July 2023
How Omaha Productions built a playbook for ManningCast’s viral clips
400,000
+
Omaha Productions
social media followers
100,000
+
New TikTok followers
in one year
millions
of clip
video views
1.6 million
+
ManningCast TV viewers
per episode in season 1
NFL legend Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions and its signature ManningCast are revolutionizing how football fans experience televised games, igniting a wildfire of social media buzz and viral clips. Formally known as “Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli,” the alternative telecast airing on ESPN2 offers viewers a hilarious and laid back approach to the weekly NFL matchups on ESPN. Manning and younger brother (and fellow Super Bowl Champion quarterback) Eli Manning kick back on couches, dishing out unfiltered commentary as they watch the game with a slew of celebrity guests along the lines of Barack Obama, Dwayne Johnson, Tom Brady, David Letterman, Condoleezza Rice and Snoop Dogg.
Since kicking off in 2021, the live broadcast has gained significant attention and success on social media with the help of SnapStream. The powerful recording and clipping tool allows the Omaha Productions team a fast and streamlined way to grab compelling clips from the show to share with millions of viewers across Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
“It’s super easy for us to get our most important moments up quickly for all of our followers to see,” says Digital Production Assistant Owen Seiler. "One of our biggest priorities is increased brand awareness of 'Monday Night Football with Peyton & Eli' to generate more interest and drive people to watch on TV," says Senior Social Media Director Nikki Williams. She adds "Omaha Productions' goal with all content it produces is to uplift and unify, and there is no better example than the clips we choose to share from the show." The ManningCast is achieving these key objectives through clips and original content, which result in increased brand awareness, engagement, and a growing fanbase.
“Having the ability to cut specific moments from the show are huge for us as far as our overall posting plan on social media channels."
Nikki Williams
- Senior Social Media Director
Peyton called for timeout 62 times in the final minute of Monday night's game pic.twitter.com/qOs9wesnyJ
— Omaha Productions (@OmahaProd) September 14, 2022
Punting away inefficiencies
Omaha Productions didn’t have SnapStream for the first season of the ManningCast. With the show proving to be a big hit in the ratings and trending on social media, the team wanted to find a way to more efficiently distribute clips from the broadcast. Digital Producer Natalie Hesse, who joined for the second season, explains that "there's a market difference in the volume we're able to generate from each show because of SnapStream." Hesse adds, "SnapStream allows Omaha Productions to add the 1-2 punch of original content plus greater volume of moments lifted directly from the broadcast to feed our digital audience the content it craves." The team put an emphasis on finding a product that could cut clips easily and quickly, and was able to achieve all of that with SnapStream.
Omaha Productions also had the goal of building up their evergreen library so they could share moments even when the show wasn't in season. With SnapStream, they're able to access content from past broadcasts to help them share content throughout the year.
Publishing viral content in a snap
SnapStream is now an instrumental tool for getting ManningCast content on social media. The team uses SnapStream to quickly identify, clip, label and push out key moments, amplifying the impact of the ManningCast across social media platforms. The content they look for includes moments with guests, fun riffs with Peyton and Eli, references to career highlights that relate to the game, and fun moments that fans engage with, generating more exposure and awareness.
"Omaha Productions and ESPN share the same goal of celebrating the game and bringing more people to the party. With SnapStream, we're able to share clips like LeBron James' predicting an Ezekiel Elliott TD and Sue Bird cheering on her Seahawks, showing that these A-List celebrities are true fans just like all of us at home." says Williams.
ManningCast co-host Eli Manning smiles on set.
Winning the TikTok game with moments
Peyton's playcalling
1.3 million views
@omahaproductions Peyton calling plays in the huddle is a work of art #fyp #manningcast #mnf ♬ original sound - Omaha Productions
Gumby drinking through his eye
590k views
@omahaproductions “You gotta do, what you gotta do.” - Eli Manning 😂 #manningcast #elimanning #peytonmanning #mnf ♬ original sound - Omaha Productions
Peyton's QB sneak play
1.5 million views
Tackling content for different platforms
With SnapStream, the Omaha Productions team efficiently formats clips for optimal performance on different platforms, resulting in increased reach and engagement. During a game, the top priority is to push out clips on Twitter, which the team considers the most timely platform. They can also quickly create and post GIFs and screenshots for fans to react to. From there, they create longer compilation videos for YouTube and use templates to reformat clips vertically for TikTok and Instagram.
“It’s super quick, it’s super easy,” Seiler says, who is in charge of creating TikTok videos.
Scoring touchdown after touchdown
Manningcast host Peyton Manning demonstrates how to take the snap.
Omaha Productions' main goal on social media is increasing brand visibility and exposure to help promote the show for its partner, ESPN. By blitzing social media with clips cut from SnapStream and collaborating with guests to share their appearances, it helps to expand the digital audience. Within a year of launching their TikTok account, they grew their following to over 120,000 followers.
The ManningCast social strategy has proven to be such a successful model that Omaha Productions is replicating it for other MegaCasts and live event productions.