Chris Stearns

English Premier League Week 1 Branding, Social Media, and Televison Highlights

August 16, 2016
by Chris Stearns

We’re entering the second week of the 2016-17 English Premier League season and the first Friday match of the season. It will be interesting to see both the television ratings, attendance, and social chatter around this test run of Friday matches throughout the season. With the first weekend of matches in the books, we wanted to share with you some of our highlights from Gameweek 1.

New Premier League Branding

The most recognizable moment of the weekend didn’t come from a particular match, but has steadily been building up since earlier this summer, when the new Premier League branding officialy went into effect. The new logo maintains the iconic lion from the previous logo, but that’s where similarities end. The new brand and associated marks are bold, colorful, and instantly recognizable, especially when scrolling through social media or looking at the new app icon on your phone.

premier-league-logo-new-football_3413138

 

Of course with the new logo, font, and color schemes comes new graphics for television, social media, and digital channels. This article shows some great in-depth videos and imagery that highlight the new branding and how it’s used across the various platforms to showcase the vibrancy of the Premier League. You can see some examples of the new graphics below.

 

Not only did television, social media, and digital media get the rebrand updates, but the popular Fantasy Premier League game which is played by more than 3 million people each season received a complete overhaul. The Premier League even launched an Official FPL Twitter account which further showcases the new design direction and colors and inform fans about player status’ and fantasy scoring with beautiful graphics.

 

Social Media Conversation

Watching matches is only a small part of the game day for Premier League fans. With the return of games comes an increase in social media conversation between fans, teams, and brands. While I love good banter as much as the next person, we wanted to showcase some findings and highlight some of our favorite pieces of content.

 

English Premier League Social Media Highlights

 

No surprise that Zlatan’s goal in his debut was the highest engaging tweet from the official Premier League Twitter account over the weekend. Props to their social media person for showcasing just how dominant Zlatan has been on his debut for every league he’s played in.

I was pleasantly surprised (although not completely shocked) to see the return of Copa90’s animated goal highlights. These were a major hit for them during Euro 2016 and are a beautiful way to show highlights without having the television rights to show the actual goals.

https://twitter.com/Copa90/status/765139615980195840

Record Setting U.S. Cable Television Ratings

Going into the weekend, the Arsenal-Liverpool match had the recipe to be the most-entertaining match of the weekend. It certainly delivered and then some. With two of the most-popular clubs in the United States squaring off in the late Sunday morning time slot, ultimately playing out to a 4-3 Liverpool win, it made for great television. It also made for great television ratings in the U.S.

It was the most-watched opening weekend English Premier League match ever on U.S. cable television with a total of 745,000 viewers on NBCSN.The number of viewers is a 19% increase from last season’s opener on NBCSN, which featured Manchester United versus Tottenham.

With the arrival of some of the biggest names in soccer – both players and managers – during the summer transfer window, continued exposure and more awareness in the U.S. market, and momentum from a strong GW1, hopefully the 2016-17 English Premier League season builds upon its record-breaking season last year.

Categories: Digital Content, EPL, Soccer Marketing, Social Media