CAMPAIGN: U.S. Army Ultimate Catch
CLIENT: The Marketing Arm
FABRICATOR: Evolve Concepts
The World’s Largest Plinko Game – Putting Teamwork To The Test
Imagine standing at the base of a five-story structure as a football disappears over the top edge, bounces its way down a 24-foot pegboard, and lands, if your team is working together, in your hands. That’s the U.S. Army Ultimate Catch, a made-for-TV promo broadcast on CBS Sports during the 2025 Wisconsin vs. Ohio State game. The 5-sided U.S. Army structural spectacle was the gameboard that paired five teams of coaches, quarterbacks and receivers against each other and the clock to see who could catch the most footballs. Safety harnessed “quarterbacks” were hydraulically lifted to the top of the tower, dropped footballs into the game boards as their receiver teammate stationed below was directed via headset by a coach to catch the balls as they caromed unpredictably down the peg surface. The game’s chaotic physics was the intentional design to promote the critical importance of communication between teammates to achieve a winning outcome.
Building the Tower
When The Marketing Arm engaged Evolve to produce their audacious concept on behalf of the U.S. Army, the engineering challenge was as demanding as the activation. Evolve designed a ring steel scaffolding structure with interior stage decking formed the backbone, rising to a 34-foot landing. Custom lift-receiver extensions were fabricated to precisely marry the tower’s interior platforms to the hydraulic lifts; a dimensional integration that had to be exact for safe game play transitions.
Five core game board assemblies, each built in three 8-by-24-foot sections, formed the playing surfaces. The modular design allowed for crane and telehandler installation on a compressed timeline. Each panel was constructed on outdoor-rated substrate with spaced standoff spacing engineered to produce the right ball-tumble physics, then finished with UV-resistant solar-grade polycarbonate, giving fans a clear sightline to every bounce from hundreds of feet away. U.S. Army graphics, 3-by-34-foot projecting banners, and a printed scrim rooftop canopy provided high-visibility branding.
OSHA-compliant harnesses and a custom belay system with anchor points kept elevated crew safe at every working level throughout install, gameplay, and strike.
Registration and Fan Activation
Two (2) 10-by-20-foot ModTruss structures with full-coverage printed fabric walls and rubber finish flooring anchored the fan registration and exit survey zones. Custom-fabricated counters with mounted registration tablets handled fan flow. Six outdoor-rated 55-inch LED monitors kept fans locked in from any angle, while an Evolve-programmed custom scoring system fed a real-time leaderboard overlay.
What It Took
Months of structural design, wet-stamped engineering drawings, and a dedicated test build and prototype phase preceded game day, validating game board physics and confirming installation sequencing before the crew ever set foot in Madison. The project demanded close collaboration across engineering, fabrication, logistics, and broadcast production teams. The scale and complexity of this project perfectly showcased Evolve’s full suite of best in class services – from technical design, site planning, fabrication, transportation, logistics, site production and client collaboration.
TESTIMONIAL
Evolve was truly a creative and strategic partner from concept through execution. The entire Evolve team was invested every step of the way and clearly dedicated to achieving the mission objective. They delivered on time and within budget. Partnering with Evolve was the right decision.
-Louis Piazza, Sr. Director, The Marketing Arm
