ESPN and BSSP Launch new Fantasy Football Campaign

Jul. 17, 2023

ESPN Fantasy Football is back with a new "Only in Fantasy" campaign celebrating how fantasy football on ESPN is more than the mind blowing Monday night miracles and last-place punishments that live in infamy, but something that can bring us all together.  

Following a record-breaking 11 million fan signups in 2022 (a 12% increase from 2021), this year’s campaign created in partnership with Butler, Shine, Stern and Partner (BSSP) leans into how ESPN Fantasy Football can help smooth over any social situation - from awkward encounters with your rideshare driver to meeting a partner’s parent for the first time. 

This comes to life in two :30s (“Commish,” “Steve”) and one :15 (“Delivery”) spots, highlighting how everyone can connect around ESPN Fantasy Football, no matter your differences. “Only in Fantasy” will run across streaming, broadcast, digital and audio, with OOH activations in Times Square and LA Live.

This work follows up previous fantasy campaigns that BSSP and ESPN have worked on since 2019 like  1+1=ESPN Fantasy Football and last year’s activation. In addition to that collaboration, the two have partnered on ESPN’s lauded “One App, One Tap” campaign, producing four iterations, with the latest spot, “One App, One Tap: Phase 4” launching this past May, and the Tournament Challenge “Go With Your Gut” campaign.

VP, Brand Marketing, ESPN Seth Ader said: 

"ESPN Fantasy Football creates connections and builds communities. In this campaign, we remind fans to continue playing ESPN fantasy football because it is the ultimate equalizer between people and can help get you out of awkward situations. We’re excited to launch the campaign and get our millions of players ready for the upcoming season."

 

Creative Director, BSSP Robyn Tenenbaum said: 

"The team had so much fun coming up with the perfect exaggerated-yet-totally-relatable scenarios that prove how fantasy football on ESPN is quite literally the answer to anything and everything out there: how do you unawkward a very awkward situation? How do you earn your girlfriend’s ex-military father’s approval? How do you break the ice? Make small talk? What’s the answer to it all? ESPN Fantasy"