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- Travis Kelce's interactive Grow a Garden appearance
Travis Kelce's interactive Grow a Garden appearance
& PGA Tour double down on content innovation + Formula E & Marvel Studios partner for Fantastic Four London E-Prix
Joe Condon
July 29, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes
Hey folks - Joe here - this week’s edition is Edition #70 - always nice to hit a new decade, and thanks to you all for being along with us for the ride.
Today’s edition spotlights Travis Kelce’s appearance in Grow a Garden’s latest admin event, and why interactivity is now a necessity for community building, not just a nice to have.
Also covered: PGA Tour release Rapid Rounds focused on producing quick-fire round recaps, and how their content and product roadmap is being led by data + Formula E partners with Marvel Studios to promote Fantastic Four movie release, and why sports has become a popular home for movie marketers of late.
Let’s dive in!
Contents: Edition #70
Travis Kelce is special guest for Grow a Garden admin event
Travis Kelce made a surprise appearance in Roblox's popular game Grow a Garden during its July 26 admin update. The event attracted over 6 million players and featured an American football-themed storyline, including a meteor crash and exclusive in-game rewards. Kelce collaborated with the game's creator, Janzen “Jandel” Madsen, to also introduce new gameplay elements.
Why should you care?
TL;DR: Travis Kelce jumped into Grow a Garden for the latest admin event - bringing American football themed items to players. Kelce’s participation throughout the event made it far more interactive for players, and although not scalable in the same way as a year-round integration, it created hype and helped him (and his personal brand) to build connection with the community.
In full: Anyone with children, younger siblings or just a healthy interest in Roblox surely heard about this crossover this weekend, right?
Grow a Garden (GAG) is the Farmville-esque game that has been responsible for taking Roblox to new DAU heights (contributing ~22M concurrent users), and now as part of its weekly ‘admin update’, Travis Kelce dropped in to play.
The admin events happen every week, with mechanical or thematic updates offering rare items that are only available during that event. A big FOMO driver.
Whilst Kelce has perhaps long transcended his NFL career (thanks to the Swifties!), there is likely still a sub-section of Gen Z/A that are not interested in either sports or Taylor Swift (I know, unimaginable), but do play GAG - so it’s a smart way for him to engage with that group.
But of course there have been many athletes, creators and celebrities involved in Roblox and broader gaming before - so what makes this interesting?
Well, first up, the game being updated to match his brand (a football seed, a football pet & a touchdown event). Whilst the updates had a nod to him, the focus was still firmly on creating a fun experience and adding value to the players who attended the event. The right way round.
But more than anything else, it was the interactivity inside the experience.
The touchdown event put the emphasis on playing alongside others, Kelce and Jandel were chatting with players throughout, and they were both active participants throughout rather than just Kelce integrating his brand.
Although that approach isn’t necessarily scalable (he likely won’t do this very often), it did bring a more human touch. Combine that with the updates and event focused on giving players things that can enhance their experience on the game, it felt like a natural, non-intrusive way for Kelce to contribute to the culture of the game, all whilst growing awareness of himself with the audience.
So, key takeaways?
For developers: Will we also start to see more developers leverage ‘events’ on platform to improve stickiness and drive FOMO? I think so.
For IP owners, talent agencies & brands: Find authentic ways that match the mechanics and gameplay to show up. If there isn’t a match or way to fit into the narrative, even if the reach or cultural relevance are incredible - don’t do it.
For everyone: Interactivity is becoming an expectation, not a nice to have. Streamers asking ‘chat’ what their thoughts are throughout. Kelce engaging with players in-game and on chat during the event. All these are strong indicators that interactivity coupled with strong content or gameplay drives retention and loyalty.
So as we know, fans don’t just want to watch, they want to be part of the story, and the future will reward experiences that pull people in and make them feel like they’re really part of the ride.
PGA Tour launches Rapid Rounds
The PGA Tour, in partnership with CBS Sports, ESPN, Golf Channel, and NBC, introduced 'Rapid Rounds' at the 3M Open. This new content series offers quick-fire, full-round recaps of select players, providing fans with concise highlights and insights into key performances.
Why should you care?
TL;DR: Golf content that shows quick shots, putts and instant shot tracers have found an engaged audience on socials, so the PGA bringing in Rapid Rounds is extremely timely. It caters to an audience that are perhaps more casual, and just want to consume fast, high-energy highlights - which is a welcome addition to the Tour’s broadcast experience. Given the innovations are being led by fan research, there’s a good chance this lands well with their fanbase, and beyond.
In full: Golf isn’t my sport. I like to play it, but it doesn’t like me.
Yet I have cultivated a TikTok FYP where golf dominates. The short, snappy clips that just show the putts and shots (with the obligatory shot tracer added), and I’m hooked.
There’s the well known like Bryson DeChambeau hole-in-one challenge over his house, Grant Horvat’s channel etc - but there’s a wealth of golf content creators emerging, and I think more so than anything, this is driving the renaissance amongst younger audiences.
Yet, despite the jump in numbers of people consuming golf content, and likely playing golf too, I have yet to find myself sitting through and watching a whole round of golf (barring Rory McIlroy’s Masters playoff) - and it turns out I’m not alone.
Through Fan Forward, 44 percent of casual fans and 42 percent of core fans said they want to see more highlights and round recaps, the largest category of fan preference among six content enhancement options.
