The old expression, “The show must go on,” is finding new life this week as FanDuel presses forward with its Kick of Destiny 2 campaign, just days after the death of one of its stars, Carl Weathers. Weathers, a film icon since his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies played himself in the campaign, which is centered around former NFL star Rob Gronkowski’s attempts to kick a field goal during a commercial break in the big game.
Last year, FanDuel ran Kick of Destiny 1 and played it relatively straight using Gronk’s former teammate and New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri as his kicking coach. Kick of Destiny 2 borrows heavily from Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore film and features Weathers reprising his role as sports mentor to a frustrated athlete learning a new skill. Though Weathers was never a kicker, he did spend two years in the NFL with the (then) Oakland Raiders.
Kick of Destiny 2 is actually an entire ad campaign that culminates with Gronk making a field goal attempt with fans earning bonus bets based on the outcome.
Gronk is taking the whole affair pretty seriously saying, “I can’t lie, when I missed the Kick of Destiny during last year’s Super Bowl, it was devastating. I told the team at FanDuel I knew I could do better and needed a shot at redemption this year. I’m going to show America I can make that kick, even with all the pressure of doing it live in front of the entire country. No wind is going to stop me, and we’re going through the uprights this year for everyone who picks that I’m going to make the kick.”
Eligible FanDuel customers who pick correctly will win an equal share of $10,000,000 in bonus bets.