Unscripted
BT Sport, 2019
Extending BT Sport’s 2019/20 launch asset into a season-long Premier League content format.
MY ROLE
Led the organic content strategy with BT Sport’s Head of Digital, shaping how Unscripted developed across editorial and social.
CONTEXT
Unscripted launched ahead of the 2019/20 season with a clear provocation: a 60-page AI-generated script predicting the Premier League season. The global campaign was produced by Wunderman Thompson and the data was backed by Google Cloud, Opta and Squawka.
The Script was originally designed as a launch moment. We kept the idea alive across the season, allowing predictions to be tested, challenged and debated in real time as the football world reacted to them.
STRATEGY
The Script gave people a version of the season to react to before a ball had been kicked. With the campaign mapping out the season ahead, it created a narrative we could keep returning to as events unfolded on the pitch.
Unscripted became an ongoing editorial format.
We started with players, then moved into pundits, influencers and wider football culture, using BT Sport access to generate reactions. The focus stayed on the predictions most likely to provoke disagreement: results, goalscorers and league table finishes.
As the season unfolded, we kept returning to it, using real-world results to test the predictions each week and reinforce the reality that football never follows The Script.
Unscripted evolved from a launch campaign into a season-long format, spanning player interviews, pundit debates, reactive social and PR.
WHAT CHANGED
Unscripted moved beyond launch into an ongoing conversation throughout the season.
Player reactions gave the campaign immediate traction. Marcus Rashford, James Maddison and Dele Alli tore into the AI script, validating the idea while challenging it.
As results came in, predictions kept resurfacing. Liverpool’s 18-game winning run, Southampton 0-9 Leicester, Unai Emery’s sacking all gave Unscripted a reason to return.
What began as a provocation became a recurring football debate throughout the season. The campaign reinforced BT Sport’s role as a disruptive challenger broadcaster.
137M
organic impressions across
44 different countries
30%
uplift in BT Sport subscriptions vs the previous season
EXTENDED
a single campaign moment into sustained season-long coverage
Images: Colin Smith, Wunderman Thompson, BT Sport