Participate in the 2026 American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition
Imagine your client is the National Football League (NFL). You could create a campaign for the NFL right here on Rocky Top!
Why: Participate in a national competition that will showcase your professional skills and help you get a job after graduation.
What: The 2026 NSAC client is the National Football League (NFL).
When: Apply to participate in NSAC 2026 by July 30, 2025. The client brief and competition materials will be available at the beginning of the fall 2025 semester
How to Apply
Applications are now being accepted to be selected to participate in the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) team hosted by the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations. The team can be comprised of members from any undergraduate major at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
This premier national campaign competition gives you an opportunity to apply your classroom education and internship experiences to create and implement a full campaign for a national client with an average $75M budget. There is also an opportunity to pitch the campaign to marketing communication executives from the client’s team.
You Can be Part of the Team
Click the link below to submit your interest in participating in the NSAC Competition team. Your application should include:
- A completed online application following the link below.
- A cover letter outlining your interest in participating and how you feel your skills can best support the team and competition. This should be no longer than one page.
- Your resume
- Two portfolio samples that highlight your skills
The deadline is Wednesday, July 30, 2025! This is open to any major who would like to participate.
You must be logged into your UT account to be able to submit this form.
Applicants will be interviewed by a faculty panel and selected to participate based on skill and competition requirements. Selected students will be registered for a special class section ADVT 490 Independent Study for the fall 2025 semester and ADVT 470 Advertising Campaigns during the spring 2026 semester. There may be adjustments to this depending on your major and degree requirements.
The deadline for applying is Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Participation in the competition is fully funded by the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations. You will receive course credit for your participation.
Questions?
If you have questions, please email Professor of Practice Dustin Thomas at dthoma76@utk.edu.
2026 NSAC District 7 Competition
The AAF District 7 NSAC Competition will be hosted by the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in April 2026. The district competition is the first step to competing nationally. One team from each AAF district will be sent to the national competition.
The judges for the district competition are comprised of award-winning advertising industry professionals and a representative from the client. This means that one of the judges will be from the communications team of the National Football League (NFL)!
Let’s have a highly competitive team and beat teams from the district including the University of Alabama, University of Georgia, Georgia State, Louisiana State University, Loyola University, East Tennessee State University, Middle Tennessee State University, Tulane University, University of Memphis, and more.