Ice Hockey is a part of Finnish national identity. At the heart of local hockey love is the Finnish Hockey League (FHL), which culminates every spring in playoffs and championship games followed intensely by fans. Unfortunately everything ground to a halt when coronavirus made its way to Finland and Finnish Hockey League was cancelled just before the playoffs.

Finnish telco brand Telia has been an active figure in developing the Finnish esports scene by hosting the largest esports series in Finland called Telia Esports Series. Telia saw an opportunity for esports to come to the rescue and bring joy to disappointed hockey fans.

With the execution Telia wanted to bring entertainment to audiences during a stressful period of time and to bring esports in front of new audiences. The aim was to prove that esports is a credible form of sport that deserves its place among traditional sports.

Finnish Hockey League, like many other leagues around the world, got cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak. As an enthusiastic hockey nation, the people in Finland took it hard. It was then decided that the league wouldn’t get cancelled after all, but played online with EA’s NHL 20 console game. The ePlayoffs were presented by Finland’s largest esports league, Telia Esports Series hosted by Finnish telco brand Telia.

The ePlayoffs were designed to be identical to the original league broadcasts to make them as approachable as possible to hockey fans not familiar with esports. The execution hosted the original teams, matches were presented by familiar FHL hosts and followed the original playoffs schedule. Matches were broadcasted on national television during prime time from the FHL studios. The games were also streamed on Twitch for existing esports audiences.

To reach the mainstream audience, ePlayoffs were designed to be as easily approachable as possible to hockey fans and audiences not familiar with esports. Telia set its focus to build a phenomenon that would bring joy to disappointed fans during a stressful period and familiarise new audiences to the developing esports scene. To achieve this, the end result needed to be identical to the original playoffs and follow the original match schedule.

The greatest barriers to the execution of the strategy were an extremely tight schedule and a minuscule overall budget. This framework directed the way the strategy was to be executed. Focus was to be set on utilising all partners' channels and earned media effectively to gain momentum and visibility organically.

The execution of ePlayoffs was identical to the original playoffs. All the original teams were included and the matches followed the same match schedule as was planned for the original playoffs. The studio environment, hosts and casters were also familiar to audiences from traditional FHL broadcasts. Alongside familiar faces, Finnish esports personalities were included in the broadcasts to bring relevant insights to the experience.

EXECUTION TIMELINE

* 13.3. FHL season is cancelled?

* 17.3. Idea is created and the planning ensues

* 25.3. All relevant materials are produced and the final type of execution is decided.?

* 31.3. Announcement ?

* 8.4. ePlayoff games begin?

* 25.4. Finals and championship for the season is finalised.

ePlayoffs consisted of six broadcasts which were preceded by a large-scale content push by all involved. The matches were shown in linear TV, online TV -services and Twitch.

ePlayoffs earned wide coverage in international media, won Finnish hockey fans over and brought much needed joy in the midst of a global pandemic. The matches were viewed by over 300,000 unique viewers which is comparable to traditional playoffs and was a record-breaking viewership in Finnish esports. Earned media was worth 3 462 210 € and reach went up to 374 292 933 impressions.

Brand awareness of Telia Esports Series catapulted from 21 % to 41 % among all Finns following the campaign. ePlayoffs brought Telia's long-term vision a step closer: to make esports a mainstream sport in Finland.

ePlayoffs changed the course of Finnish sports culture. Following the success of ePlayoffs, Finland's two largest sports leagues – FHL in ice hockey and Veikkausliiga in football – both decided to start their own esports leagues in collaboration with Telia Esports Series. 'eLiiga' and 'eFutisliiga' launched in November 2020.