No Chill with Gilbert Arenas NBA Finals Watch Parties

No Chill with Gilbert Arenas is one of the most loved and impactful basketball shows, having become a mainstay on Fubo Sports and on YouTube. It has led the way for basketball analysis shows starring athletes turned content creators and sets an example for athletes embarking on the next phase of their careers.

We continue to expand the No Chill franchise. In addition to the watch parties, Fubo Sports created No Chill episodes on the ground from NBA All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, Ohio and NBA Summer League.

The modern sports fan craves interactive and engaging experiences. The watch parties transported fans into Arenas’ home, simulating a side-by-side viewing experience. No Chill’s watch parties were a creative way for Fubo Sports to stream programming adjacent to the NBA Finals, giving fans a fresh alternative to the traditional broadcast commentary.

Objective

No Chill with Gilbert Arenas has become one of the most-loved and influential basketball shows. Hosted by three-time NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas and NBA Twitter sensation Josiah Johnson, No Chill dishes weekly hot takes and breaking news about the game, and features interviews with legends including Chris Paul, Paul Pierce, and Dwyane Wade.

Arenas’ clout and natural ability to connect with his guests have led the series to become a fan favorite. It has garnered over 5.5M streams and 1M hours watched on linear, and 73.5M views and 6.5M hours watched on YouTube. The podcast has been downloaded over 3.2M times.

In addition to regular full-length episodes, we stream topical content surrounding breaking news and big moments in the NBA. This year, we expanded the No Chill franchise to include live ‘watch parties’ for the 2021-22 NBA Finals.

Knowing that today’s sports fans seek candid and authentic perspectives, we streamed Gil, Josiah and other NBA legends watching the games live to capture their reactions in real-time. We created a viewing experience that was more authentic and engaging than a traditional sports broadcast. By expanding No Chill’s format and distribution, we also created incremental sponsorship and advertising opportunities.

Strategy & Execution

We reimaged No Chill’s traditional interview format as live watch parties for the 2021-22 NBA finals between the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors. During each watch party Arenas and Johnson were joined by guests including Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady and former NBA stars Matt Barnes, Kenyon Martin, and Chris Johnson.

Sports fans’ consumption habits are changing. Rather than relying on a single screen or service, fans consume live sports via multiple devices and platforms simultaneously.

Based on that insight, we created the watch parties as a second-screen experience. Viewers could watch the games on one screen and listen in real-time to reactions from Arenas and guests on a second stream synced to the broadcast via an onscreen clock and score bug.

NBA fans are increasingly seeking content on social media, building robust, active communities on Twitter and YouTube. Taking a platform-agnostic approach, we streamed every watch party on Fubo Sports’ YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter as well as on Arenas’ Instagram and a custom pop-up channel on FuboTV.

To foster engagement, audiences could interact with the live feed via comments and chat. This created a simulation of being alongside Arenas during the biggest NBA games of the season.