“The technology you use impresses no one. The experience you create with it is everything.” This quote by Sean Gerety might not connect with everyone, but it fits exceptionally well with EssentiallySports’ vision. At ES, we continue to visualize ourselves as a data and technology-first media house, that pushes new boundaries to create an all-encompassing experience for the fans.

In 2023, EssentiallySports came up with many new features that infused a touch of creativity to a fan’s digital experience – but the biggest of them all, was the ES Fancast. Introduced with an aim to change the podcasting world in ES’ own flavor, it posed a challenge to the traditional audio format. After all, virtually engaging with insider scoop of their favorite sporting personalities right from the comfort of their homes – sounds great, right? 

Here then goes about the story of what the ES Fancast entails :

The Advent of the ES Fancast

An instrumental individual in making the Fancast happen was its coordinating team lead, Abhimanyu Singh. As is the case with any product feature, the idea behind its creation reigns supreme, and we wanted to know how it all came into being. Chiming in with some thoughts, he said, “The aim was to create a podcasting solution in-house and increase the levels of engagement we can provide to audiences. It was also a way for us to have the tech and content side of things, which are our strong suits, work together – and create something that captures the fan’s perspective in another way.”

One of the incredibly unique aspects that makes Fancast tick is its two-way experience, where fans can engage with their favorite athletes live via polls and chat. In a world of short-form content, it also looks to combine the best of both worlds – with a split-screen experience of  interviews and highlight reels, produced exclusively with the fan’s perspective.

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Undoubtedly, the Fancast is a project very close to the hearts of several people here at EssentiallySports. And as first-hand sports fans, anticipating what type of content would work came naturally to them. When asked how the ES Fancast has helped fans consume exciting, fast-paced content, Tech-Product lead Hitesh Gautam mentioned, 

“Fancast was born from a simple yet powerful observation: people crave quick, engaging content. Gone are the days of lengthy, often tedious live interviews and podcasts. Instead, we’re all about brevity and excitement, offering snackable content that fits perfectly into our users’ fast-paced lives.”

“At the heart of Fancast is an obsession with the user experience. We understand that while our users are eager for content, they don’t want to miss out on the essentials. That’s why we’ve crafted our offerings into compact, reel-style formats – ideal for consumption anytime, anywhere.”  

Multiple teams at EssentiallySports join forces to create the ultimate podcasting experience

It goes without saying that when one sets about making a change to a long-standing format of content, it requires multiple personnel’s talent and hard work to make it happen. To even execute a single episode from idea to reality, there are aplenty steps along the way.

It all however, starts with our Outreach team connecting with potential guests to pitch them the idea of what the ES Fancast is all about. And as soon as a guest is finalized, our Marketing unit springs into action with some pre-production work, curating a strategy that consists of every selling point for the guest.

Meanwhile, our Creatives team works on conceptualizing some vibrant visuals for social media that you as readers eventually see – and with no time to spare before the interview, the promotions begin in full swing. 

While all this is happening, a dedicated content taskforce is working in parallel towards finalizing the questionnaire for the interview. A lot of thought goes into this, as the Fancast is more than just an interactive experience for the fan. This also represents a way for the guests to connect more openly and showcase a side of their personality, that many may not be aware of.

“Fancast isn’t just about passive listening. We’ve broken down the barriers of one-way communication, creating interactive segments where fans can actively participate through polls, sharing reactions, and much more. This interactive angle doesn’t just stop with the fans – it extends to the athletes too, providing them with a unique platform to connect with their followers, answer questions, and showcase their brands in a personal, relatable manner,” says Hitesh.

The Live Interview though, is the sparkling showstopper of the entire operation – as multiple units of the organization come together as one, and create the ultimate magic we see on our screens. Paying utmost attention to take care of our guests, the host, and the podcast as a whole, it goes without saying that our Fancast team puts attention to detail before anything else! True to its promise of being interactive, a myriad of Polls, Reels, and Embeds are also constantly being worked on in real-time, and shared with fans to make them a part of it.

With the Live Interview now done, the work doesn’t stop here as it is now time for post-production duties! Ranging from social media posts to reels and web stories, these are just a few examples of the diverse content put out for our consumers to enjoy. With all this complete, our various writing teams then pick up enticing angles from the interview to churn out articles on the same – a way to boost the key stories to our larger audience, should they have missed out on the Fancast episode. 

The best of EssentiallySports is here for our readers

The ES Fancast might appear to some as a single interview format video on a sporting website – but in reality, it is much more than that. It is the amalgamation of different teams from ES coming together to create an interactive fan-guest experience. 

The Fancast has featured quite a few guests till now with their own interesting contributions to the sports world. These include former US Open winner Dominic Thiem, rising basketball prodigy Peyton Marshall, Mike Tyson’s business aide Adam Wilks, and former WTA world No.1 Ana Ivanovic, among many others. 

Through the years, certain ideas have changed people’s perception of what ideas and innovation mean. These very ideas, though, have been brought to life by individuals or organizations, who considered them as they were, envisioned what could be, and remained dedicated to creating the changes they believed in.

This is exactly what EssentiallySports is doing with the ES Fancast – with a complete commitment to redefining the podcast world through its interactions between athletes and fans in the digital age. And it would certainly be remiss of us to not mention that the best from EssentiallySports is here, and will continue to make its way to you with the passing of time!