NFL and American Heart Association team up to encourage kids to get active at school

This back to school season the American Heart Association and the National Football League (NFL), in collaboration with its 32 NFL clubs, are offering students exciting ways to move more with NFL PLAY 60™. Physical activity is important as students return to the classroom. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, active kids learn better, focus more, think more clearly, react to stress more calmly, and perform and behave better in the classroom.

The American Heart Association, devoted to a world of healthier lives for all, recommends that kids get a minimum of 60 minutes of vigorous physical activity each day. Developing healthy habits and reducing sedentary behaviors in kids is key to immediate and long-term health benefits that can play a role in the classroom experience.

Getting active for 60 minutes a day is critical as kids who are regularly active have a better chance of a healthy adulthood. For more than 15 years, the American Heart Association and the NFL have found innovative ways to bring fun and easy-to-access resources to classrooms, afterschool programs and homes to meet kids where they are in support of mental and physical wellness.”

Nancy Brown, chief executive officer, American Heart Association

Rooted in that science, NFL PLAY 60 helps children to develop healthy physical and mental health habits for a better chance of healthy adulthood. This year’s in-school activation will provide students opportunities to get physically active throughout the 2023-2024 NFL season from Kickoff to the 2024 NFL Draft.

One way students can get active with NFL PLAY 60 is through a series of NFL PLAY 60 Fitness Break broadcasts. The first of three broadcasts will air on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. ET/ 12 p.m. CT/ 10 a.m. PT. This 15-minute, synchronous back-to-school, back-to-football broadcast features the New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions. The broadcast helps students to understand the connection between physical activity and classroom performance along with opportunities to move with exercise segments. Two additional Fitness Break broadcasts will be held later in the school year. A Super Bowl LVIII broadcast will be held on Feb. 8 and an NFL Draft broadcast on April 25. Advanced registration for all three broadcasts is required.

“NFL PLAY 60 gives students across the country an opportunity to participate in daily physical activity in school and at home,” says Anna Isaacson, Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility. “Our continued partnership with the American Heart Association and expansion of video resources is an important tool in promoting a healthy lifestyle among our young fans. With participation from players and teams, we are looking forward to continuing our commitment throughout the 2023-2024 season.”

The second opportunity for students to get active is through a new weekly series of NFL PLAY 60 Movement Moments, which will launch in October and run through December. The Movement Moments feature NFL teams playing each week throughout the season in head-to-head exercise videos from the NFL PLAY 60 Exercise Library, on-demand exercises from the 32 NFL teams. Classrooms will be asked to vote on their favorite team or video at the end of each week, and the three classrooms with the most votes at the end of the Movement Moment series will be eligible for a $1,000 grant to use for physical activity equipment. One national winning school, receiving an additional $1,000 grant, will be named in the Super Bowl Fitness Break broadcast. Registration for the Movement Moment weekly matchup is available on www.heart.org/nflplay60.

Lastly the NFL PLAY 60 app, free and available for iOS and Android devices, allows users to select their favorite team and control personalized avatars onscreen with their own physical movement. Users can create custom workouts and earn special PLAY points and unlock cool NFL gear for on-screen PLAY 60 avatars. Launching again, this is the NFL PLAY 60 Fitness Tracking Competition which will run from Jan. 22 to Feb. 9. Using the Group Quickplay feature in the app, students will get active together adding to their classroom’s total activity minutes. At the end of the three-week competition, the classroom with the most activity minutes in each of the 32 NFL markets will receive a $1,000 grant with an additional $1,000 grant being awarded to the top classroom overall.