If you’re scrolling your social media to catch the pregame predictions or postgame reactions to the 2022 World Series you’ve likely come across Flippin Bats. The livestream/podcast produced by the digital team at Fox Sports and hosted by Ben Verlander and Alex Curry is a world-class production. Only about 40-thousand fans are lucky enough to watch these games in person, but Flippin Bats uses a healthy mix of interactivity, access, and taps into every camera in the building to make fans around the world feel like they’re on the field with the crew.
Is this heaven? No, it’s Philly
There was a moment ahead of Game 3 that really highlights the high quality content you can produce when you have the Flippin Bats formula. As the Houston Astros’ bus arrived at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, one of the tinted window panels was shattered allowing anyone outside of the bus to see in. A fan captured a video of the bus pulling in and you can see Justin Verlander flipping off the fans, and when he exits the bus, with a smile on his face, he gives a thumbs up and then hits the fans with another middle finger. The clip goes viral across social media.
At this point, it becomes a story so Ben Verlander goes to the dugout and gets the full breakdown from his brother. As Flippin Bats goes live on their pregame show they bring the initial tweet to air using Tagboard, then Ben gives viewers exclusive access and the story behind the viral moment. Watch the clip below to see how the phrase “The Philly Hello” was born.
It was storytelling at its finest and showed how when you mix interactivity, access, and a little fun together, you end up with a production that can capture the attention of the world.
If you distribute it, they will come
In addition to the quality of the content, the way the team at Fox Sports distributes their content also needs to be highlighted. If you weren’t one of the thousands of viewers watching live, then maybe you caught it on-demand, or potentially you listened in podcast form, or if those forms of content aren’t for you, maybe you read the written article recapping the show.
The team at Fox Sports constantly wins because they understand in this distracted age you need to distribute across multiple channels. They serve up content for their audience to consume however, wherever, and whenever they want.
If you’re a die-hard baseball fan it’s the production of your dreams. If you haven’t seen it yet, we’d encourage you to check it out. In-depth analysis, interactivity, unprecedented access, what more do you want? Maybe a dog and a beer.