Unscripted was a creative idea born from data. We commissioned the biggest brains in sports data and machine learning to write the first AI-inspired script of any football season. Anywhere on the planet. Ever. Before a ball had even been kicked. Blurring the lines between fact and fiction – The Script ignited a global debate that spanned 44 countries and weaved BT Sport into footballing culture and conversation. Replacing big-budget TV ads with data-driven storytelling, we looked forward for inspiration while other sports broadcasters looked back.

In the face of fierce competition, changing consuming habits and the threat of online piracy – it had never been more difficult to sell sport subscriptions.

The 2019/20 football season was about the begin but BT Sport’s marketing budgets had been cut. There was a renewed focus to do more with less and find new ways to reach fans, while still maintaining sales.

With BT Sport’s biggest competitor outspending it by 3:1 and flooding traditional media channels, we needed to shake things up.

Our brief was simple. Find a way to match the previous years’ sales with a fraction of the media spend.

We commissioned the biggest brains in sports data and machine learning to write the first AI-inspired script of any football season. Anywhere on the planet. Ever.

Our 60-page dossier described the fortunes of all 20 Premier League clubs in meticulous detail. Every win, loss and draw. Every assist, goal and card. Before a ball had even been kicked.

Released to pundits, players, press, influencers and fans – their reactions would fan the flames of the burning debate around the role of data and technology in sport.

Whether it was Marcus Rashford burning it with a blow torch. Or Dele Alli throwing it on the BBQ. It would create a hilarious wave of global indignation and content, that only proved our point. That you just can’t script football.

And provided the perfect segue into the Unscripted phase of our campaign.

Sky had triple our media budget and was flooding traditional channels. We needed a new way to reach fans and meet our objectives.

So, we decided to weave BT Sport into football culture and conversation instead. Replacing big-budget TV ads with disruptive data-driven storytelling.

For that, we’d need an idea that would ignite a global debate like nothing the football community had ever seen. Starting on social media and spreading like wildfire. Using owned and earned media to generate unparalleled awareness and sales.

And then, the breakthrough.

The agony. The ecstasy. Incredible highs. Unbearable lows. From the embers of the most unpredictable Champions League season ever, a truth emerged.

You just can’t write this stuff.

With the imminent introduction of VAR, research confirmed there was no hotter topic in football, than the role of data and technology.

So, while other sports campaigns looked back on previous seasons, we’d look forward.

To establish credibility amongst a notoriously data-cynical audience, we united the biggest brains in data and technology.

30 years of Opta football data was ingested into our models, created by the brilliant analytical minds at Squawka. Then the machine learning began as the models were run using the power of the Google Cloud Platform.

And from numbers, came stories. As we transformed raw data, into our 60-page Script. The fortunes of every club described in incredible detail using glorious data visualisation.

Then, the PR machine went into overdrive as physical copies were released to pundits, players, influencers and journalists.

And the conversation erupted. Before we’d spent a penny on advertising. Discussed everywhere, from Twitter to talkSport, Instagram to the Independent.

Next, we released it to the fans – online, on social and in national rail stations.

Finally, the resolve. Our iconic Unscripted campaign went live in DOOH and press.

Unscripted transformed the way that BT Sport do marketing and set a new standard for sports marketing in the UK. We switched the dial from cumbersome, traditional advertising to data driven, social first content that infiltrated culture and conversation.

• Unprecedented global coverage and engagement:

o 137 million impressions across 44 countries

o 128 pieces of organic coverage

o 2.3 million print circulation

o 5. million online views

o 2.1 million social engagements

o Over 40,000 new social followers of BT Sport in 10 days

• 30% more BT Sport subscriptions than 2018/19, with 26% of the 2018/19 budget

• £1.7 million in earned media more than doubled our paid media budget – putting us on par with Sky’s media spend for their season launch campaign