IBM – ESPN Fantasy Football Partnership

Gather and IBM SEP collaborated on a fantasy football experience with ESPN

IBM - CONTENT STRATEGY & PRODUCTION

Overview

IBM wanted to help everyday people understand what Watson AI can do by putting its power in their hands.. Gather and IBM’s Sports and Entertainment Partnership (SEP) group collaborated on a fantasy football experience with ESPN — a game to bring Watson to life.

The Approach

Gather recommended a partnership strategy with ESPN, developing the vision, the content strategy and the measurement layer to pilot the program. Using Natural Language Processing, Watson would analyze tens of thousands of ESPN articles and offer insights to help fantasy football players make better decisions. Easy-to-understand visualizations would bring Watson’s recommendations to fans of sports and technology alike.

Gather and SEP managed the content campaigns, social media, and measurement during the program. Influencers, including top sportswriters and NFL insiders, amplified the message that Watson’s data-driven insights enable stronger decisions.

The Impact

This multi-team partnership has been going strong for two years and has produced millions of interactions between Watson and everyday people.