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With the U.S. Open taking place in Los Angeles for the first time in 75 years, NBC Sports is leaning into Hollywood’s star power.
The company teamed up with Jason Bateman and Will Arnett for a series of three spots promoting the golf championship, happening June 15-18 at the Los Angeles Country Club and airing across NBC, USA and Peacock.
“Sand Trap,” the final 30-second promo, will debut this weekend across NBC’s linear, social and digital properties around French Open coverage. The spot features Arnett stuck in a sand trap, with Bateman attempting to help him out of the jam.
“Let’s approach hitting it out of the trap soon, because this is the Los Angeles Country Club, where all the best players in the world are coming to play the U.S. Open. They’ll be here soon,” says Bateman.
“Really helpful, Jason,” Arnett adds, with the pair name dropping some of the top athletes competing in the tournament.
NBCUniversal developed the three promos internally without partnering with an outside agency.
“With something this fun, we would not want to outsource it,” Joseph Lee, NBCUniversal’s svp of creative marketing, told Adweek.
The idea for the campaign was born when members of the company’s marketing department, while shooting a separate campaign, spotted Arnett and Bateman playing golf with Xander Schauffele and John McEnroe.
“When we saw them there and the interaction between them, we thought, ‘Wow, this is very interesting. It’s incredibly entertaining,’” said Lee. “How can we bridge the world of entertainment with the world of golf? Can we create a campaign where we leverage that idea that L.A. is the mecca of entertainment and have them represent that world as it relates to golf?”
The pair starred together in Arrested Development, and Lee said their real-life dynamic is reminiscent of the banter the two shared in the show.
“They really fell into a cadence,” said Lee, adding the two are avid golf fans in real life.
The first spot rolled out in the latter parts of the Kentucky Derby broadcast earlier this month. The second promo debuted during the Indy 500 and featured the stars on a putting green, with a reference to “No Touching” as a nod to Arrested Development.
NBCUniversal chose to roll the spots out strategically during some of its biggest sports properties. The Derby averaged 15 million viewers (the most watched event on TV since the Super Bowl), and last week’s Indy 500 pulled in 5 million average viewers.
NBC Sports shot the promos on May 1 at the Los Angeles Country Club. Lee said it was one of the first times the club had allowed any filming done on the course.
