The Cardinals' schedule-release video didn't go well
In a sea of team-produced schedule-release video (some of which have morphed into way-too-long short films), there are two ways to stand out. One, be really good. Two, be really bad.
As to the latter, the Cardinals are the 2026 champions. Via Yanyan Li of Front Office Sports , the Cardinals' offering was relentlessly mocked as " AI slop . " Because, frankly, it is.
Watch for yourself . (And then peruse the replies. ) Li notes that the Arizona effort apparently prompted multiple other teams to emphasize that they did not use AI in the creation of their schedule-release videos.
Regarding the substance of the Cardinals' video, the mascot-driven effort didn't resonate for most. The vast majority of the jokes simply didn't land. There's no requirement for teams to make a schedule-release video.
And it's also not mandatory that the effort be aimed at going viral in a good way. For every team that chooses to try, there's a risk it will go viral in a bad way. Which the Cardinals have learned, the hard way.