Earlier this year, short-form video company NowThis announced the launch of a sports vertical, and now their first series is launching on that vertical. They’re teaming up with the NHL and the Las Vegas Golden Knights for a series that premiered Wednesday on Facebook’s Watch tab. and will continue with an episode each week for five weeks. Interestingly enough, that series (which is being produced by NHL Original Productions) will cover not just the Knights’ entry to the NHL, but also their response to the Las Vegas shootings, which has included ceremonies to honor victims and first responders, donations, community events and more.
Here are some comments on what to expect, via Kendra Andrews of SportTechie:
The series, “Home Team: The Vegas Golden Knights,” follows the team through its first training camp. As the series was shot during the time of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, it captured how sports can help a community come together.
…This is a terrific opportunity to continue to super-serve our fans with compelling content that helps them understand who our players are behind the visors and masks, and to connect them with our newest franchise on a more emotional level,” Steve Mayer, NHL Chief Content Officer and Executive Vice President, said in a statement. “The world saw the entire hockey community come together in solidarity with the Golden Knights and in support of the victims and first responders. Home Team: The Vegas Golden Knights will bring fans into the locker rooms and living rooms of the players that helped bring comfort to Las Vegas.”
…“We’re honored to be partnering with the NHL to create such a meaningful series,” NowThis president Athan Stephanopoulos said in a statement. “It’s not often that a professional sports team is launched, but given the extra weight of the recent events in Las Vegas, our goal is to tell this story with sensitivity and on-the-ground perspective that NowThis is known for. We’re excited for viewers to experience both the launch of the Vegas Golden Knights through the eyes of the athletes, and also experience the fans’ reaction as they come together to grieve and heal in the wake of such tragedy.”
This could have been a notable series in any case, as the Golden Knights are the NHL’s first expansion team since 2000 (Columbus and Minnesota), and they’re off to an impressive 9-4-1 start heading into Tuesday night’s game against Montreal. But the material on their response to the Vegas tragedy might make this even more interesting to a wider audience. It’s also notable to see NowThis start their sports vertical with this series, and to see the NHL co-producing that and putting this on Facebook. We’ll see how it turns out.
