The Sports Business Journal held its 17th Annual Sports Business Awards in New York City Wednesday night. Sixteen categories were announced, from Brand Activation of the Year (The beauty of the Pop-Tarts Bowl deserved recognition) to Sports League of the Year. One of the winners this year was the Atlanta Falcons and their Digital and Production Team, winning the Best in Social Media Award for their Bird's Eye View Series.
.@SBJ’s BEST in Social Media!#RiseUp! pic.twitter.com/gxC06MAbmr
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) May 23, 2024
Shot from the roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium and edited using motion capture for a video game vibe, the Birds Eye View Series shattered the Falcons’ internal engagement records and the expectations of the team’s followers. The first video of the series garnered 30.5 million impressions, 919,700 engagements and 100.9 million video views; the second added 30.9 million impressions, 1.5 million engagements and 25.8 million video views.
Falcons President Greg Beadles began his acceptance speech by acknowledging owner Arthur M. Blank, who received SBJ’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024 at the ceremony.
“We love to push the envelope, and we are empowered to do that by Arthur and the rest of our leadership,” Beadles said. “This is just one more example of having great people and giving them the tools to do amazing things.”
Mercedes-Benz Stadium won Sports Breakthrough of the Year in 2018 for its F&B experience.
The Birds Eye View Series was one of the crowning achievements of a disappointing 2023 season for the Falcons on the field. Watching Drake London rise up over two Tampa Bay Buccaneers to come down with a deep ball or Bijan Robinson leaving Green Bay Packers defenders' ankles on the fields of Mercedes-Benz was made even better from hundreds of feet above the field of play.
It was different, innovative and quite frankly, a masterpiece to watch from week to week. Congratulations to the Falcons for giving fans another perspective to enjoy their favorite team and the highlights from an NFL season.
