Football Manager 24 (FM24) launched in November 2023. The game is historically a PC game but console is now the fastest growing platform, so Xbox is in a race to establish themselves as the first choice for gamers, rather than their competitor PlayStation. Xbox is the brand which “Powers your dreams” so they wanted to empower gamers to unlock the full potential of their football dreams. Xbox Game Pass is Xbox’s subscription service – a ‘Netflix for games’ – that gives players access to hundreds of games for a monthly price. The brief was to make Football Manager fans see Xbox Game Pass as the best place to play. The objectives were to increase the number of Xbox players of FM24 compared to FM23 and to increase Xbox’s brand association with football.

For the launch of FM24 on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox showed the power of gaming. They partnered with Bromley FC to announce a job as a football tactician. The only way to apply was through FM24 on Xbox. Nathan Owolabi, a Football Manager fanatic and Wembley Stadium tour guide, secured the job. Nathan brought his skills and experience from the game to the team’s backroom working on data-based team selection, opponent analysis and tactics. His epic journey from gaming chair to dugout was filmed in a documentary on TNT, the UK’s biggest sports channel. His work helped the club secure promotion to the EFL for the first time in their 132-year history. Proving that a gamer can change the game of football. And showing the world of football a new way to recruit undiscovered talent.

This was not a traditional data driven campaign. The Everyday Tactician was put into the job on his own and had to use his own data skills to help the team. Nathan Owolabi was tasked with assisting the team using data from Football Manager in conjunction with data from the professional software Wyscout. He interpreted it in his reports which were delivered weekly to the manager, in addition to backroom staff meetings and analysing training sessions and giving team briefings. This data would be the key competitive advantage that Bromley would have over their competition.

In November 2023, to launch FM24 on Xbox GamePass, Bromley FC announced an open job role as a tactician, with applications exclusively through Xbox. Manager Andy Woodman told viewers “it could be you” in a viral press conference video on Bromley’s twitter viewed 2M times. Hundreds of commenters claimed “it’s my time” or tagged friends to apply. To gain the Xbox achievement “Championes” applicants had to win a league and submit a 1-minute video saying why they deserved the job. Outlets spanning BBC Sport, Daily Mail, Hypebeast, The Athletic and foreign press covered it. We also ran targeted ads on socials and LinkedIn. After an intensive selection process one lucky applicant, Nathan Olwolabi, was given the job. A three part in-depth documentary series followed his journey, going behind the scenes of Bromley throughout the season as he helped the club get promoted for the first time in their 132-year history.

- 190% increase in Xbox gamers on FM24 compared to FM23

- 1.5 billion total campaign impressions

- FM24 impressions increased by 416%

- The most played Football Manager game ever

- Bromley FC had their highest league position, highest points tally and fewest defeats

- Ultimately securing promotion to the EFL for the first time in their 132-year history.