{{Short description|Serialized speculative fiction multimedia narrative}} {{Italic title}} {{Hatnote group| {{About-distinguish|the fictional narrative by Jon Bois|1776}} {{For|the minor planet|17776 Troska}} }} {{Good article}} {{Use American English|date=May 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox comic strip |author = Jon Bois |image = 17776_title_screen.png |alt = In the background, the sun shines from a cloudless sky upon the Statue of Liberty, submerged up to the chest in deep blue water. In white text over the background are the words "17776 an American football story written and illustrated by Jon Bois". |caption = Title screen from the story's opening video |began = July 5, 2017 |ended = July 15, 2017 |url = [https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football What football will look like in the future] |genre = Speculative fiction |status = Completed |publisher = ''SB Nation'' }}
'''''17776''''' (also known as '''''What Football Will Look Like in the Future''''') is a serialized speculative fiction multimedia narrative by Jon Bois, published online through ''SB Nation''. Set in the distant future in which all humans have become immortal and infertile, the series follows three sapient space probes that watch humanity play an evolved form of American football in which games can be played for millennia over distances of thousands of miles. The series debuted on July 5, 2017, and new chapters were published daily until the series concluded with its twenty-fifth chapter on July 15, 2017.
Bois began developing ''17776'' in 2016. Because the story incorporates text, animated GIFs, still images, and videos hosted on YouTube, new tools were developed to allow it to be hosted efficiently on the ''SB Nation'' website. The work explores themes of consciousness, hope, despair, and why humans play sports. ''17776'' was well received by critics, who praised it for its innovative use of its medium and for the depth of emotion it evoked. In 2018, the story won a National Magazine Award for Digital Innovation and was longlisted for both the Hugo Awards for Best Novella and Best Graphic Story.
It is followed by a sequel series: ''20020,'' released from September to October 2020. The sequel series follows a 111-team game of college football on fields spanning {{convert|130,000|miles|km}} across the United States. Bois originally intended to follow up with a further series entitled ''20021''; however, it was postponed indefinitely. In May 2025, Bois announced that the series would be continued with a novel titled ''50007: An American Football Odyssey''.
== Premise == thumb|A newly sapient ''Pioneer 9'' is one of the main characters of ''17776''.|alt=A barrel-like space probe with several antennae floats through red-black space.
The story takes place on a future Earth where humans stopped dying, aging, and being born on April 7, 2026. All social ills were subsequently eliminated, and technology preventing humans from any injury was developed. In the United States, American football evolved to include new rules, including those that allow fields thousands of miles long, hundreds of in-game players, and games millennia long. Over time, computers gained sentience due to constant exposure to broadcast human data.
By the year 17776, the space probe ''Pioneer 9'' (called Nine) has gained sentience and made contact with ''Pioneer 10'' (called Ten) and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (called Juice). As Nine adjusts to a world radically different from that of the 20th century, the three space probes watch multiple football games occurring across the United States: a game using the entirety of Nebraska as a field in which the next point scored wins the game; a game in which players strive to possess every existing football autographed by obscure NFL player Koy Detmer; a game played between the Canadian border and the Mexican border deadlocked for 13,000 years at the bottom of a gorge in Arizona; an NFL regulation game between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers that changed over 15,000 years into 58 playing teams owning and capitalizing upon portions of Sports Authority Field at Mile High while the ball is lost; a 500 game that results in the destruction of the Centennial Light; and a game in which the possessing player is attempting to score an automatic win by hiding in his team's end zone for 10,000 years.
== Format == ''17776'' is read by scrolling through web pages occupied by large GIF images and colored dialogue text, interspersed with occasional YouTube videos. The story is divided into chapters, which were originally published in daily installments between July 5 and 15, 2017.<ref name=Quartz /> Much of the GIF and video content of the series uses Google Earth satellite imagery, 3D buildings, and other tools within Google Earth to create animations and visual effects.
