It used to be Week 5 of the NFL season, Kansas Town Chiefs at house in a single-point win over the Las Vegas Raiders: 26-year-old Lacey Jane Brown — a onetime Kansas “farm lady,” temporarily rising as a TikTok influencer — stood in deafening Arrowhead Stadium, her nails lacquered black, her crop best white, hair silver blond, as popcorn rained from the sky.

“I assumed to myself, but even so Brittany Mahomes, who may this be?” she posted to her 560,000-plus followers, a funny story concerning the quarterback’s spouse as soon as spraying fans with champagne. “That’s when I discovered the suspect.”

Fast digital camera tilt to KC Wolf and a large smile from Brown. For this Kansas State College trade graduate, raised on a wheat farm outdoor tiny Oakley, Kansas (inhabitants 2,000), it used to be a second in a adventure she by no means may have predicted.

Sooner or later earlier than, on Sunday, Oct. 9, Brown had flown to Washington, D.C., to ship posts to her TikTok and Instagram followers (112,000 of them) from two video games in one day: Washington Commanders as opposed to the Tennessee Titans earlier than a handy guide a rough pressure to Baltimore for a Ravens house recreation in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals.

After the Chiefs recreation on “Monday Night time Soccer,” she would fly to Chicago for the Bears, Seattle for the Seahawks and on and on. It all used to be a part of a madcap problem to wait 32 house video games in 73 days to damage a Guinness World Record of 74.

She did it, even supposing now not formally for Guinness, touring 27,000 miles — greater than the circumference of the Earth — between Sept. 29, beginning with the Bengals’ win over the Dolphins, and finishing Dec. 11 in Nashville, Tennessee, with the Titans’ loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Alongside the best way, within the crowded, hyper-competitive universe of social media the place tens of millions of TikTok and Instagram customers pain to construct their manufacturers thru area of interest repute, Brown has completed simply that, satisfying her personal expectancies that she would succeed in one thing particular.

Tale continues

“I all the time had giant objectives and large goals for myself,” Brown — @laceyjanebrown on social media — stated by way of phone from her house, now in Houston. “I will’t say that this precise factor is what I’d be doing, however I all the time knew that I’d be doing one thing lovely giant on this planet. I simply didn’t know precisely what it could be.”

How precisely did Brown pass from Oakley and Kansas State to discovering a slice of social media good fortune? In contrast to using throughout Kansas, it used to be an up and down journey.

Brown — maiden name Lacey Jane Ostmeyer — used to be raised in what she known as “small the town U.S.A.”

“I had, at one level, 3 children in my magnificence,” she stated.

The youngest of 4. Their mom used to be a instructor. Her dad farmed wheat and corn. All had been sports activities enthusiasts. A brother performed soccer; a sister used to be a volleyball and power trainer. Brown performed basketball till she suffered a compound fracture in her leg. She graduated in 2015 as a part of the Nationwide Honors Society from Wheatland Top Faculty in close by Grainfield.

At Ok-State, she studied trade.

“I all the time sought after to do one thing in sports activities, however I didn’t truly know what that used to be,” she stated. “During faculty, I used to be paying for the whole lot alone, my hire, my faculty, the whole lot. So I used to be operating like 20 to 30 hours per week to love be capable to enhance myself. And so once I graduated, my major center of attention used to be roughly like having the ability to repay my scholar mortgage debt.”

She were given a task in Omaha as a monetary analyst for a start-up corporate. She were given laid off, went to Nike in Beaverton, Oregon, as a list analyst of their NBA department, till that still ended as a part of a big company layoff all the way through the pandemic.

“Clearly, I used to be suffering discovering a task,” Brown stated, taking over a couple of part-time gigs, as a nanny, as a puppy sitter, as a football trainer.

In the meantime, she started striking up TikTok vidoes. Social media used to be rarely new to her. When she used to be more youthful, she wrote non-public and steadily emotional weblog posts on-line — some about her Christian faith, others about circle of relatives, together with one about her grandmother, Jane, who died of Alzheimer’s disease.

“I’m actually named after her,” she stated.

The TikToks had been intended to be gentle, her takes on sports activities and sports activities figures. Like concerning the Halloween decorations at the garden of Cleveland Browns defensive finish Myles Garrett — they had been the skeletons of quarterbacks he had sacked. The posts had been lovely and a laugh, a mirrored image of the creator.

They usually were given spotted. Through athletes who messaged her and, in couple of minutes, by way of Aaron Koschitzski, a advertising supervisor for sports activities and song at Outshine Talent, an organization based in 2019 and with a heavy center of attention on TikTok creators.

