Fox Sports Digital Flexes Long-Form Content Muscles During Busy Super Bowl Week

Fox Sports Digital Flexes Long-Form Content Muscles During Busy Super Bowl Week Companion video streaming content and social push elevate Fox to success in Miami By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Monday, February 10, 2020 - 2:34 pm

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When working a Super Bowl, sleep isn't something one should expect to get much of.

Down in Miami this year, the team at Fox Sports Digital ground out an onslaught of content, ranging from live long form to the VOD short form, all while putting together a week that garnered the media giant more than 150 million views across its suite of digital platforms and social channels; a 211% increase over the last time the network had the rights to the Super Bowl in 2017.

David Katz, EVP, Digital, Fox Sports

[It was the] hardest I've ever worked, says David Katz, executive vice president, digital for Fox Sports, but it was also the most successful week I've ever had professionally and the most fun I've ever had. It was awesome.

One of the more intriguing parts of Fox Sports Digital's Super Bowl plan was how aggressively it leaned into live long form content for digital and social platforms. In an era where many rely on the instant gratification of short form content, Fox racked up the views with longer, free format conversations that drove an average viewing time up by 80% over 2017.

That success largely came from unique content ideas. Katz and his team executed a wall-to-wall digital content plan starting at Marlins Park where the digital team produced a WWE live takeover featuring Baron Corbin and Roman Reigns that rung up more than two and a half million total views.

After Opening Night, Fox moved down to South Beach to leverage the massive sets that the company had erected there. With a deluge of popular current and former NFL players, as well as pop culture icons rolling through the set, Digital took the opportunities to get as many of them on their platforms and social channels as possible.

One show from the South Beach set that performed extremely well was a live stream on YouTube called The ReUnion that brought together former University of Miami players Ed Reed, Reggie Wayne, Michael Irvin and Ray Lewis (as well as a surprise appearance by former head coach Jimmy Johnson). The show was filmed before a raucous live audience on one of the sets and felt more like a video podcast that ran well over an hour long. According to Fox, it drew more than six million views.

It was incredible,' says Katz, who has a deep background in digital media going back to his days as Head of Yahoo! Sports and Entertainment as well as founder and CEO of ThePostGame. It was 75 minutes of free form storytelling; players only with very authentic, raw conversation among four people that have a relationship. It got a lot of attention for it and we could not have been happier with the response, the fan reaction, the viewership on it, which continues to grow at this time. It really did well and I can tell you off the talent has been telling me how much they love the format and the new ground that they believe we broke. They all want to do stuff like this again.

On Super Bowl Sunday, Katz's team shifted their attention to the game with a one-hour pregame show produced exclusively for digital and social platforms that including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Caffeine. Them, during the game, even though Fox was broadcasting the game live on linear and via a free live stream, Fox Sports Digital offered a companion viewing experience called Super Bowl Watch Party that gave viewers access to a panel of Joe Montana, Brett Favre, and Drew Brees as they hung out and watched the game. That stream pulled in more than eight million views.

It was, by far, the most ambitious live production [Fox Sports Digital] has ever taken on, says Katz, noting that the digital team was able to construct a small studio at Hard Rock Stadium to house its live game day streaming content. Through a fiber, the space also had access to all of the various feeds being produced by the main game production, including all camera angles, the new Fox score bug, and more.

We put that together in just a handful of days, adds Katz. Plus, the talent was the best talent we could ever hope for for a Super Bowl. Just a bunch of guys hanging out, watching, and talking football. It got very analytical and very insightful and they took fans places that they wouldn't otherwise go. On a television broadcast, you just don't have the time to delve into story time the way we did.

According to Neilsen Social, Fox Sports Digital's efforts accounted for more than 40% of the video views on social related to Super Bowl LIV. A wildly successful performance by a team that included VP, Digital Content Michael Bucklin, Senior Director, Video (Digital) Michael Janko Jankolovits, Director, Talent Production and Storytelling Kristen Scott, Director of Social and Short Form Nick Rago, and Director of FS1 Social and Short Form Jonathan Berger.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/02/10/fox-sports-digital-flexes-long-...
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