== Development == Bois wrote and illustrated ''17776'' for Vox Media's sports news website ''SB Nation'', of which he is creative director. Aside from ''17776'', Bois produces two other recurring, humorous video essay programs for the site: ''Pretty Good'', which focuses on unusual sports topics and stories, and ''Chart Party'', which focuses on statistics and has an emphasis on Bois' use of visual art in his journalism and storytelling.<ref name=Russell /> Bois is also known for the ''Breaking Madden'' series, in which he attempted unusual scenarios in the ''Madden NFL'' series of video games.<ref name=Crouch />
In early 2016, Bois began developing an "anti-sci fi" project as a possible sequel to ''The Tim Tebow CFL Chronicles'', an earlier work for ''SB Nation'', and set the story in a year far enough in the future that "nobody ever thinks about it." Although he liked the concept and the visuals, he believed the project would not connect with readers and shelved it.<ref name=Funke /> Later, he realized that the story needed a centering character; he wrote one in the form of a small town, AM radio talk show host before coming up with the characters of the probes.<ref name=17776QandA /> Development renewed in May 2016, and the project solidified after ''SB Nation'' published its article "The Future of Football."<ref name=Funke /> Bois described it as the biggest project he ever attempted.<ref name=BoisTweet1 />
The series was developed by Graham MacAree, who used a Vox Media tool that creates custom packages from standard article sets to give Bois creative leeway and to accommodate the series' weight on the ''SB Nation'' website. MacAree found that there were few resources online for achieving the desired effects.<ref name=Funke />
== Themes == Bois has stated that he had "conceived [''17776''] to give the reader a good time," asserting that this "was literally the whole point."<ref name=Funke />
William Hughes writing for ''The A.V. Club'' described ''17776'' as concerned with why humans play sports: "That is, given the massive resources, time, and information at our disposal (not to mention those available to our descendants), why does communal game-playing still hold such an important place in society?" He also listed consciousness, hope, and despair as among the work's themes.<ref name=Hughes /> Beth Elderkin of ''io9'' described it as "a deep thought experiment into what we consider humanly possible". She also felt that Ten and Juice take on the role of angel and devil, and she suggested the two may be unreliable narrators.<ref name="io9" /> Ian Crouch of ''The New Yorker'' felt that the work had a "tonal echo" of Don DeLillo's 1972 novel ''End Zone'' due to thematic similarities "with the way that the order and logic of football might act as a counterbalance to the chaos of the real world".<ref name=Crouch />
== Reception ==
According to the communications director at Vox Media, ''17776'' garnered over 2.3 million pageviews by July 10.<ref name=Funke /> Two days later, it had received more than 2.9 million pageviews.<ref name=Crouch /> Average engagement time was over nine minutes, and 43 percent of readers finished each installment of the series published by July 7.<ref name=Funke /> On July 19, Bois claimed that ''17776'' received 700,000 unique visitors and 4 million total pageviews, with an average engagement time of 11 minutes.<ref name=BoisTweet2 />
Thu-Huong Ha for ''Quartz'' described ''17776'' as "part Italo Calvino, part Peter Heller [author of ''The Dog Stars''], with humor seemingly from within the depths of Reddit," saying that the story would appeal to fans of both sports and literature.<ref name="Quartz" /> ''Tor.com'' described the first chapter as full of tension and felt that receiving answers is a "surprisingly heartbreaking" experience "lessened by a gleeful bouncing immaturity" one would not expect from the characters.<ref name=Tor /> Beth Elderkin at ''io9'' said the series is "akin to ''Homestuck''" and described it as "weird, complex, and pretty spectacular".<ref name="io9" /> William Hughes writing for ''The A.V. Club'' felt that ''17776'' is a "truly innovative piece of work".<ref name=Hughes /> After reading the first three chapters, Agatha French of the ''Los Angeles Times'' stated that she was "impressed and excited by the innovation" of what she saw, and that she was intrigued despite not knowing what the work is or is saying. She felt the work took full advantage of its online medium and suggested that it "may also be a glimpse into the future of reading on the Internet".<ref name=French /> Ian Crouch of ''The New Yorker'' described the series as, "despite its seemingly meagre parts, a thing of startling beauty". Of the chapters published by July 12, he felt "the most striking chapter" to be one that used audio of Verne Lundquist calling the end of a 2013 game between the University of Alabama and Auburn University over a video panning over Earth. He also noted that the series was compared to ''Homestuck'' and relayed additional comparisons to Thomas Pynchon novels and "a Reddit thread hijacked by robot trolls".<ref name=Crouch />
