Greenfly & Grabyo Partner to Power the National Lacrosse League’s First Virtual Draft

Grabyo and Greenfly Partner to power NLL

Streamlined editing and distribution of video content drives digital fan engagement for the league, athletes and teams; boosts social reach by 65 percent

Los Angeles — December 15, 2020 — Greenfly and Grabyo announced today a partnership and technology integration between their cloud-based software platforms that will enable more video clips to be published on social media networks, building brand engagement and loyalty for both parties.

The solution combines Grabyo’s cloud-native video production platform and publishing tools for clipping and editing highlights, with Greenfly’s digital media distribution platform. Digital content teams will be able  to easily and rapidly distribute high-quality video clips with brand partners and advocates during live events for sharing on social media. This product integration enables sports, entertainment and media customers to automatically and seamlessly distribute video clips to dozens or hundreds of people as soon as they have been edited.

The National Lacrosse League was the first organization to test this end-to-end solution for their virtual live draft. The collaboration resulted in reach and engagement that surpassed the league’s previous in-person draft events – by 65 percent – while increasing viewership across B/R Live and the NLL’s YouTube and Facebook channels.

“Our live draft is a major moment for the league, where we rely on fast-paced, high entertainment games, clips and highlights to engage fans,” said Nick Sakiewicz, National Lacrosse League Commissioner. “When we were forced to suspend the season due to COVID, we knew we had to double-down on our digital strategy to power a live draft that would be fully virtual. Having previously experienced high-impact social engagement with Greenfly, and also already using Grabyo for cloud video production, we knew that getting as many short-form videos into the hands of athletes would provide a significant organic lift across social media. We immediately turned to our marketing and creative teams to work together to help us connect with our loyal community of fans, teams and players.”

The NLL used Greenfly as the primary communication and social content tool before, during and after the 2020 Entry Draft. The NLL was able to curate content into media galleries, including clips of the athletes’ college game highlights with their personal commentaries, videos of what it meant to them to be drafted, and messages to other players and NLL fans.

The NLL players, serving as the league’s high-value brand advocates with active and engaged fan bases, used the Greenfly app to quickly access gallery content and share those clips on social media. This kept the league’s fans, consisting mostly of a younger and more mobile-first demographic, connected and engaged.

“Sports is such a content-rich industry with athletes and other brand advocates eager to share their passion for the game and for their team, league and sponsors. Greenfly is the backbone enabling this at scale and with authentic content,” said Daniel Kirschner, CEO at Greenfly. “Successfully supporting the NLL across the 2020 play season and their very first virtual live draft demonstrates the power of automated, holistic media workflows, which are traditionally fragmented and time-consuming. We’re excited to deliver high-impact, edited media with Grabyo, which only elevates an already seamless experience for organizations and their advocates globally.”

The league was able to send personalized galleries of draftee selection moment videos and clips to athletes for them to immediately share on their social media profiles, as the draft was simultaneously in progress. Post-draft, the league sent draftees Entry Draft highlights and content branded with their new NLL team graphics to share with the league’s social followers, building excitement for what is next in their career and the NLL’s next season.

“Working with Greenfly was the perfect synergy for streamlining edited draft clips in real-time,” said Mike Kelley, President at Grabyo Americas. “Their ability to share content quickly to athletes and talent means they can distribute video with the same speed and quality with which the NLL clips and edits it in Grabyo. This is especially crucial in a shifting digital era for live sports events. With Greenfly as a powerful platform partner, we look forward to amplifying video distribution for more organizations, long after the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror.”

The NLL’s collaboration with Greenfly and Grabyo exceeded goals for the Entry Draft event. NLL player content posted through Greenfly generated 65% higher average Instagram reach and 7% higher average Instagram engagement than general NLL Draft content. Leveraging the power of this partnership, the NLL drove increased viewership for their virtual draft event, expanded their digital footprint and audience reach, and built deeper fan and athlete relationships.

To learn more about Greenfly, visit www.greenfly.com, and for more on Grabyo, visit www.grabyo.com.

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About Greenfly
Greenfly, the leader in brand advocacy, enables organizations to efficiently share media to fuel brand love on social media networks. The company’s award-winning software platform and mobile app enable organizations to transform their advocates into brand builders by harnessing the power of authentic content. Founded in 2014, Greenfly is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, with offices across the U.S. and in Paris. To learn more, please visit www.greenfly.com.

About Grabyo
Grabyo is the leading cloud video platform. Grabyo’s lightweight services are the future of broadcast – equipping partners with the tools to manage agile video distribution strategies across all major digital, OTT and social platforms.

Delivered as a SaaS platform and accessed through a web browser, Grabyo is trusted by major publishers and rights holders including UFC, Big 10 Network, EA Sports, Univision, DAZN, IGN, The Hollywood Reporter, Showtime, PBS, Real Madrid, LAFC, and Bellator; Grabyo’s SaaS platform is designed to help digital teams maximize their resources, with no additional software and limited training needed to utilize its browser-based tools.

The platform has strategic partnerships across OTT, social media and broadcast including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitch and Snap. in 2019, Grabyo partners created over 650,000 clips and 16,500 live broadcasts, generating more than 12 billion video views.