National Lacrosse League Maximises Social Reach With First Virtual Draft

The National Lacrosse League (NLL) has utilised a partnership and tech integration between cloud video production platform Grabyo and digital media distribution tool Greenfly, for its virtual live draft.

The NLL was able to curate content into media galleries, including clips of the athletes’ college game highlights with their personal commentaries; videos of what it meant to them to be drafted; and messages to other players and NLL fans.

NLL players used the Greenfly app to quickly access gallery content and share those clips on social media. This kept the league’s fans, consisting mostly of a younger and more mobile-first demographic, connected and engaged.

The NLL was able to send personalised galleries of draftee selection moment videos and clips for athletes to immediately share on their social media profiles, while the draft was in progress.

Post-draft, the league sent draftees Entry Draft highlights and content branded with their new NLL team graphics to share with the league’s social followers.

NLL player content posted through Greenfly generated 65% higher average Instagram reach and 7% higher average Instagram engagement than general NLL draft content.

Nick Sakiewicz, National Lacrosse League commissioner, said: “Our live draft is a major moment for the league, where we rely on fast-paced, high entertainment games, clips and highlights to engage fans. When we were forced to suspend the season due to Covid, we knew we had to double-down on our digital strategy to power a live draft that would be fully virtual.

“We knew that getting as many short-form videos into the hands of athletes would provide a significant organic lift across social media. We immediately turned to our marketing and creative teams to work together to help us connect with our loyal community of fans, teams and players.”

Daniel Kirschner, CEO at Greenfly, added: “Sports is such a content-rich industry with athletes and other brand advocates eager to share their passion for the game and for their team, league and sponsors. Successfully supporting the NLL across the 2020 play season and their very first virtual live draft demonstrates the power of automated, holistic media workflows, which are traditionally fragmented and time-consuming. We’re excited to deliver high-impact, edited media with Grabyo, which only elevates an already seamless experience for organisations and their advocates globally.”

Mike Kelley, President at Grabyo Americas, said: “Working with Greenfly was the perfect synergy for streamlining edited draft clips in real-time. Their ability to share content quickly to athletes and talent means they can distribute video with the same speed and quality with which the NLL clips and edits it in Grabyo.”