With the NSW Blues claiming a dominant 18–6 win over Queensland in Game One, the 2025 State of Origin series has already proven a blockbuster on the field. But what’s unfolding around the edges of the action is just as powerful.
Nine’s director of content partnerships, sport, Olympic and Paralympic Games, Anne Gruber, sat down with B&T to unpack how the broadcaster has transformed Origin into a launchpad for brands looking to connect in high-emotion, high-stakes environments, and the results speak for themselves.
Central to this is Nine’s exclusive broadcast rights to the State of Origin series, giving them unparalleled access and control over how the event is presented and leveraged across multiple platforms. This exclusivity allows Nine to craft deeply immersive and integrated brand experiences that resonate with audiences on and off the field.
At the heart of Nine’s 2025 coverage is a suite of bespoke, deeply considered brand integrations, each one aligned to the moment, the message, and the emotion of Origin.
Gruber said planning begins immediately after the NRL Grand Final, when conversations with partners kick off around the following year’s season. “We take to market our full NRL offering literally off the back of an NRL season,” she said. “So after a Grand Final has just happened in October, we start talking to brands about the following year”.
“It rings true to speak about Origin as a high-impact environment,” Gruber told B&T. “You’ve got intense national pride, rivalry, and that emotional connection Origin creates. In turn, that gives you a really receptive audience, which is why the briefs we receive and the brand partners we work with use Origin to launch big marketing initiatives, rather than standard retail messaging”.
That emotional intensity doesn’t just play out on the field; it’s woven through every brand touchpoint in Nine’s Origin coverage.
Westpac: Defence On and Off the Field
One of the most prominent campaigns this year comes from Westpac, which has activated in two significant ways. The first is a series of six bespoke 15-second TV commercials featuring Nine’s own NRL talent. These ads are styled as behind-the-scenes “fly-on-the-wall” moments, capturing the natural banter between commentators and linking it to Westpac’s messaging around scam and fraud defence.
“Their brief focused on putting our NRL talent front and centre, tapping into their personalities and banter, while seamlessly weaving in messaging around scam and fraud prevention,” Gruber explained.
The second activation is the Westpac Red Zone, a returning broadcast feature given fresh context. “We’re weaving that into the Westpac Red Zone as kind of a key moment in the Origin broadcast,” she said.
The commentary segment draws a metaphor between Origin’s elite defensive plays and Westpac’s security infrastructure, turning analysis into brand storytelling. “Because it’s about defence, right? So we had our commentators discuss defensive matchups, for Game One, that was Latrell Mitchell versus Robert Toia”.
Nine’s expert commentators analysed how each player’s defensive prowess would impact the outcome of the upcoming Origin clash, drawing parallels to the layers of defence Westpac provides against scams and fraud. This authentic and insightful discussion resonated with fans, naturally weaving Westpac’s message into the fabric of the State of Origin experience.
Kia: Driving the Tasman into Prime Time
Kia sought to transform the traditional half-time highlights into a groundbreaking, media-first experience. The vision was an Augmented Reality (AR) bumper designed to seamlessly transition viewers into the highlights segment. This AR experience was meticulously crafted to introduce “Tasman Town”, Kia’s fictional marketing hub for the Ute, while simultaneously showcasing the Tasman’s unique features. State of Origin was identified as the launch platform for Ute sales across Australia, making the precision and scale of this execution critical to Kia’s marketing strategy.
“It’s very kind of Yellowstone vibes,” said Gruber.
The visually rich experience not only established Kia’s distinctive fictional world but also highlighted the Kia Tasman Ute’s key differentiators in the market. The concise timeframe demanded a highly impactful visual narrative, ensuring viewers were immediately captivated and informed about the Tasman’s superior attributes.
For Kia, it wasn’t just about showcasing a vehicle; it was about storytelling and world-building in a format that resonated with the moment. Gruber added that integrations like this go beyond the logo. “When brands are launching major campaigns—especially those highlighting key features of a car, product, or service—we often work with them to integrate that language into our commentary or graphics, which is something we’re always looking to build on”.
Universal Pictures: Dragons Descend on Suncorp
Arguably, the most visually dramatic integration came from Universal Pictures, which used the halftime break of Game One to launch the trailer for its live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon. In a highly cinematic augmented reality moment, dragons flew into the stadium broadcast, constructed a massive screen in the middle of Suncorp, and began playing the trailer, all with seamless 3D effects.
“That one was quite a large-scale execution, and was pretty intrusive,” Gruber said. “We love kind of pushing the boundaries a little bit, certainly the boundaries between editorial and weaving in the brand partners”.
She likened the moment to a Super Bowl-style activation: bold, unexpected, and designed to keep viewers glued to the screen during halftime.
Youi: Putting Fans in the Frame
Youi took a more emotionally grounded approach with its “Footy. Made by Fans” platform, launching a custom Youi Fan Cam that celebrates supporters inside the stadium. “They support the game at all levels,” Gruber noted. “It’s really authentic, it’s impactful. And it’s all about capturing the live fans in the stadium and showcasing the energy and atmosphere thanks to the fans, because obviously, without the fans, we wouldn’t have an event”.
The Fan Cam runs immediately after a try is scored, capturing the raw emotion and loyalty of the crowd and bringing fans watching the game at home live into the action from around the stadium.
Why It All Works: Context, Culture and a Captive Audience
What makes Origin such fertile ground for these campaigns is the rare convergence of mass reach and cultural significance. It’s almost becoming a Super Bowl of Australia, Gruber said. “The only difference is maybe the marketing budget… but that’s definitely how we’re encouraging brands to treat it, and how many are now treating it”.
She explained that integration works best when it provides something extra to the audience, whether it’s humour, information, or a wow moment, without disrupting the pace or emotion of the game. “It’s all about making sure that you’ve got something for the audience that they can engage in simultaneously”.
Placement is key.
“It’s not taking away from a key moment… It’s about how you integrate the brands and when. There’s a real fine line with that”.
With Game Two airing tonight and Nine’s production team already preparing for 2026, Origin has become more than a sporting fixture, it’s a high-stakes content ecosystem. “It’s kind of a triple whammy, big audiences, high engagement across platforms, and real-time national cultural context,” Gruber concluded.
“That makes it a really unparalleled opportunity for brands.”
