Touchdown in Tennessee: A 360° Approach to the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl
REED partnered with Music City Bowl LLC to promote and host the 2025 Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl, an SEC and Big Ten showdown featuring the University of Illinois and the University of Tennessee. Taking place in Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, this bowl game marked the teams’ first-ever matchup.
REED was hired to facilitate all aspects of the event, including developing and executing media relations, influencer/tastemaker and community relations, social media strategy, paid marketing, planning and coordination of a coach’s press conferences at the legendary Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center and a post-game press conference onsite at Nissan Stadium. The team was also tasked with planning and executing the Nissan Stadium gameday press box, which encompassed researching and building target outreach lists, coordinating credentials and media RSVPs and securing coverage before and after the bowl game to boost event interest. Lastly, the team supported the overall attendance and announcement of the title sponsor, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and staffed the Welcome Party at Category 10, the Battle of the Bands and the Team Gifting Suite.
REED coordinated with the brand’s marketing partners to execute a two-part marketing initiative focused on SEM, Meta and Snapchat advertising, display site retargeting banners and connected TV behavioral targeting.
Our approach was rooted in the belief that a bowl game is more than 60 minutes of football—it is a city-wide takeover. To drive significant public impact for the Music City Bowl and Liberty Mutual, we moved beyond standard event promotion to execute a 360-degree immersion strategy, bridging the gap between digital hype and boots-on-the-ground logistics. Our method consisted of a fully integrated communications plan that utilized traditional media and influencer relations, paid marketing, digital advertising, community relations and on-site event planning, execution and management.
By amplifying the event as a “can’t-miss” Nashville weekend through influencer partnerships and seamless media operations, we didn’t just generate buzz; we created a sense of urgency that converted casual fans into ticket holders. These efforts resulted in the bowl’s strongest viewership since 2021 and a 200% surge in social engagement, proving that a unified brand voice across all touchpoints is the key to local and national relevance.
INSIGHT:
People hate feeling left out. With a legacy event like a bowl game, fans don’t just want to know what’s happening; they want to feel like they’re part of it and able to say, “I was there.” For the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl, REED leaned into that natural fear of missing out and built a campaign around the idea that this isn’t just a football game; it was a “can’t-miss Nashville weekend” that everyone will be talking about.
With the bowl game and its festivities occurring in the days before New Year’s Eve, one of Nashville’s busiest times of year, REED’s strategy focused on creating moments that felt timely, shareable and hard to skip to ensure tourists and locals were enjoying downtown before the last day of the year. Through media and influencer efforts, REED aimed to raise awareness not only of the Music City Bowl but also of the individual teams playing, the University of Tennessee Vols and the University of Illinois Fighting Illini. By making participation feel visible and timely, the campaign turned the Bowl into something fans didn’t want to watch from afar.
STRATEGY:
To move consumers to action, we paired high-impact, real-world content across traditional media with a targeted, data-driven digital strategy designed to reach fans at multiple touchpoints. On the ground, we leveraged the scale and excitement of the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl through press conferences, influencer and content creator partnerships and both public and private events in Nashville to generate authentic content and earned media momentum. These efforts created credibility and an emotional connection around the bowl and its title sponsor, giving fans a reason to engage.
Digitally, REED worked with its marketing partners to execute a two-part paid media initiative focused on SEM, Meta and Snapchat advertising, supported by display retargeting and connected TV behavioral targeting. This approach allowed us to capture high-intent audiences searching for bowl-related content, re-engage users who had already interacted with event or sponsor messaging and reinforce awareness through strategic placements. By aligning live event storytelling with precision targeting and retargeting, we guided consumers from awareness to engagement, driving ticket interest and brand exposure throughout local bowl season.
ACTIVATION:
REED led comprehensive public relations, marketing and on-site media operations for the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl, supporting the event from title sponsor announcement through game day execution. Our team assisted in coordinating and staffing the official on-site press conference to announce Liberty Mutual as the bowl’s title sponsor, securing and managing attending media for the reveal. We fully planned, staffed and operated the press box, including media credentialing, seating assignments, stat runners, flip cards and on-field media coordination. We also managed and executed the post-game press conference and drafted and distributed the official post-game press release.
In addition to media operations, we staffed the bowl game by hosting influencers and local talent, providing pre-game field access and curated game-day experiences. We planned and executed a coach’s press conference from the ground up at the iconic Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center and managed on-site media for key week-of events, including the Battle of the Bands featuring the University of Tennessee and the University of Illinois on Lower Broadway, as well as the official welcome party for both teams and executives at Category 10 in Nashville.
RESULTS:
Due to the collaborative efforts of REED, Music City Bowl, Liberty Mutual Insurance, ESPN and other event sponsors, the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl drew 52,815 attendees and reached 5.4 million viewers on ESPN, peaking at 8 million viewers, the bowl’s strongest viewership performance since 2021. The Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl was a key player in what has become ESPN’s most-watched bowl season in a decade.
The bowl’s social media account achieved a 200%+ average growth rate and set a record for engagement over the course of the partnership.