College Football Playoff Wins Big
The new college football series opens with a new identity and trophy design.
Last night Ohio State triumphed over Oregon 42-20 to win the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. Watched by a capacity crowd of 85,689 in the stands and a cable television record of 33.4 million viewers—ESPN’s largest audience and highest overnight rating ever—the game represents a stunning success for the new era in college football.
Pentagram’s Michael Gericke and his team created an iconic trophy and visual identity to build the foundation for the new four-team playoff and raise its profile in the national conversation. The designs were fundamental elements in shaping every aspect of a mega sports event that combines the excitement of a tournament with a championship game on par with the Super Bowl.
Sleek and contemporary, the 24-karat gold, bronze and stainless steel trophy expands on the identity originally created by Michael Gericke and Matt McInerney for College Football Playoff. The symbol's two rising brackets represent the coming together of the best teams in the playoff system and form the shape of a virtual football—the four laces of the ball portray the four playoff teams.
The final impact of the College Football Playoff surpassed all expectations. The championship game’s 18.5 rating represents a 21 percent increase over the 2014 BCS national championship, which drew a 15.3 rating. The championship followed the College Football Playoff’s semifinal Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl games that were each watched by more than 28 million viewers on New Year’s Day—the top two rated shows in the history of cable television after the championship game, and more than NFL playoff viewership that weekend. When the final tally comes in next week, the championship game is also expected to have an estimated economic impact of $308 million for North Texas, where the big game was hosted.
Pentagram's identity and trophy images were ever-present at the championship game. The design firm Infinite Scale created a creative program of bold and powerful environmental graphics expressing the spirit of Pentagram’s identity, including an eight-story-high “2015” wordmark on the façades of AT&T Stadium and supersize CFP and 2015 Championship logos on the field.
Pentagram also previously designed the logo and identity program for the Big Ten Conference.
