SVG Sit-Down: Minnesota Vikings' Bryan Harper on the New Era of Content Creation at TCO Studios The team's VP, content and production, prepares for exciting 2018 in a sparking new studio By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Wednesday, June 20, 2018 - 3:46 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
It's another exciting summer in the Twin Cities as the Minnesota Vikings christen their sparkling new headquarters and practice facility, TCO Performance Center. One of the cornerstones of the facility is TCO Studios, which showcases the franchise's commitment to video (and overall media) production.
Bryan Harper, VP, content and production, Minnesota Vikings, oversees the Vikings Entertainment Network (VEN), which - including all elements from digital, social, video, editorial, broadcast, and game presentation - has a staff of upwards of 26 full-timers (following a few timely hires over the next month). It's their job to create content for everything from linear television to social media, digital platforms, the team's website, the team's OTT app, screens throughout TCO Performance Center, screens throughout U.S. Bank Stadium, and much, much more.
Minnesota Vikings' Bryan Harper: What we're trying to do on top of our standard expectations is to create content that our fans can't get elsewhere.
For a detailed look at the new TCO Studios, CLICK HERE, but, for now, we sat down with Harper to discuss the impact of these new facilities, the raised level of expectations, how he determines success in the digital-media world, and what makes the Vikings brand unique in the NFL.
Does this new facility make you rethink or change the voice and the brand of the Vikings, or does this just amplify what that culture is?
I think [U.S. Bank Stadium] was what really gave us the opportunity to redirect or set the tone, and this just amplifies that. This is that last step. We laid out this plan and picked [the steps] off one-by-one. Now this makes us whole. It's all very cohesive, and you can see elements of the brand, not only at U.S. Bank Stadium but throughout this facility. Pretty much everything that we're doing that's outward-facing that the fans are consuming, we do a really good job of working together across departments to make sure it is consistent.
How would you describe the Vikings brand from a content standpoint? What differentiates it from the other NFL franchises?
I think what makes us unique is that being the Vikings is so connected to Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. The Scandinavian heritage of the Vikings, which were a real culture, is something that you connect with as someone from this part of the country. We have the Skol Chant, the Gjallarhorn, these rituals and traditions on game days, which fans really get behind and love. That's part of our brand, and it's something you can't do - and this no offense to these teams - if you are the Dolphins or the Falcons, because they don't have that deep rooted connection to the local culture. It really gives us a competitive advantage when you compare us with other franchises.
Obviously, there's a lot more going on at this facility than just your part of the business. It seems like you have a pretty involved seat at the table. That's not always the case in venues or facilities. That must be fulfilling at the end of the day.
You're right. With any project, there's going to be things that you look back on a think, Eh, I would have done that a little bit differently. Frankly, there's a few of those here. But I think, for the most part, we did a really good job communicating and allowing for that back and forth and preventing as much of that as possible.
The dynamic nature of the space is important because it gives us the ability to reach a lot of goals on so many different platforms because of the plan that we had going into it. That started with the stadium, as I said. We had this momentum coming from the stadium, and we needed to put the final peg in with the studio here.
Sure, we had a vision and a seat at the table, but, at the end of the day, it comes down to support from ownership. The fact that they love our content, they love what we do, they care about it, they care about our fans, and they want to give our fans the best opportunity to engage. That all raises the profile of the brand, which makes a lot of sense for them. Their support is why we have what we have. Now we have the job of backing it up. Here's the step forward in our content from where we were in 2017 to where we will be in, say, 2019. This year is going to be a growth year. We're going to learn a lot this year.
As fantastic as these facilities are and as your team continues to grow, I'm sure there's still a point where you have to tell yourselves, All right, let's not kill ourselves and bite off more than we can chew. The digital-media world is a beast that can't be fed. The expectations may certainly be higher, but how do you strike the balance and set ambitious but realistic goals for yourself and your team?
The way we are looking at it right now, you said it best: it's a beast that can't be fed. We've not even come close to finding that threshold [of what fans will consume]. We try to go back to constantly evaluating what we're doing. What's the data that supports it? Is there a sponsor involved? Is it sponsor-able? How does it relate to the game of football? Is it what fans are looking for? You take those numbers, and you're constantly shuffling and sometimes saying, All right, this isn't really working that well for us. So you get rid of that to make room for something else and see how that goes.
That's the thought right now: there's going to be a lot of new stuff coming in. There's a lot of new technology
Most recent headlines
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
18/12/2025
At 7.45pm on 1st January 1926, the precursor to RT , then 2RN, delivered the fledgling new Irish state's first public radio transmission. From those first c...
18/12/2025
Step out of the vault and into the future of gaming with Fallout: New Vegas streaming on GeForce NOW, just in time to celebrate the newest season of the hit Ama...
18/12/2025
December 18 2025, 05:30 (PST) The Movie Experience SLO Becomes First U.S. Exhib...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Inducts 10 Industry Icons During Unforgettable ...
17/12/2025
ESPN to Debut MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats, a New AI-Driven NFL Data-AltCastThe series, powered by Adrenaline TruPlay AI, launches Dec. 22 and runs through ...
17/12/2025
Inaugural Optum Golf Channel Games Debut Under the Lights' in Primetime on ...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Audiences Watched Over 103 Billion Minutes of TV on Thanksgiving Day
NFL Games ...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Stars Visit Berklee for Weeklong Celebration Andrew Choi and EJAE, who voiced the film's main characters and contributed to its soundtr...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Inside The Unseen World Of Indian Customs: Netflix Reveals The...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix announces PAPARAZZI KING: the docu series coming to Ne...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First Look at Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole Pr...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Welcomes Warner Bros. Discovery Board Recommendation
Business
17 December 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
After Careful Revi...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
The Hao AI Lab research team at the University of California San Diego - at the forefront of pioneering AI model innovation - recently received an NVIDIA DGX B...
17/12/2025
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
SVG Sit-Down: Minnesota Vikings' Bryan Harper on the New Era of Content Creation at TCO Studios The team's VP, content and production, prepares for exciting 2018 in a sparking new studio By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
