Mindshare & Opta create predictive AI cricket commentator
Mindshare were looking to announce FOX Sports’ entry into live Australian national cricket coverage at a time where fans historically never had to pay for access. To add to the challenge, select Australian test matches were still to be made available on free-to-air channels. Mindshare and FOX had to find a way to drive additional value for their subscriptions by creating compelling, unrivalled content to change intrinsic consumer behaviour.
After analysing a year’s worth of historical cricket data from Opta, Mindshare built a custom machine learning model for FOX; one capable of predicting when wickets would fall in live games. With that, Monty was born.
Overlaid with live ball-by-ball Opta data, Monty triggered dynamic creative across pre-roll video, mobile display ads and outdoor billboards when he spotted a potential wicket – driving tuned-out audiences back onto the FOX cricket broadcast for key moments. Monty was integrated into Google Home so fans could ask for Monty’s Call during live play, whilst also providing enhanced visualisations on the Fox Cricket app which fans used to help draft their ultimate fantasy team. His 'Wicket Warnings' ensured fans never missed a play worth paying for.
By changing the way Aussies watch cricket through predictive data insights, Monty helped FOX become the number one for audience share, beating full-year performance of every other channel despite only launching in September. Mindshare also picked up a Silver Lion at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity as a credit to Monty's success.
Share:
Drive additional subscriptions for Pay TV operator Fox Sports who have just acquired rights to national cricket matches
Engage and excite fans who are used to national team cricket being available on Free-to-Air channels where select games are still available
Place Fox Sports platforms and brand in the forefront of Australian cricket coverage amidst an event-heavy Australian summer
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