The series won the inaugural National Magazine Award for Digital Innovation from the American Society of Magazine Editors; this was the first National Magazine Award nomination and win for ''SB Nation''. It was described by the judges as "an extraordinary combination of art, fiction and technology, an online acid trip that had to be experienced to be believed."<ref name=ASME /> It was also longlisted for the Hugo Awards for Best Novella and Best Graphic Story in 2018, ultimately finishing in 11th place in both categories.<ref name=Adair /><ref name=Worldcon />
== Sequel series == {{hatnote|"20020" and "20021" redirect here. Not to be confused with 2020, 2021, or 2020 (disambiguation).}} On September 28, 2020, a sequel titled ''20020'' was launched on ''Secret Base'', a branch of ''SB Nation''; on October 13, it was revealed to be the first part of a two-part continuation with the second half, ''20021'', originally planned for release in the winter or spring of 2021,<ref name="20021 announcement" /> though later postponed indefinitely.<ref name=Reddit /> One chapter of ''20020'' was released every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday beginning on September 28, 2020, and ending on October 23.<ref name=MacAree /><ref name="boingboing" />
It focuses on a similarly lengthy, interconnected, 111-team competition based on college football.<ref name=wired20020 /> The sentient space probes featured in ''17776'' return, with Juice serving as the game's designer and commissioner.<ref name=Cutler /> ''20020''{{'}}s format largely resembles ''17776''{{'}}s with a more involved use of Google Earth–based YouTube video storytelling interspersed regularly into the narrative.<ref name=wired20020 />
In May 2025, Jon Bois announced a publishing deal with Tor for a novel titled ''50007: An American Football Odyssey''.<ref name="50007original"/><ref>{{cite magazine|title=People & Publishing Roundup, June 2025 |url=https://locusmag.com/2025/06/people-publishing-roundup-june-2025/ |access-date=August 2, 2025 |magazine=Locus |date=June 15, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250615184933/https://locusmag.com/2025/06/people-publishing-roundup-june-2025/ |archive-date=June 15, 2025}}</ref>
== See also == * Hypertext fiction * Electronic literature
== References == {{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=17776QandA>{{cite news|url=https://www.sbnation.com/2017/7/24/16003968/17776-questions-and-answers|title=17776: Questions and answers|date=July 24, 2017|work=SB Nation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904070557/https://www.sbnation.com/2017/7/24/16003968/17776-questions-and-answers|archive-date=September 4, 2017|url-status=live|access-date=September 7, 2018|last1=Bois|first1=Jon}}</ref>
<ref name="20021 announcement">{{Cite tweet|number=1316214075442032641|user=jon_bois|title=PROBLEM: the giant football game in 20020 is way too large, there are 111 teams and 134,000 miles of field, we'll never be able to talk about this entire thing in just 12 parts SOLUTION|author=|date=October 13, 2020|access-date=October 14, 2020|last=Bois|first=Jon |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810040923/https://twitter.com/jon_bois/status/1316214075442032641 <!-- alt: https://archive.ph/4nA1l --> |archive-date=2021-08-10}}</ref>
<ref name=Adair>{{cite news |last1=Adair |first1=Torsten |title=Hugo Awards, 2018: A Deeper Look Into the Nominations and Voting Data |url=http://www.comicsbeat.com/hugo-awards-2018-a-deeper-look-into-the-nominations-and-voting-data/ |work=The Beat |date=September 2, 2018|access-date=October 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904184049/http://www.comicsbeat.com/hugo-awards-2018-a-deeper-look-into-the-nominations-and-voting-data/|archive-date=September 4, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name=ASME>{{cite press release |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= New York, the New Yorker Lead Ellie Pack – National Magazine Award 2018 Winners Announced |url= https://www.asme.media/new-york--the-new-yorker-lead-ellie-pack---national-magazine-award-2018-winners-announced |location= New York|publisher=American Society of Magazine Editors |date= March 13, 2018|access-date=October 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019015629/https://www.asme.media/new-york--the-new-yorker-lead-ellie-pack---national-magazine-award-2018-winners-announced|archive-date=October 19, 2020}}</ref>
