It’s not just presidential candidates in the home stretch — NFL teams are also taking the field for the first round of playoffs.
And unabashed football super-fan Sen. Marco Rubio is hoping to take advantage of the situation.
The GOP presidential candidate released an ad Friday that will air this weekend during the first round of the NFL playoffs in early primary states. The ad features the Florida senator catching footballs as he answers questions.
Rubio’s team is airing the ad in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina markets, the campaign said. They would not disclose the size or dollar amount behind the buy.
The minute-long spot is actually a shortened version of a video the campaign released in September, just ahead of CNN’s first Republican debate.
In it, he answers questions like whether he was more nervous before his first college football game or his first presidential debate (football game, “because you were actually going to get hit”) and a joke about having water on hand.
Millions of viewers tune in for football playoffs every year, and the numbers have been trending upwards.
Though the ad doesn’t get into policy, the character spot will be playing before voters who are trying to make decisions on candidates ahead of a rapidly approaching vote.
Football has been a repeated theme for Rubio on the trail, including appearances on sports talk radio and an infamous football event with children in Iowa during which he accidentally hit a child in the face with a football, creating a viral video moment.