Wrapping Gridiron Passion

From such legendary football stars as Iowa’s Nile Kinnick, Ohio State’s Archie Griffin and Michigan’s Charles Woodson, to current gridiron luminaries like Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor and Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones, the Big Ten Conference’s football squads have stirred passions and fueled rivalries for decades.

The debate about which college-football conference fields the best top-to-bottom competition could rage for hours, but the Big Ten’s fans, who populate such behemoth stadiums as Ohio State’s “Horseshoe” and the University of Michigan’s “Big House” (capacities 102,329 and 107,501, respectively), annually rank among the nation’s most devoted.

Since the Big Ten Network’s inception two years ago, it’s dutifully covered many of the conference’s men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports and broadcasts some campus programming produced by the conference’s member schools. However, fanning football fanaticism remains a large part of its purpose.

The network toured the conference’s member schools this month in a tourbus to capture fall-practice footage to preview the 11 conference squads’ upcoming seasons. According to the Big Ten Network’s Elizabeth Conlisk, they opted to incorporate vehicle graphics that promote its upcoming “Football Four Pack,” a quartet of review and preview shows that will begin airing September 8.

To help create buzz during its travels, it ordered an approximately 1,100-sq.-ft vehicle wrap. Hit State (Long Island, NY) created the wrap template using graphics provided by the network. Andy Randazzo, Hit State’s principal, said the firm coordinated the “Four Pack” wrap graphics with print, web and other collateral materials.

Vomela (St. Paul, MN), produced the graphics. Frank Lamanna, a Vomela sales executive, said the shop fabricated the wrap in 26 panels using 3M’s IJ3552 Controltac film with Comply air-egress adhesive. They protected the film with 3M’s 8519 luster-finish overlaminate. Color Graphics (Andover, MN) completed the project’s installation.

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