Royale Item Shop starting November 9 at 7 pm ET.
This is the first time Epic has partnered on special outfits inside Fortnite, and the NFL is hoping this union will get hardcore gamers excited about real-life gridiron action.
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"We see the popularity of Fortnite every day at the NFL as many of our players are passionate about this game," Brian Rolapp, Chief Media and Business Officer at the NFL, said in a press release. "This partnership represents a great opportunity for millions of NFL fans who are Fortnite players to express their fandom inside the game while at the same time exposing our brand to countless others."
Considering that Fortnite is free to download and play, this is also a wise move on Epic's end; football fans are sure to love the idea of wrapping characters in Tom Brady or Julio Jones skins.
As ESPN reports, Epic recently announced it had raised $1.25 billion, which gives Fortnite's producer a value of nearly $15 billion. That eye-popping figure is, no doubt, thanks to the game's insane popularity.
Just hope you don't get killed by someone in a Raiders jersey. That would be embarrassing.