<ref name="boingboing">{{cite news |last1=Dunn |first1=Thom |title=SB Nation has launched a new sequel to '17776: What Football Will Look Like In The Future' |url=https://boingboing.net/2020/09/30/sb-nation-has-launched-a-new-sequel-to-17776-what-football-will-look-like-in-the-future.html |access-date=October 2, 2020 |work=Boing Boing |date=September 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002143221/https://boingboing.net/2020/09/30/sb-nation-has-launched-a-new-sequel-to-17776-what-football-will-look-like-in-the-future.html|archive-date=October 2, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name=BoisTweet1>{{cite tweet|number=882763911510052864|user=jon_bois|title=today is day one of the biggest project i've ever tried. it is called 17776: sbnation.com/a/17776-football|access-date=July 25, 2017|last=Bois|first=Jon |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709192201/https://twitter.com/jon_bois/status/882763911510052864 <!-- alt: https://archive.ph/ZksX8 -->|archive-date=2017-07-09}}</ref>
<ref name=BoisTweet2>{{Cite tweet|number=887538023805669376|user=jon_bois|title=over the last two weeks, 17776 got four million pageviews and 700,000 unique visitors. people stuck around for an average of 11 minutes|author=|date=July 19, 2017|access-date=July 25, 2017|last=Bois|first=Jon |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006162721/https://twitter.com/jon_bois/status/887538023805669376 <!-- alt: https://archive.ph/8gP1y --> |archive-date=2018-10-06}}</ref>
<ref name=Crouch>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/the-experimental-fiction-that-imagines-football-obsessed-americans-in-the-extremely-distant-future|title=The Experimental Fiction That Imagines Football-Obsessed Americans in the Extremely Distant Future|last=Crouch|first=Ian|date=July 12, 2017|magazine=The New Yorker|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613014956/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/the-experimental-fiction-that-imagines-football-obsessed-americans-in-the-extremely-distant-future|archive-date=June 13, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=September 7, 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=Cutler>{{cite news |last1=Cutler |first1=Molly |title=The surprising poignancy of futuristic football: Jon Bois' '17776' and '20020' |url=https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/11/review-17776-20020-jon-bois-futuristic-football-speculative-fiction |access-date=February 4, 2021 |work=The Daily Princetonian |date=November 11, 2020 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201202320/https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/11/review-17776-20020-jon-bois-futuristic-football-speculative-fiction |archive-date=December 1, 2020}}</ref>
<ref name=French>{{Cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-jc-litweek-20170712-htmlstory.html|title=Radiant children, the future of football and eau de literary hero|last=French|first=Agatha|date=July 12, 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=September 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202044237/http://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-jc-litweek-20170712-htmlstory.html|archive-date=February 2, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name=Funke>{{Cite news|url=https://www.poynter.org/2017/this-sb-nation-story-has-everything-robots-football-and-2-3-million-pageviews/466041/|title=This SB Nation story has everything: Robots, football and 2.3 million pageviews|last=Funke|first=Daniel|date=July 10, 2017|publisher=Poynter Institute|work=Poynter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904152053/https://www.poynter.org/news/sb-nation-story-has-everything-robots-football-and-23-million-pageviews|archive-date=September 4, 2017|url-status=live|access-date=September 7, 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=Hughes>{{Cite news|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/future-football-post-human-despair-and-fascinating-257765|title=The future of football is post-human despair (and fascinating sports meta-fiction)|last=Hughes|first=William|date=July 6, 2017|access-date=September 7, 2018|url-status=live|work=The A.V. Club|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809112658/http://www.avclub.com/article/future-football-post-human-despair-and-fascinating-257765|archive-date=August 9, 2017}}</ref>