“I set up influencers,” Koschitzski stated. “I imply, we picked up on her truly early closing March. On the time she used to be truly posting distinctive tales round sports activities. We noticed one thing distinctive and particular.”

But even so a supervisor, Brown has an agent, which introduced sponsors and different offers. Her 32-games-in-73 days odyssey used to be backed by way of 33rdteam, an internet weblog/mag/making a bet odds website online began by way of a former NFL govt that describes itself on LinkedIn as “a premier football Think Tank.” She additionally has offers with Amazon, selling its Thursday Night time Soccer fan garb and different Amazon merchandise.

It used to be the 32-game go back and forth, she stated, that brought about her TikTok and Instagram numbers to skyrocket. It used to be her thought, born from the affection of a nephew, quickly to show 11, who has struggled with most cancers all the way through his existence.

“He can’t pass to any video games,” Brown stated. “And he’s the most important sports activities fan ever — like the most important. Roughly my complete adventure used to be for him. I instructed him, ‘Good day, I’m going to try this excursion. And also you’re going to be in this adventure with me.’”

At each and every stadium, Brown created mini-videos, stepping out on fields, gags with mascots: a pie within the face with one, status at the Jumbotron with every other, cheering with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders of their white boots, the mad sprint from airports to vehicles to stadiums. Through the best way, she stated, she confirmed up early and stayed for the whole lot of each and every recreation.

Now that her excursion is over, Brown has new plans, each momentary and lengthy.

Even earlier than the Chiefs defeated the Jaguars within the Divisional Spherical on Saturday, she had already organized to wait the AFC Championship Sport on Jan. 29, the place she’ll be posting about her favourite group.

After that, in all probability every other whirlwind stadium excursion.

“I believe the following I’d do is baseball, “ she stated.

How Lacey Jane Brown did it

How did Lacey Jane Brown get to 32 house video games in 73 days? Right here’s her time table, house group first:

Sport 1: Thursday, Sept. 29, Cincinnati Bengals vs. Miami Dolphins

Sport 2: Sunday, Oct. 2, Las Vegas Raiders vs. Denver Broncos

Sport 3: Monday, Oct. 3, San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams

Sport 4: Thursday, Oct. 6, Denver Broncos vs. Indianapolis Colts

Sport 5: Sunday, Oct. 9, Washington Commanders vs. Tennessee Titans

Sport 6: Sunday, Oct. 9, Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Sport 7: Monday, Oct. 10, Kansas Town Chiefs vs. Las Vegas Raiders

Sport 8: Thursday, Oct. 13, Chicago Bears vs. Washington Commanders

Sport 9: Sunday, Oct. 16, Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals

Sport 10: Monday, Oct. 17, Los Angeles Chargers vs. Denver Broncos

Sport 11: Thursday, Oct. 20, Arizona Cardinals vs. New Orleans Saints

Sport 12: Sunday, Oct. 23, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New York Giants

Sport 13: Sunday, Oct 23, Miami Dolphins vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Sport 14: Thursday, Oct. 27, Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Baltimore Ravens

Sport 15: Sunday, Oct. 30, Minnesota Vikings vs. Arizona Cardinals

Sport 16: Monday, Oct 31, Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Sport 17: Thursday, Nov. 3, Houston Texans vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Sport 18: Sunday, Nov. 6, Atlanta Falcons vs. Los Angeles Chargers

Sport 19: Monday, Nov. 7, New Orleans Saints vs. Baltimore Ravens

Sport 20: Thursday, Nov. 10, Carolina Panthers vs. Atlanta Falcons

Sport 21: Sunday, Nov 13, Buffalo Expenses vs. Minnesota Vikings

Sport 22: Monday, Nov. 14, Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Commanders

Sport 23: Thursday, Nov. 17, Inexperienced Bay Packers vs. Tennessee Titans

Sport 24: Sunday, Nov. 20, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Sport 25: Thursday, Nov. 24, Detroit Lions vs. Buffalo Expenses

Sport 26: Sunday, Nov. 27, New York Jets vs. Chicago Bears

Sport 27: Monday, Nov. 28, Indianapolis Colts vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Sport 28: Thursday, Dec. 1, New England Patriots vs. Buffalo Expenses

Sport 29: Sunday, Dec. 4, New York Giants vs. Washington Commanders

Sport 30: Sunday, Dec. 4, Dallas Cowboys vs. Indianapolis Colts

Sport 31: Thursday, Dec. 8, Los Angeles Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks

Sport 32: Sunday, Dec. 11, Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars