Hang Media Finds Success Connecting Fans, Players During Live Broadcasts

Virtual "Hangs" during ICC World Cup Final, MLB World Series deliver for Gen Z audiences

ESPN’s ManningCast has been a very successful virtual watch party for the broadcast media landscape but Hang Media, founded in 2021 by former CNN President Jon Klein, is taking virtual watch parties to another level by giving fans a chance to get even closer to famous athletes who are watching the game.

Says Klein: “What could be better than dropping famous people into the palm of their hand to watch the game alongside them? Watching a game with your heroes was the inspiration.”

Former Texas Ranger Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez recently took place in a World Series Hang along with Roy Oswalt, Dan Wheeler, Ruben Sierra, and more.

That inspiration has led to an experience (click here to see it in action) where athletes are signed up to host a virtual watch party which fans can then register to watch. It isn’t a simulcast, ala the ManningCast, but rather a dedicated second-screen experience designed to be watched on a phone, tablet, or laptop alongside a big screen that has the actual game.

Registration for fans is free thanks to the support of sponsors like Toyota, Coca-Cola, Dave & Busters, MolsonCoors, and more. Since launch more than 20 million fans have taken part in the watch parties which require nothing but a Webcam, laptop camera, or phone camera on the part of the athlete. When fans access the Hang, they are then watching a second-screen experience that complements their first screen experience which has the actual game.

Klein says a study by Deloitte that came out earlier this year showed why Hang Media is finding success.

“The report said that Gen Z sports fans expect the viewing experience to be communal,” he says. “They don’t want to just sit there alone in their living room. They want to be involved in a group situation. And social media has also made them expect to have authentic connections with famous people. Providing that through Hangs has been a real lure for younger viewers as 60% of our users are 18 to 44.”

“We’ve seen plenty of companies come and go who bought rights to incorporate the feed into their experience and they’re now out of business because it doesn’t hold up,” he says. “But we do think there’s going to come a point where the leagues and the teams will want to have their feeds included in front of our audiences.”

Klein says the average session is one hour and 19 minutes and attracts an average of 800,000 viewers.

“We are pulling in users and keeping them,” says Klein. “That is really rewarding and we’re just going to continue to keep on learning about what works and what doesn’t to continue to drive that number.”

Hangs are available as both live streams and as VOD for a week following the event. Klein says that adds additional viewers, driving more value for sponsors and more exposure for the athletes.

“The athletes rave about this experience every time as they love the face-to-face contact with their fans as this isn’t just a quick hit on a radio show,” he adds. “It’s a shared emotional experience and they also share it with other athletes as we often look to bring teammates together or current players on an off-night or bye week as they tend to attract a younger audience.”

The athletes also help promote the Hangs via short videos they run on social media. Those clips have links that take fans straight to the ticketing page and then the fans submit their phone number and email address.

“We share all that with sponsors and then on game day we send a text with a link to the fans, and they can even sign up for an on-camera slot which are limited to about 200 per game,” says Klein “Those are cycled through at around 40 people per quarter, but then unlimited people can access the chat where viewers can post questions.”

Hang Media also offers trivia contests which Klein says are fairly simple graphics insertions that add another level of engagement and are often focused on the athletes in the hang. And then the sponsors also make sure to get engaged as well.

“Restaurant chain Smokey Bones will deliver food to the athletes, so they’ll be there eating ribs,” says Klein. “Cris Carter was on for an Ohio State game as he went there, and he mentioned how much he liked Smokey Bones donuts and Smokey Bones delivered them during the hang. So, it’s all very organic with respect to product integration and endorsement.”

The most recent sponsor to sign on with HANG is Toyota. To introduce its first-ever Grand Highlander SUV to targeted Black and Indian expat consumers, Toyota and its agencies, Burrell and InterTrend, have leveraged HANG’s unique second-screen experiences to power deep engagement across more than 1 million views during the Toyota HBCU NY Classic football game back in September, and October’s India-Pakistan Cricket World Cup match. They also teamed up this past weekend for the Cricket World Cup Final between Australia and India.

This past weekend Toyota sponsored a Hang for the ICC World Cup final between Australia and India that featured Cricket World Finals with Unmukt Chand, Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Saiyami Kher, hosted by Ridhima Pathaki.

Klein says hangs are also a great way for athletes to showcase their personalities in a more meaningful way than a quick interview.

“All athletes are acutely aware of how finite their careers are, and they want to position themselves for the next thing,” he adds. “We let them promote their podcasts or other products that they may be developing and that makes it a happy relationship.”

The hang experience is focused on authenticity, fun, and being freewheeling which Klein says is a key to using technology going forward.

“Just look at TikTok: nothing on it looks like a show but it’s authentic,” he says. “That’s what we’re going for as well.”