And so, Rapid Rounds was born. You can see an example below 👇
Despite its increased length (10+ minutes), as we’ve discussed on this newsletter & at our London show last month, attention span isn’t the issue - interest is.
By having highlights that brings fast-paced clips, clean graphics and instant shot tracers, it’s leaning into all the things that are finding success for creators, all whilst offering the pinnacle of the sport. That’s a winning combination.
And with ESPN, CBS Sports, NBC Sports & the Golf Channel all participating, it will offer variety in the broadcast experience, with viewers with a subscription now having a fast way to catch up on the day’s action.
I am however intrigued to see what distribution the Rapid Rounds content gets across socials (or if they will). It would feel like a missed putt to add all the mechanics audiences are favouring on those platforms, and then not put it in front of them to engage with (even if it has to be delayed to prioritise media partners and their subscribers seeing it first).
In any case, it’s refreshing to see a league like PGA building out their content and product roadmap based on fan feedback and data, and I look forward to seeing what they tackle next as part of the Fan Forward initiative.
Formula E partners with Marvel Studios for Fantastic Four collab
Formula E teamed up with Marvel Studios for the 2025 London E-Prix, officially titled the Marvel Fantastic Four London E-Prix. The collaboration saw the Fantastic Four integrated into the event, including a special transformation of Formula E's ATTACK MODE into Fantastic Four Attack Mode.
Why should you care?
TL;DR: Over the past year, we’ve seen sports and entertainment further merge. The reason these crossovers work boils down to timing, audience and story. Sports provide a year-round platform for brands to market, while shared passions between fans of both industries create real connections. The Formula E x Fantastic Four partnership, with its focus on speed, power-ups and teamwork, shows how storytelling can make these collaborations feel natural and on-brand.
In full: We’ve seen a wealth of entertainment partnerships in sports over the past 6-12 months.
Think:
And now, Formula E & Fantastic Four.
So what’s driving the crossovers? It could be simplified to fall under headings of Timing, Audience & Story.
Timing
Simply - sports, with their year-round events calendar, provide the perfect stage for movie marketing. Unlike a movie release that’s confined to a short window, sports events extend across much of the year, which gives the likes of Marvel the stage and opportunity to engage with fans for an extended period of time in specific markets.
Audience
It’s not just the timeline for cross-promotion that makes it work - it’s the shared passion points.
It’s of course impossible for us at SEG3 to not talk about the convergence of these industries, and how brands and IP are having to extend into new territories and industries for fan growth and cultural relevance.
But the extension isn’t a pipe dream or pointless expedition - many fans are fans of multiple forms of entertainment - whether that be sports & entertainment, film & TV, interactive entertainment - so there’s opportunity to lean into other passion points that make up their identity to grow awareness and fandom of your property.
Story
But to entice an audience, it has to feel like a natural extension. And for any superhero franchise, an opportunity to be aligned with a 'power-up’ in-race (transformed to the ‘Fantastic Four Attack Mode’) is right on brand. Combine that with the narrative alignment between Formula E & Fantastic Four on competition, speed and teamwork - and there’s your marketing story.
So, the blending of timing, audience, and story isn’t just about promoting a brand or a movie; it’s about creating experiences that feel natural to fans, enhance the narrative of the property, and extend the cultural relevance of both the sport and entertainment.
The Formula E x Fantastic Four collab, much like others before it, proves that storytelling has become the thread that ties sports and entertainment (and wider culture) together, giving all the opportunity to expand their universes, meet new audiences and keep them engaged across various platforms.
When done right, these crossovers become more than just marketing - they become cultural moments that fans want to be a part of. So expect to see much more blurring of lines over the coming months!
In other news this week…
Happy Gilmore 2 launch on Netflix is accompanied with game: read here.
Disney & Adidas partner on rewards program: read here.
Epoch Company files lawsuit over Sylvanian Drama TikTok channel: read here.
Roblox releases improved Cube 3D model: read here.
Disney Accelerator announces class of 2025: read here.
Pokemon & One Piece join forces in artwork crossover: read here.
Universal Music Group applies for music AI patents: read here.
Warner Bros. to launch in Fortnite for ‘Weapons’ launch: read here.
Voldex partners with Universal Pictures & Dreamworks on ‘Bad Guys 2’ Driving Empire integration: read here.
NFL reportedly in talks to take 10% stake in ESPN: read here.
MLS launches 30th anniversary Topps collection: read here.
NASCAR to launch iRacing console title: read here.
Courtyard raises $30 million Series A: read here.
IAB report finds 90% of advertisers rank mobile games as high for brand safety: read here.
Sony takes $464m stake in Bandai Namco: read here.
Kiko Cosmetics releases King’s Candy Crush themed collection: read here.
Online safety act comes into force in UK; requires age-verification: read here.
What are the most anticipated game releases of 2025?: read here.
SEGA uses Reddit for Two Point Museum launch: read here.
iion & TCL partner for ConnectedTV advertising: read here.
TopGolf partners with Netflix for Happy Gilmore 2 giveaway: read here.
Working on anything cool, or have a press release you would like us to cover? Send it in for the chance for it to be covered in next week’s edition!
That’s all for now folks - thanks again for reading the latest edition of The SEG3 Report and if you found it of interest, please do consider sharing with a friend!