The NFL Network viewers are smart and football savvy—which is why we've given fans a voice and platform to power our show's content. Fans take the lead and tell us what they want. We connect them on a personal level by sharing show updates, offering viewers a pipeline to directly ask talent & analysts questions on-air, generating discussion -- ultimately impacting the show with the opportunity to weigh in on the most relevant topics in the NFL. Our "social media production" team is dedicated to conceptualizing and executing on-air social integrations, while working with the "digital social media" team to involve the 3M+ fans on Facebook and Twitter to compliment live broadcast.
Fan input is the core of our social strategy, and the results seen in 2014 with such large TV integrations proved that the initiatives were successful. Both NFL Network's Facebook & Twitter pages saw a steady engagement rise WoW throughout the year, largely as a result of broadcast payoff. Facebook obtained a 12% increase in total page likes, an increase in average post LIKES (+54%), COMMENTS (+11%), and SHARES (+32%), while Twitter gained a 19% increase in followers over the year. We saw a significant jump in engagement-- and most of our topical initiatives were trending on Twitter in the U.S., and even Worldwide – including fun hashtag fill-ins such as #MyTeamsYearIn5Words, various Fandom Friday polls and yes, #MyFootballFestivus, inspired by Seinfeld, fans had the chance to air their football grievances, best were showcased live in broadcast
Social media integration is a paramount and key feature to NFL Network. Shows integrate a number of social elements to bring the best social content from the fans to the fans, live on-air 7 days a week. Descriptions & links below.
Total Access kicks off with a 'Live Intro Wall' of social elements that serves as a menu to the NFL's biggest news and topics. Tweets, Instagram, Facebook posts and other social imagery are juxtaposed in a Video Wall 7' tall and 36' long.
We mine Instagram and Twitter to bring you closer to the clubs and players with a collage of the best images posted during the week of players getting ready for game day.
#NFLHurryUp
A timed Q & A segment that gives the fans an opportunity to have their questions answered on-air. A call out in social is posted and we curate the best questions for the analysts to answer.
Social Celebration
A "tweet wall" that is reserved for eventful or historic moments that transcends the sport, triggering an outpour of reaction in social media. Ranging from Peyton Manning's record breaking performance to Odell Beckham Jr.'s infamous catch—we source tweets from NFL players, notable athletes and celebrities.
Polls are used tee up or pay off analyst discussions by showcasing fan sentiment on topics. An image with the topic/question is posted on social before the show and results are revealed in a dynamic visual in broadcast.
Fandom Friday & Social Saturday are full segments measuring the pulse of fans. Each week, polls are posted across social media based on trending topics relevant to the NFL. Results are revealed in a fun, interactive display in the Video Wall as talent debate each poll. Fan tweets and comments are showcased graphically.
#3andOut gives fans an opportunity to ask players questions via Facebook & Twitter. Each week, we cast our "Friday Spotlight" on a player and cap off the interview with the three fan questions. The lucky 3 are notified beforehand and also get an on-air graphic display of their question.
Player and celebrity social content is often used to enhance topics--ranging from player tweets to celebrities posting. We source this content and find creative ways to integrate them into the broadcast shows.
Fans tweet their top 5 quarterbacks using #KurtsTop5 every Tuesday. We aggregated and displayed their data in a comparison graphic to Kurt's list. Kurt also engages with fans to reward their participation.
An execution to show fan sentiment of #WhoWillWin a specific game during our pregame shows. Fans vote on Twitter/Facebook and we display results on our "Fandom Nation" map, illustrating how the votes breakdown by state. We can also dial down to show allegiances within a state.
Hashtag battles allow the fan to voice their opinion in real-time as our analysts debate the hottest topics. Executed as a lower third graphic AND displayed in the Video Wall, fans weigh in using specific hashtags.
Who is watching is valuable to us. We collaborated with Facebook to show a social snapshot of NFL fan bases. What does a Bills fan prefer to eat as opposed to a Browns fan? What's their taste in music? Who is likely their favorite athlete?
We give the power to the fans to tell us which game/highlight was the BEST of the day--THE ONE they want to see again. We open polls at the beginning of the show, keeping them open for 30+ minutes for viewers to vote in real-time. We run an encore of the winning game/highlight with fan commentary later in the broadcast.
Social Command Center & Data/Metrics/Analytics
Our social gurus crunch data, metrics and analytics to provide context to trending topics and stories, and also utilized it as a research tool to help produce shows to best serve the fans. During Black Monday, we gauged social conversation to see when fans were ready to move on from the topic of "coaches" to "playoffs". We continuously tracked social conversation so we knew exactly what fans wanted to know and when—unifying the social conversation with broadcast content.
We are brushing the surface of what's to come with social media integration in live broadcast. It's not about just curating content from social media, but also giving our passionate fan base the power to change and control broadcast content based on what they want. It'll no longer an afterthought, but a compliment to the broadcast.
