TYLER HYNES, HUNTER KING AND ED BEGLEY JR. STAR IN MOVIE SET TO PREMIERE ON HALLMARK CHANNEL DURING THE 15TH ANNUAL COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS PROGRAMMING EVENT
STUDIO CITY, CA and KANSAS CITY, MO – June 25, 2024 –– Are you ready for some football? It’s game time on Hallmark Channel this holiday season when two renowned Kansas City institutions – the Kansas City Chiefs and Hallmark – team up with the NFL and Skydance Sports for a holiday movie and partnership that will have audiences everywhere cheering – TOUCHDOWN! Tyler Hynes (Shifting Gears, Three Wise Men and a Baby), Hunter King (Two Scoops Of Italy, The Santa Summit) and Ed Begley Jr. (Young Sheldon, Better Call Saul) star in the new, original movie, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story. The movie begins production next month and will film entirely in Kansas City, Missouri locations, including the iconic GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, marking the first time the loudest stadium in the world has been used as a filming location in a Hallmark movie.
In Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, Alana Higman (King) is sure that her family’s lifelong history as Kansas City Chiefs superfans makes them a frontrunner to win the team’s “Fan of the Year” contest. Derrick (Hynes), Director of Fan Engagement, is tasked with evaluating how Alana and her family stack up against the other two finalists. As the pair spends time together, it’s clear there’s a spark between them but when her grandfathers (Begley Jr.) vintage Chiefs, good luck winter hat goes missing, Alana begins to doubt everything she believed about fate, destiny and even questions her future with Derrick – unless, that is, a little Christmas magic can throw a Hail Mary.
This film marks the ultimate celebration of a longstanding collaboration between the two pioneering KC-based brands, officially uniting the Hallmarkies and Chiefs Kingdom like never before. With planning underway for game-day activations, unique co-branded merchandise, and on-air, social, and digital promotion, the multifaceted partnership will engage widespread audiences both on and off the field, with more details to be announced later this year. What’s more, this film will fuel the proven track record of viewership crossover between Countdown to Christmas enthusiasts and sports fans. In fact, over 50% of Hallmark Channel viewers also watched sports while the Countdown to Christmas was on air in 2023, making this film the perfect holiday occasion.*
Skydance Sports serves as the Executive Producer of Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story. A newly formed venture between Skydance Media and the NFL, Skydance Sports is designed to create a top-end sports content studio and expand multi-platform sports programming across a broad range of formats.
To celebrate the uniquely local partnership between the two organizations, Kansas City’s downtown skyline will be lit purple and red tonight beginning at sunset.