Popular Irish sports broadcaster enlists FTP specialist for a fun series of rapid-fire “live” quizzes to improve the viewer experience

SportCaller, the leading free-to-play (FTP) sports-game provider, has joined forces with Off The Ball, Ireland’s popular sports news and analysis show, to drive audience engagement during the current sporting shutdown with a series of entertaining “live broadcast” quizzes.

The deal is the first of its kind with a multi-platform sports media company, demonstrating SportCaller’s growing reach outside its typical sports betting arena, connecting with more mainstream audiences and responsibly introducing them to the value and highly social nature of free-to-play products.

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These rapid-fire tests of trivia track a topical schedule of flagship events that would traditionally capture players’ interests and imaginations around this time of year, while also incorporating a steady diet of general knowledge questions around all major sports.

SportCaller’s live-quiz configurations run off a last-man-standing mechanic, whereby players must submit each answer before a clock-count winds down, with correct answers progressing to the next question. Ultimately, a €1,000 prize is either won or shared between any participant(s) who can post a perfect score across the entire quiz.

This seasonal series showcases SportCaller’s flexibility and capacity to deliver softer marketing functions with which to responsibly maintain customer engagement and digital dwell-time. While these fresh formats have been naturally adapted to the present pandemic, their manifest utility for broader retention has also carved out a long-term future as part of a progressive product set and marketing strategy for both media partners and operators.

These quizzes are fronted by a rota of familiar personalities from Off The Ball, whose main host Ger Gilroy is regularly joined by household names including Brian O’Driscoll and Kevin Kilbane. The show is sponsored by Paddy Power, who first launched SportCaller’s signature Beat The Drop game to universal acclaim back at the 2018 World Cup. The free-to-play specialist has since gone on to bolster this strong relationship at group level for Flutter Entertainment, whose mega-merger with The Stars Group was completed at the beginning of May.

Cillian Barry, MD at SportCaller, said: “We’re thrilled to be breaking new ground with Off The Ball via these new Live Broadcast quizzes, showing that now is the time to be pushing fresh concepts and products for our increasingly diverse range of clients. They say that personality goes a long way and OTB has it in spades. As a result, the SportCaller platform is another conduit by which OTB can express the content of that character to a loyal, sports-mad audience looking for some light relief.

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“Clearly, you’re never going to replicate the same levels of engagement until all live sports can reliably find a way back. However, we can still offer fun, thematic content with these simple FTP games which build brand loyalty and an audience which returns to watch, listen and play. I believe this represents another key proving ground outside our original sportsbook domain, with these quizzes helping to fashion a wider and improved marketing mix.”

Ger Gilroy, Managing Director of Off The Ball, added: “It’s imperative that we keep our viewers and listeners entertained across our live radio and podcast channels, despite many of their favourite major sports still being unavailable. Happily, SportCaller’s innovative quizzes are allowing us to open up another outlet of competitive fun and social enjoyment for our enthusiastic audience.

“Their games fit neatly into our programming schedule and check all the boxes for responsible engagement. We’re always looking for new experiences to better connect our viewers to the sports they love, and SportCaller’s creative-content ideation and swift tech integration set them apart.”