<ref name="io9">{{cite news|url=http://io9.gizmodo.com/sports-site-dives-into-scifi-with-series-about-the-futu-1796753325|title=Sports Site Dives Into Scifi with Series About the Future of Football|last=Elderkin|first=Beth|date=July 9, 2017|work=io9|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917080645/http://io9.gizmodo.com/sports-site-dives-into-scifi-with-series-about-the-futu-1796753325|archive-date=September 17, 2017|access-date=September 7, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name=MacAree>{{cite news |last1=MacAree |first1=Graham |last2=Bois |first2=Jon |title=20020 Open Thread |url=https://www.sbnation.com/secret-base/21459832/20020-open-thread |access-date=September 28, 2020 |work=SB Nation |date=September 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928213542/https://www.sbnation.com/secret-base/21459832/20020-open-thread |archive-date=September 28, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name=Quartz>{{cite web|url=https://qz.com/1024077/an-explanation-of-sb-nations-what-football-will-look-like-in-the-future-17776-by-jon-bois/|work=Quartz|title=A dazzling new piece of experimental fiction is being serialized on a sports news site|last=Ha|first=Thu-Huong|date=July 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115195343/https://qz.com/1024077/an-explanation-of-sb-nations-what-football-will-look-like-in-the-future-17776-by-jon-bois/|archive-date=November 15, 2017|access-date=September 7, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name=Reddit>{{Cite web|title=programming notes|last1=Bois|first1=Jon|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Jon_Bois/comments/mwmo0i/programming_notes/|access-date=April 28, 2021|work=r/Jon_Bois|publisher=Reddit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423035519/https://www.reddit.com/r/Jon_Bois/comments/mwmo0i/programming_notes/|archive-date=April 23, 2021|date=April 22, 2021|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name=Russell>{{cite web|last1=Russell|first1=Lars|title=SB Nation's Jon Bois shows Seahawks are "Least Volatile" in NFL|url=https://www.fieldgulls.com/2017/8/23/16193930/seattle-seahawks-chart-party-jon-bois-least-volatile-team-30-years |access-date= September 4, 2017 |work=SB Nation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904063758/https://www.fieldgulls.com/2017/8/23/16193930/seattle-seahawks-chart-party-jon-bois-least-volatile-team-30-years|archive-date=September 4, 2017|date=August 23, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name=Tor>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tor.com/2017/07/06/jon-bois-future-of-football-17776-story/|title=You Don't Know It Yet, But You're Reading a Hilarious Sci-Fi Short Story|date=July 6, 2017|website=On Our Radar|publisher=Tor.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811010826/https://www.tor.com/2017/07/06/jon-bois-future-of-football-17776-story/|archive-date=August 11, 2017|url-status=live|access-date=September 7, 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=wired20020>{{cite magazine |last1=Huckins |first1=Grace |title=18,000 Years From Now, People Will Still Play Football |url=https://www.wired.com/story/20020-online-fiction-football/ |access-date=February 4, 2021 |magazine=Wired |date=October 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127203250/https://www.wired.com/story/20020-online-fiction-football/ |archive-date=January 27, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name=Worldcon>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldcon76.org/images/publications/2018DetailedResults.pdf|title=2018 Hugo & Related Award Statistics|date=2018|publisher=Worldcon|access-date=November 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929102140/https://www.worldcon76.org/images/publications/2018DetailedResults.pdf|archive-date=September 29, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name=50007original>{{cite web|url=https://bsky.app/profile/jonbois.bsky.social/post/3lp7tpfpeqk2o|title=Jon Bois:"working on stuff"—Bluesky|date=2025|access-date=May 24, 2025}}</ref>
}}
== Further reading == * {{Cite thesis |last1=Silcox |first1=Nicholas R. |date=May 2018 |title=Making Space in the Anthropocene: 17776, (Un)Worlding, and Speculative Fiction |type=MA |doi=10.7282/T37H1NXS |doi-access=free |location=New Brunswick–Piscataway, NJ |publisher=Rutgers University}}
== External links == * {{official website}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20221202224903/https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football/ Wayback Machine link] * [https://www.sbnation.com/secret-base/21410129/20020/chapters-index ''20020: The Future of College Football''] * [https://www.sbnation.com/secret-base/21557878/20020-questions-and-answers ''20020'': Questions and answers]
{{Authority control}}
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