Interactive Media Campaign

College World Series 2009Little League World Series 2009

College Football 2009-2010

For more information please contact: Erin Elser at x0078 or Brooke Hundley at x3155

College World Series 2009

• Ratings– Highest rated and most viewed CWS in

ESPN/ESPN2 history– M18-34: rose by 31% on ESPN– Percentage of Audience 18-24

• 10.3% for Game 1 - Strong Start• 9% for Game 5 – Continued Coverage on Facebook/Twitter• 7.5% for Game 6 – No Facebook/Twitter Coverage• 11.2% for Game 7 – Resumed Facebook/Twitter Use

Facebook Breakdown

• 16,593 Total Fans and growing– 20% of all fans were aged 18-24– 17% of all fans were aged 13-17– 30% of total fans were female

• Approximately 4,000 interactions by different individuals in the 24 hours before each game

• Over 11,000 Interactions during the Finals

Interactive Content• Beyond the Game Promo – Aired during the game promoting the pages.• Twitter Feed (from Kyle Peterson) - Provided live in-game analysis,

breaking news, predictions, storylines and answered fan questions.• ESPN.com RSS Feed – College Baseball Blog and CWS News Headlines

streamed into Facebook. Users then click the link back to ESPN.com for full articles.

• Flip Cam Video Coverage – Sent to the top 8 teams prior to the event to film their road to Omaha, outside activities, and a general day in the life of a CWS player. Video housed on Facebook.

• Behind the Scenes – Flip cam video of ESPN production during the event, interviews, teases, fun facts about the analysts and weather delays.

• Informational Content – ESPN programming schedule, NCAA bracket, research and statistics, and play by play.

• Fan Driven Content – Polls, Photos, Discussions, Questionnaires

User Comments/Fan Feedback• How ESPN utilized fan interactions– Governor Parry of Texas – Tweeted breaking news to

Kyle: He and Governor Jindal of Louisiana bet a dinner on whose team would win the Championship.

– When HD feed went out and when the weather delayed the game, we were able to give fans real time updates on the status of the game

– When fan in Mexico wrote in to Facebook about not being able to view the Finals we gave him an update on when and where he could view the game

– Orel and Robin’s coaching clinics were very popular and well received by fans. We used fan feedback on potential topics to fuel future lessons.

Direct from the Fans• Stephen Cooke – “I enjoyed the FB coverage and the consistent updates when I wasn’t able to watch

the games…I would like to see ESPN cover more regular season college baseball games.”• Tony Mele – “I believe my IQ is a little higher due to listening to the pitching wisdom of Orel

Hershiser.”• Chuck Day – “I loved the pieces about the city, you should do some shots with fans around the town.

Take some people off facebook and have them take you to some Omaha hot spots.”• Lynne Graner – “I thoroughly enjoyed ESPN’s coverage of the CWS. Would like to have more

conversation and player interviews, especially after the games.”• Ryan Taylor Durham – “I think you should have videos of the games, and of interviews of the players

before and after the game!”• Jamie Winterton – “It was fantastic. Especially when our power went out – I could still follow all the

plays on my iphone. Thanks!”• Scott Clemenson – “I think having Kyle Peterson do the twittering during the broadcast was a great

idea. All the ESPN stories that were linked was an excellent addition as well.”• Brooke Walker – “You could do updates for a lot of major sports tourneys. Like Wimbeldon, all the

college football “bowls” and the World Series for MLB.”• John David Smith – “ESPN did an awesome job. Thanks for letting the fans get so involved. I have

watched more games and paid more attention this year than any other.”

What We Learned

• Twitter– Analyst Account

• Increase the use of the “hashtag” feature• Better knowledge of their availability for tweeting• Set aside time for people to write in questions and get them answered

live– Play by Account Needed

• Sherrill Cockrill – “I’d like more updates with details. Some of us are at youth All-Star practices and games and were searching for updates. Sometimes 4 min apart is too much and remember that we are not watching the game. Love to see more, Twitter may be an easier option.”

• Brad Greenway (via Twitter) “ESPN mobile’s coverage of the CWS is brutal, just a score, and it’s delayed. That’s embarrassing for the network with the game.”

What We Learned• Facebook– Requires a person onsite to gather media content– At least 2 people with access to the site to provide

real-time game updates and statistics/research, depending on number of games

– John McCracken – “I liked it but give us more opportunities to interact with each other. Add more polls, discussion topics, pictures and music.”

– Increased integration between Facebook and the live broadcast i.e. flip cam videos, fan photos

– Maintain constant communication with governing body and the teams SIDs

Facebook Analytics

Fbpage.com/collegeworldseries

Little League World Series 2009• Second largest demographic on CWS Facebook page was

M13-17 (target LLWS audience)• Facebook user comments from CWS viewers aged 13-17

indicated an appreciation for Orel and Robin’s lessons on pitching and batting and desire for more

• In order to create a more kid friendly LLWS– We are pursuing family home videos of the kids in their own

environments– Popular Disney Channel actor, Moises Arias, will be posting

comments on Twitter and hosting a live webcast Q & A– Posting teases from the Jonas Brothers shoots from last year– Utilize ESPN.com for the creation of kid friendly games we can

link to from the Facebook site

College Football 2009-2010• Working directly with Emeka Ofodile (College GameDay Marketing Group) to create an

official College Football Facebook page centered around the weekly GameDay game– Capitalizing on our talent on GameDay in making our Facebook and Twitter pages more recognizable

and popular– By working with GameDay and gaining a partnership with them ESPN can increase the amount of

people that can contribute to the site and give interesting perspectives as well as aid in fan engagement

– The set schedule of GameDay lends itself to providing more visual information about the college football town’s traditions, tailgating fans and best kept secrets

• Idea centered around coverage of a weekly game with possible expansion to College Bowl Week games– Dallas Paul Ardoin – “It was really good and maybe you could do the same thing for all the bowl

games• Increase viewership through site promotion of upcoming games by getting the fans

hyped up during the week and hours before the game• Utilize the heavy fan allegiances associated with the chosen weekly teams to drive traffic

to the sites in order to:– Add more discussions– Provide an inside look at the ultimate fan experience– With the help of the routine set up and GameDay show features we can make better use of behind

the scenes opportunities for flip cam video sneak peeks and photos• Jennifer Galles Attaway – “Great job ESPN! I LOVED the coverage on Facebook. I hope

you guys will do this during football season too since that is really more of my forte.”