FreeWheel Increases Live Sports Ambitions Following Its Big World Cup Win

That39s because FreeWheel39s technology played a large role in giving soccer fans an engaging and seamless experience on NBCUniversal39s Telemundo network and Peacock39s streaming platform in Spanish and Fox and Fox Sports 1 in English as well as on Scottish Television and Francebased network TF1FreeWheel arranged and delivered World Cup commercials so seamlessly that it is seeking to expand its sports coverage business during the rest of 2023 and beyond quotWe39re going to increasingly grow our leadership position on the delivery of the most important live events on the globequot says FreeWheel Chief Operating Officer Michael LawlorThe World Cup effort was substantial More than six months of preparation went into FreeWheel39s ability to handle the commercial load of each service mostly for pregame halftime and postgame segments FreeWheel included programmatic transactions as well as orders that came in directly through ad agencies The commercials ran on linear TV networks as well as on streaming servicesquotOur role was to enable the monetization of the event across all of our partners carrying it on digital channelsquot explains Lawlor quotIt was a long collaborative process that we had with our programming partners specifically to ensure that we were ready they were ready the playbook was articulated and that we could deliver a flawless experiencequotFueled by strong viewer interest FreeWheel served two billion digital ad impressions during the 2022 World Cup That39s higher than any other major live event that FreeWheel has worked on to date As viewers watched in record numbers the company also reached five times more live concurrent audiences on streaming services compared to the 2018 competition For context the 2022 World Cup Final averaged nearly 26 million US viewers and was the most streamed in English and Spanish soccer match presently in the USquotThere39s an acceleration of viewership of premium content on digital channelsquot Lawlor says quotIt started with scripted content and now we39re seeing broad adoption of viewership on digital for live sports People are getting used to hunting for their content and being comfortable watching it on whichever app or channel they find it onquotHe believes that FreeWheel39s World Cup track record shows that more companies can play a role in generating monetization and that the company can handle the requirements of programmatic ad transactions quotIt39s taken time for the major programmers to trust other industry players to steward their digital monetization and we39re seeing increased comfort with thatquot he assertsLawlor notes that more and more advertisers are conducting programmatic transactions And they39re becoming more comfortable with companies like FreeWheel that can ensure a seamless user experience and maximize monetizationImplementation over the months ahead of FreeWheel39s new inflight streaming optimization feature introduced at NBCUniversal39s One23 conference in New York earlier this month is expected to accelerate its business The platform unlocks multicurrency optimization in real time allowing brands to adjust their digital advertising campaigns on a momentbymoment basis It will be monitored by iSpottv VideoAmp and other media research organizationsquotThat enables our clients to have tremendous flexibility to maximize the monetization of every single impression every single viewer they have through whatever means they wantquot Lawlor concludesClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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FreeWheel Increases Live Sports Ambitions Following Its Big World Cup Win

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Simon Applebaum

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FreeWheel Increases Live Sports Ambitions Following Its Big World Cup Win

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