Mobile - NFL+ VIP Tour
Overview
The mobile NFL+ app needed a more personal and immersive way for fans to engage on game days. I helped concept and design the Game Day VIP Tour—a mobile-first feature that blends live video, expert commentary, and story-like POVs from NFL hosts and analysts.
The goal: make every Sunday feel exclusive and dynamic, even off the field.
Problem & Approach
The NFL app had the basics—scores, schedules, highlights—but it lacked energy. Fans weren’t just looking for stats; they wanted real voices, reactions, and the kind of presence you'd get watching with a friend.
Meanwhile, platforms like TikTok had already shaped how people consume content—fast, swipeable, and full of personality. So I started exploring how NFL+ could bring that same feeling into the app.
The idea was to add something light and intuitive—short-form video, live commentary, team POVs—that fans could dip into anytime and still feel connected to the game.
User Research Insights
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"I can get scores anywhere—I want to hear what people think in real time. Like, what are the analysts saying?"
Many users felt the core app delivered too much data and not enough personality. Fans missed the emotional energy of live commentary, hot takes, and real-time reactions—especially when watching alone or on mobile. This validated the need for a POV-driven, host-centered experience to complement the static data. -
"It’s annoying when I have to stop the stream just to hear a different view or switch apps."
Users didn’t want to choose between watching the game and hearing different commentary. The VIP layer needed to dock, float, or persist across tabs—so users could seamlessly layer commentary or switch POVs without interrupting their experience.
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"I didn’t even know there were extra features—I just watch the game and leave."
Many unsubscribed or unaware users didn’t realize there were bonus experiences or alternate commentary options. This drove the need for smart UI states (e.g. preview cards, tooltips, and CTAs) that gently surfaced what they were missing—without pushing too hard.
Mapping the VIP Layer into the NFL+ Ecosystem
To ensure the VIP Tour feature felt cohesive and accessible, I mapped out how it would fit into the existing NFL+ app structure. We created a clear two-level model:
Level 1: Exisitng Core Navigation
Primary landing experiences across Home, Scores, Watch, and Team tabs
Each tab includes a personalized feed based on followed teams and favorite players
Consistent features across tabs: upsells, promos, content previews, and recovery hooks
Level 2: VIP Tour (Venue Layer)
The VIP Tour was launched from modules on the Home, Scores, or Watch tabs during live game windows (see next section). It featured rich, dynamic content including live commentary and shows, alternate POVs from analysts and hosts, replays and bonus segments, custom highlight reels, and interactive formats like matching cards.
2. Designing the VIP Layer
I introduced a new modular component (designed in Sketch) into the Home, Scores, and Watch tabs (see below), surfacing the "NFL Game Day VIP Tour" as a tappable live module.
Component Design
Home - Before & After
Scores - Before & After
Watch - Before & After
2. Designing the story-style experience
I designed a story-style experience where users could swipe through live analyst POVs or jump into live commentary, like you would on Instagram. I added a carousel of featured hosts, each with swipeable cards and live status indicators. Viewers could dock the player or switch between different talent feeds. The goal was to bring more personality and energy into NFL+ by turning game day updates into full-screen, vertical stories—blending live commentary, video, and player moments in a more social, engaging format.
Full Screen Story UI Iterations
I designed a scrollable carousel that brought together on-air hosts, players, and team identities into one easy-to-browse view. Fans could explore stories by personality or team, making the experience feel more personal, dynamic, and familiar.
Horizontal Carousel of Hosts Component
4. Layering Audio + Commentary into the Watch Experience
We didn’t want fans to choose between watching and listening, so I integrated VIP audio states directly into the docked player’s expanded view. Users could toggle between the national broadcast, home or away audio, or VIP commentary. Subtitles and captions were also available for accessibility, and transitions between audio modes were designed to be seamless—ensuring playback continued uninterrupted.
5. Card Component Variations
I designed a flexible card system to support the wide range of content states tied to the VIP Tour experience. These cards needed to adapt to different user types (subscribed or not), live content windows (pre-live, live, post-live), and visual formats (video, text, CTA-driven).
The goal was to create a scalable component that could work for various situations. Variations accounted for live status indicators, personalized messaging, and contextual CTAs (e.g. “Listen Live” or “Replay Available”), helping surface the right content at the right time without overwhelming the interface.
6. Wireframes —> Final UI
I mapped multiple states (subscribed, unsubscribed, pre-live, post-live) and designed a flexible content model that could scale across teams, hosts, and programming.
7. Results & Impact
The NFL+ VIP Tour feature positioned the app to better meet the expectations of a modern fanbase. While exact metrics are confidential, the design:
Created a more engaging, personality-driven experience
Increased time-on-app during game windows
Supported future monetization opportunities around talent and branded content
Laid the groundwork for deeper personalization and social-style storytelling
It also opened new questions for the future:
How can we build fan followings around specific hosts or teams?
What role should chat or fan-to-fan interactions play?
Can VIP-style coverage become a differentiator for NFL+ long term?
Final Thoughts
This project pushed the boundaries of what a sports app could feel like—moving beyond pure utility into something more human, emotional, and fun. By meeting fans where they already were (on mobile, in social-native patterns), we made NFL+ feel not just informative, but alive.