D.C. United Engages with Fans by Streaming Exclusive Shows via Facebook Live
By Jim Bask
Washington, D.C.As the most decorated club in modern U.S. soccer history, the D.C. United has won the MLS Cup four times, including 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2004. To keep their fans excited and engaged, the club’s in-house digital media department has set a goal to connect regularly with their fans through digital and social media outreach. To accomplish this, the digital media department produces interesting, broadcast-quality live streams that entertain and support the fans that attend the games, which are currently played at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. They especially want to connect with the club’s growing fan base including:
■ Devoted fans in the District of Columbia (D.C.)
■ Fans tailgating in the parking lot before the games
■ Fans that reside outside of the Washington D.C. market
■ Fans that follow the team on Facebook
The digital media department also uses Wirecast to stream exclusive Facebook Live video events, such as a 20th anniversary re-broadcast of the D.C. United’s 1996 MLS Cup championship game. Since that game was over two hours long, the digital media team used Wirecast to create a playlist of smaller segments, including first half, second half, half time and overtime, for easier streaming. The video was also interspersed with “Back in the Day” breaks that showcased the original commercials that ran during the original broadcast.
Perrie explains, “It was an exciting time back then, an amazing game, played in the rain, and visually awesome. I broke it up into video clips using the layer feature in Wirecast, and worked things back and forth between the layers to stream the whole thing. It was hugely successful as our fans got to relive their glory days. We were delighted by how many people it reached, and we plan to do similar broadcasts again in the future.” Click here for the full case study.