2021 SHORTLIST

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INSIDE THE KNOCKOUT

Entrant Company: Professional Fighters League

FINALIST

Best Original Content or Series (Under 10 min)

Inside the Knockout

ABOUT THIS ENTRY

Recognizing their best performing videos were fight highlights, PFL developed a network-style approach to deliver its audience with engaging content that centered around never-before-seen angles.

How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?

In April, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) announced it was postponing its 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, prioritizing the health and safety of the league’s fighters, fans, business partners and event staff. Another key consideration for the decision was to maintain the integrity of the PFL’s unique sports season format, with fighters competing in a true regular season, playoffs and championship style event over the course of an eight-month window.

With more than 450 million MMA fans across the globe with a strong appetite for nonstop action, the PFL’s digital and social teams were tasked with creating compelling content and narratives that would keep the innovative sports league top-of-mind during the hiatus.

Despite not having any events since December 2019, the PFL has not only been able to keep top-of-mind for MMA fans around the world but has seen a significant increase across its social channels because of the strategic deployment of creative and unique storytelling, such as Inside the Knockout.

 

Objective: The motivation behind Professional Fighters League’s “Inside the Knockout” weekly series was to give viewers an in-depth look at the fights and knockouts featuring PFL’s elite athletes as they persevere through the true-season format that is unique to MMA.

Strategy & Execution: PFL recognized that its best performing videos consistently focused on fight highlights and saw this as an opportunity to create new perspectives on some of the biggest moments in league history. As a sports media company, PFL developed a network style approach to deliver its audience with engaging content that centered around these never-before-seen angles. Leveraging archival footage, the PFL showcased never seen before video and unheard broadcast audio to tell the stories behind some of the most talked about moments during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Results:

Inside the Knockout contributed to PFL's overall social channel performance growth:

• Total Engagements: 26M (+56 percent YOY)
• Total Views: 234M (+36 percent YOY)
• Total Fans: 3.4M (293k new followers)

PRODUCTION

Inside the Knockout

 

CREDITS

Dan Ghosh-Roy

Chief Digital Officer

PFL

 

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