Norman is about to wear a new label, and Brian Bosworth is already enjoying the view.
The Norman City Council approved an agreement Tuesday night with Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. to put the “Fansville” logo on the water tower on Lindsey Street, turning the Oklahoma college town into the real-life version of the fictional setting from Dr Pepper’s college football ads. The campaign has long centered on Bosworth, the Sooners legend known as “The Boz,” who plays the sheriff of Fansville.
Bosworth made it clear he sees the move as a fitting honor for Oklahoma and for Norman.
"I’m so prOUd and humbled that OUt of all of the worthy “Fansville” type college towns available that Norman is the Crimson and Cream of the crop! All of the college towns have a unique feel of passion & pride w fans the give their all…even if it seems overdramatic it is the…"
He also talked about the project on The Plank Show on KREF Sports, saying the idea hit him immediately when he heard about it.
"When Dr. Pepper decided they wanted to do a Fanville water tower, look, I got chills and got a little melancholy because it was like, man, that's some real stuff there. That is so cool that they're gonna do that," Bosworth said on The Plank Show on KREF Sports.
"But to pick Norman, the crimson and cream of the crop of the college football world, to come there -- and obviously I'm thinking that it's not coincidental -- but that they're going to represent the University of Oklahoma and Norman and the fans that come there are gonna represent Fansville. And Fansville is a representation of all the pride and passion of college football."
Bosworth added on KREF that game days in Norman still stand out to him.
“It’s such a vibrant and nostalgic throwback of what college football was and still is.”
The water tower project comes with real money attached, too. According to The Norman Transcript, Norman signed a 10-year deal with Dr.
Pepper that will pay the city $500,00, including an initial $75,000 payment to help cover the painting of the tower. The landmark is getting an update as part of the agreement.
The finish line is set for later this fall. The tower will not be ready for Oklahoma’s season opener against UTEP on Sept. 4, but it is expected to be completed by Oct. 15, per The Norman Transcript. OU will host Kentucky that weekend, with four home games left on the schedule.
Fansville has become one of those college football commercials that people know instantly, a running bit that plays like a mini series every season. Bosworth has been part of it since 2018, and the ads have also included current college football players since NIL began, among them former Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, who spent a season as Bosworth’s deputy. Bosworth said at the time he was not thrilled about working with a Longhorn.
Now Norman gets to be the place that Fansville calls home. That should mean more visibility for Oklahoma, and maybe more NIL chances for Sooners players down the line. Bosworth even floated a future cast that would fit the setting, saying Baker Mayfield would make a strong Fansville mayor to work alongside John Mateer and Owen Heinecke, with The Boz serving as sheriff.
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