Objectives

The Live Content Correspondent (LCC) program takes NFL fans on social as close as they can get to the game without wearing a helmet.

• We wanted to drive the conversation around the NFL on social by creating real-time, high-quality photo content from every game for League, club and player social channels.
• Deliver quality photo assets to League constituents to showcase the best moments from every NFL game, from pre-game huddles and player warmups to in-game highlights and celebrations.
• We want LCC photo content to live across the NFL Media ecosystem:
  • Social Media: NFL social channels, club social channels, player social channels.
  • NFL.com.
  • The NFL App.

Strategy and Execution

Following the success of the program after its first year (2017), we doubled the program in 2018 and hired two LCCs in each NFL market. We brought on skilled content creators with strong photography and videography backgrounds. With this expansion, we increased the amount of real-time content captured at NFL games for League, Club and Player social accounts.

• Prior to each game, LCCs received a shot sheet detailing the moments that the clubs and NFL wanted to capture.
• LCCs used their own DSLR cameras throughout the season to capture these moments. The NFL equipped them with Samsung Galaxy Note S9+ smartphones and SD-card to camera readers to facilitate real-time sharing. We also installed custom LCC WiFi access points at every NFL stadium to ensure that LCCs could quickly send their content from the field.
• Each LCC was credentialed with behind-the-scenes and on-field access to capture exclusive content, including tailgating, player arrivals, inside huddles, warmups, in-game action and more. LCC's arrived three hours before kickoff and captured content through the last press conference, which enabled the NFL and Clubs to share the most compelling content across platforms. Each LCC was responsible for capturing photo and video content requests for all stakeholders, including NFL, Club and Players social and also NFL.com and NFL App.
• We expanded our coverage of NFL events and had LCCs capture best-in-class photo content at the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl.

Results

After the end of the 2018-19 season, LCCs generated 1,964 photo posts across League, Club and Player social media channels, resulting in over 29.6M engagements.

Additionally, we distributed 5,183 LCC photos through a partnership with AP where the images were downloaded and shared by outlets such as CBA Sports, EA Sports, Fox News, Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine and Panini.

We also had an LCC photo used by Vogue for an article about a suit that Odell Beckham Jr wore before a game this season.

Here are a few examples of how we achieved objectives across each group.

NFL Accounts

The Green Bay Packers LCC was in the perfect position to get Packers TE Jimmy Graham's TD celebration as he leaped into the crowd. This up-close photo shows off all of Graham's emotion following his TD. We shared this photo to the NFL Social team in real-time.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmkKCTPhG1h/?hl=en&taken-by=nfl

Club Accounts

The Seattle Seahawks LCC captured this amazing, heart-filled moment of the Seahawks twin brothers, CB Shaquill Griffin and LB Shaquem Griffin, praying in the end zone as their pregame ritual.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqOQ-pTBeDl/

Player Accounts

The emotions were high as the Los Angeles Rams secured their spot to the Super Bowl. We shared this photo to Rams WR Robert Woods hugging his Head Coach Sean McVay immediately after the win.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs4MIEMnwwc/

Non-Gameday Events

We had LCCs in London to capture content for the Clubs who has scheduled games to play. One of our London LCCs attended a fan event for the Seattle Seahawks and captured fun photos for them.

https://twitter.com/Seahawks/status/1050820756656058370

Pro Bowl

Four LCCs went to Pro Bowl to capture all the best moments from the week and distribute in real time for use by the NFL, Club and Player accounts. Chicago Bears RB Tarik Cohen posted this photo after one of the Pro Bowl events that week.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtHfy46gwHl/

Super Bowl

The LCC who covered Super Bowl and the events leading up to the game, was our strongest photographer. He captured this moment of Los Angeles Rams QB Jared Goff and teammate Ndamukong Suh shaking hands before Super Bowl 53 kicked off.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Btb_z5yBD5G/

Media