Every Olympic Games has memorable victories, legacies, and moments of greatness tucked away in the history vaults. And this country's Olympic history is a gold mine unlike any other. February 22nd, 2015, marked the 35th anniversary of when the "Miracle on Ice" became part of American sports lore. Stories about where people were when Team USA's young hockey team pulled off the stunning 4-3 upset against the Soviet Union have remained vibrant over the years. But what if you weren't alive in 1980? Team USA's social media team proved that the opportunities to unleash history on a new generation and reminisce with an old one are endless with a little creativity. In honor of the 35th anniversary of the legendary Miracle On Ice game, the @USOlympic account (now known as @TeamUSA) tweeted the game as if Twitter existed 35 years ago.
Tweets were sent out at the exact time that moments in the game occurred in 1980. By watching the original footage of the broadcast weeks beforehand, the team was able to create a minute-by-minute timeline of the game's action. The team then set to work, preparing for the event by gathering archival photos from the game and creating graphics in the vintage style that became iconic to the era. The final product included verbatim color commentary, stylized graphics, original photos, score updates, and more.
Utilizing the detailed log of the game, the social media team was able to effectively educate fans about the live tweet and tease the event. Just as any sports live tweet conducted today, once the game began, the team was prepared with lineups, good luck messaging, score graphics, quotes, intermission graphics, archival photos, and congratulatory messaging to walk fans through an accurate experience of the game. The social media team consistently interacted with fans throughout the game, thanking them for cheering on Team USA through such an important game. After the live tweet had concluded, the team then posted an imitation press release to TeamUSA.org, detailing the historic win.
The live tweet was considered a great success, and news of the anniversary event was picked up nationally by fans and media outlets alike. On social media, results of the #MiracleOnIceLIVE event were tremendous: • Over the course of the game, @USOlympic tweeted 70+ times, complete with vintage graphics and photos • Tweets garnered more than 17K+ retweets, 23K+ favorites, and 9,943 replies • #MiracleOnIceLIVE hashtag was used over 12k+ times for a potential reach of over 44M+ • #MiracleOnIceLIVE trended in the United States for 3+ hours and over 4+ hours in specific cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Denver, Toronto, Boston, and Minneapolis
