Sheffield F.C. wanted to get back to its glory days, so on its 164th birthday, the club collaborated with the most popular gaming franchise ever - EA’s FIFA 22. EA honoured the world’s first club by giving the F.O.A.T. the exclusive right to write down the unwritten rules of the FIFA community, thus making them officially official. In order for the gaming community to be able to commit to the F.O.A.T. CODE, EA even released the historical Sheffield F.C. kit in FIFA 22, which made it clear: if you wear the kit, you play by these rules. The release of the kit and the rulebook were celebrated with a branded content campaign on various social media channels
Problem
In football, everybody keeps talking about the G.O.A.T.: the greatest of all time. But why is no one talking about the F.O.A.T.? The first of all time: Sheffield F.C. - the world’s first football club (founded in 1857) and the founding fathers of the first rules we still play by today. These are incredible facts that sadly not many people know about because today, Sheffield is playing in the 8th division, far from the attention the club deserves.
Result
Global sports media outlets reported about the F.O.A.T. and its new CODE. We got 180 million earned media contacts in over 20 countries worldwide and over 4 million organic reach on social media. In conclusion, FIFA 22 was once and for all established as a part of football history by the F.O.A.T. And Sheffield F.C. finally got the attention it deserved – from a whole new generation of football fans.