European Athletics has become the latest sports organisation to delve into its archive to deliver content during the Covid-19 shutdown.
European Athletics’ social media campaign, entitled 50 Golden Moments, will be rolled out across digital platforms over the next six months in celebration of the governing body’s 50th anniversary in 2020.
All 50 moments will be taken from major European competitions from the Helsinki 1971 European Athletics Championships, the first event organised by the then-newly-created European Athletic Association (EAA), through to the Glasgow 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
The first moment is published today (Thursday), looking back at Armand Duplantis’ record-breaking feats at the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships. Selected from European Athletics’ archives, the series will contain a mixture of video clips and still images with graphics edited into short-form storytelling. The series will run across all of European Athletics’ digital channels under the hashtag #EA50.
European Athletics chief executive Christian Milz said: “We are launching this at a very specific moment in the history of athletics, and sport in general, currently in lockdown and where rights-holders are revisiting their archives searching for content. We will be actively asking our member federations to participate using the hashtag #EA50 and join us by selecting their greatest moments from their history.”
Like many sports organisations, European Athletics has seen its calendar hit by the pandemic. Last month, the European Athletics Championships in the French capital of Paris, which were scheduled to take place from August 25-30, were cancelled.
The 50 Golden Moments will feature as a part of a revamp of the federation’s YouTube channel. Rob Faulkner, head of communications at European Athletics, added: “This is the start of our foray into the production of original content and we are already working on a longer-form series that will focus on the human stories behind certain high-profile athletes.
“This added-value content creation is something that many brands are looking for right now given the current lack of live events due to the coronavirus pandemic. At European Athletics we are already working with our partners to understand how we can return value to them using different assets given the postponement, or cancellation, of many events this year.”
Elsewhere, the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) has launched a digital campaign that will incorporate contributions from across the sport.
In preparation for the return of basketball, Fiba is launching #FIrstBAsket, with the aim of uniting the global basketball community. #FIrstBAsket will consist of a series of videos, photos and mini-interviews with basketball and 3×3 basketball stars, coaches, fans, officials and others connected to the sport, focusing on the question – what will be your #FIrstBAsket?
Fiba’s social media accounts will share action from practices and games throughout the world, with the federation encouraging fans to post and share their #FIrstBAsket moments. Fiba has also been creative in its approach to content during Covid-19.
The federation last month agreed a deal with international sports broadcaster Eleven Sports allowing it to provide a live stream of Taiwan’s Super Basketball League Finals.