Joe Caporoso, EVP Media of Team Whistle on recent partnerships & why they increased investment in original programming

Earlier this year , ELEVEN SPORTS acquired New York-based global sports media and entertainment company Team Whistle, in a move that expands ELEVEN’s operations to North America and accelerates the Group’s plans to create a global sports media destination. Team Whistle creates and distribute engaging content experiences for today’s audiences, always playing in the positive and resonating with what’s relatable. The Playknox spoke with Joe Caporoso, EVP of Media to know more about the work being done by Team Whistle. 

 

Tell us more about yourself Joe and your role at Team Whistle.

 

I currently serve as EVP of Media at Team Whistle, a global sports and entertainment company that creates and distributes positive, brand safe and relatable content. . I have been with the company for nine years, previously serving as our Head of Content & VP of Social Media. I lead our team focused on the consumer/media business, who drive on monetizing our original IP and expanding our audience development in as many places as possible. .

 

What does Team Whistle do?

 

Team Whistle generates positive and relatable video content and supports organizations, leagues and federations looking to do the same. We generate 4 billion views a month across Facebook, Instagram, Snap, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube, along with our OTT channel, WhistleTV.

 

We currently have over 50 owned original content series, available across over 30 platforms like ‘No Days Off’, ‘Dunk League’, ‘Days Off’, ‘Put You On’, ‘My Hustle’, ‘Cheat Day’, ‘Meet the Pets’ and more. In the recent years, we have increased our focus on expanding our original content library and diversifying the distribution and monetization around it.

 

Tell us about TW recent brand partnerships.

 

It is one of the fastest growing areas of our business, as we are eager to work with brands that share a like minded desire to create stories that are positive and inspire young audiences. We have partnered with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Frito Lay, Ebay, KFC, General Mills, Unilever, Wendys and GotMilk to name a few so far in 2021. We regularly work to integrate these brands into our original content series as seamlessly as possible.

 

 

How has content delivery changed or evolved in the past few years?

 

We have focused on producing more original shows and expanding beyond sports into categories like entertainment and culture, where it makes sense. We have also leaned heavier into vertical video across Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok.

 

What were the challenges Team Whistle faced due to Covid and how did you overcome?

 

Lockdown orders and regulations brought on by the pandemic threw a wrench into video production plans of course, but given how nimble our production abilities are, we actually were able to increase our investment in original programming at a higher rate than at any previous time in company history. We also adapted in the early months to integrate remote productions and found other creative ways to utilize our growing library of evergreen content.

 

What was the content strategy during the lockdown as the movements were restricted?

 

We had to consider how many people were on set at any given time. We had to follow existing production protocols to ensure the safety of our talent and all involved in production and we had to be that much more diligent about planning ahead for the editorial calendar, using our library and expanding UGC usage.

 

Team Whsitle’s social media numbers are quite great. What is your social media strategy? Also, which social media platform you reckon works best for you?

 

We are a distributed media company, so we focus on making IP that can resonate on multiple social platforms at once. We also heavily focus on properly optimizing for each channel with our post production and programming team. We have seen a particular surge of growth on Snapchat in recent years and look forward to continuing to build with them in 2022.

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