England’s FA Leverages Grabyo for Remote Digital Strategy

Using a combination of former English football stars, classic England matches, and a FIFA20 tournament, the FA has crafted an alternative strategy to engage football fans with the English national teams in the absence of live football.

The FA’s Football’s Staying Home initiative is encouraging people to stay at home during the current COVID-19 pandemic while learning, having fun, and playing football.

16 England players from the men’s and women’s senior teams and the men’s U21 team are participating in a knockout FIFA20 tournament, the Football’s Staying Home Cup. Players include Lucy Bronze, Marcus Rashford and Todd Cantwell. While playing, each match has live commentary by leading esports commentators Brandon Smith and Richard Buckley.

The FA’s multi-platform approach has increased its reach and allows fans to engage with content across all of the FA’s digital channels, with the aim of raising awareness for the National Emergencies Trust.

Each match is broadcast to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter with live clips and highlights distributed in real-time and after each game. Using Grabyo, The FA was able to keep each production on-brand, activating sponsors and driving donations to the National Emergencies Trust.

Another initiative launched by The FA in recent weeks is #ReLions. An innovative way of keeping in touch with fans over the coming months, the FA are re-creating the live experience for fans by broadcasting classic matches to YouTube as if they were live.

Further enhancing the experience, The FA is using Grabyo’s remote production tools to bring in remote guests to commentate on the match and watch along. England’s famous victory over Germany in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers was historic for many reasons, as England beat Germany in Munich for their first qualifier defeat in the city. Who better to do a watch back than the hattrick scorer Micheal Owen, and fellow teammate who was also on the scoresheet from that night, Emile Heskey. The pair, appearing from their own homes via webcam, discussed everything, from the match to goal celebrations, with remote host Adam Smith as they re-lived a great night for England.

“The FA has always been a leader in devising content strategies that put fans at the heart of everything they do,” says Gareth Capon, Grabyo CEO. “We’re proud to play our part in engaging fans and bringing joy to those who need it using sport, while raising money for National Emergencies Trust at a pivotal time.”

The long-standing partnership between Grabyo and The FA has enabled it to deliver a truly fan-first digital strategy in a challenging time for content production. Enabling fans to stay in touch with football from the safety of their homes while having the ability to work remotely ensures continuity across The FA channels, with several campaigns being produced as part of the #FootballStayingHome initiative.

“Our #FootballStayingHome initiative is designed to bring football fans content that is educational, entertaining, and empowering during this challenging time,” says Damien Cullen, Senior Content Innovations Manager at The FA. “In particular, the #FootballsStayingHome Cup helped us to reiterate the important Government advice to stay home while also shining a light on the great work of the National Emergencies Trust. Our long-standing partnership with Grabyo has enabled us to bring this to life with some great content that we hope fans have enjoyed. We will continue to innovate and develop new ways to keep bringing the England teams closer to fans.”

For more information on Grabyo, please contact Mike Kelley at [email protected].