PLAYING THE NFL
Aristocrat goes international on its unique series of NFL-branded slot games
By Frank Legato
While this space is rarely used to promote individual slot games, the timing of the Super Bowl highlights a particular series of slots from leading manufacturer Aristocrat Gaming.
For more than two years, Aristocrat has been adding different games to its series based on a partnership with the National Football League first announced in early 2022. For any fan of NFL football, the best feature of this game series is the ability to tailor any game in the group to his or her own hometown NFL team.
Displayed prominently on the front of each slot is a “Pick Your Team” prompt screen. Players pick their favorite team from a screen displaying the logos of all 32 NFL teams. Once the selection is made, the entire color scheme, reel symbols and top box switch to that team’s colors, logos and images.
Footage from the team’s game broadcasts in the most recent season is incorporated into bonuses and other game events. Every year, Aristocrat goes back and refreshes the images so the current players on the user’s favorite team are depicted in the footage used in the bonuses.
From the outset, the game series has been a major hit for Aristocrat. The supplier has released a parade of new entries into the series in each of its game styles and cabinets, from video to reel-spinning slots, in large and small formats. With the popularity of the series firmly established in U.S. gaming markets, this year Aristocrat is expanding the series beyond the continental U.S.
At last month’s ICE Barcelona, the largest casino industry trade show serving the U.K., Europe, Middle East and African markets, Aristocrat sought to seize on the growing popularity of American football abroad, showcasing the latest game in the series, NFL Triple Score.
The week after the ICE show, the game was launched in Puerto Rico with a 13-casino debut on the Jackpot del Encanto progressive jackpot link, beginning on Jan. 22 at Casino del Mar in San Juan.
NFL Triple Score applies the NFL theme to features drawn from the popular Bao Zhu Zhao Fu game series. In line with the most popular game feature of the day, it employs a three-pot metamorphic figure that leads to the supplier’s trademark Hold & Spin bonus.
The pots add three different enhancements to the Hold & Spin feature, which in its basic form is a three-spin cycle that returns to three spins with each additional cash-on-reels symbol that lands. As with other Aristocrat Hold & Spin games, filling all 15 symbols on the main grid with cash and/or jackpot symbols returns the Grand progressive jackpot, resetting at $10,000.
A very cool random feature on the new game is Jackpot Kick, in which the player selects from three footballs for a kick that can result in credit prizes or any of the three progressive jackpots—the Grand, a Major progressive resetting at $1,000 and a Maxi resetting at $500.
The new game joins the diverse versions of the NFL theme already present in U.S. markets, beginning with the inaugural game in the series, Super Bowl Jackpots. This was the first game in a new cabinet series developed in tandem, the King Max. Its 63.5-inch curved monitor sweeps from the top progressive meters to a large virtual button deck with dual bash buttons. It’s all in front of a two-seat iBench or “iChair3,” with surround-sound audio.
This game also uses a three-pot feature leading to the Hold & Spin bonus. It is on a million-dollar link, with a top progressive jackpot resetting at $1 million.
Other games in the series include Overtime Cash, a high-denomination mechanical reel-spinning game, on the Marquis cabinet—a premium three-reel cabinet with a large bonus wheel on top. It is a three-reel, nine-line, 10-credit game. That 10th credit is essentially an ante wager that activates a great feature of the game, the “Interception Feature.” Randomly, the game will “intercept” a losing spin and turn it into a winning spin.
The third game in the NFL series, Super Bowl Link, was released on the MarsX Portrait cabinet. The multiple-progressive game features the Hold & Spin mechanic in a bonus round that can yield cash-on-reels and a progressive award.
The other three NFL games are each on different cabinets. Winning Drive is featured on the massive Neptune Double, with its tall dual portraits providing an immersive way to enjoy the sports theme. Kickoff and Ring of Victory are reel-spinning games on Aristocrat’s premium mechanical reel cabinets. These latter two are designed for Class II electronic bingo markets in U.S. Native American jurisdictions.
As Aristocrat continues to expand the NFL series, players can leave their Super Bowl parties to find their favorite teams represented in a great and growing variety of game styles.
