Portfolio
The 33rd Team
We designed, built and managed version 1 of the website for The 33rd Team, a football media company whose analysis comes from former NFL coaches, executives and players. It launched at the start of August 2022, ahead of the season.
The 33rd Team · version 1 design, 2022
DesignedA new look for a football media site
BuiltWordPress with video, NFL data and ad units
ManagedHosting, requests and fixes through mid-2023
The Problem
The 33rd Team is a football media company whose analysis comes from former NFL coaches, executives and players. It publishes a steady stream of articles and video across fantasy, betting, the draft and team coverage. The website needed a new design, fast publishing for a busy editorial team, video and data that worked on the page, and room for advertising.
Objectives
Launch a new design built around the brand and its daily mix of articles and video.
Give editors a site they could publish to quickly, with training before launch.
Bring video, NFL data widgets and ad units into the site and make them work together.
Keep the site healthy after launch, with hosting, redirects, tracking and a steady flow of requests.
Challenge
A media site has a lot of moving parts. Video came from one platform, NFL data from another and advertising from a third, and each had its own setup and reporting.
The editorial team published every day during the season, so changes had to land without getting in their way.
Strategic Approach
We planned and designed the new site, then built it on WordPress with our development partner. The homepage leads with the top story, headlines, the roster of contributors, fantasy coverage and video. The navigation runs across fantasy, betting, the draft, team coverage and the roster.
We trained the editors before launch, ran a go/no-go review and launched at the start of August 2022, ahead of the season. We connected the Brightcove video player, including related videos at the end of each clip, and worked through the setup of Sportradar’s NFL widgets.
After launch we managed the site. We ran a weekly review of web requests, managed the WP Engine hosting and redirects, and added site tracking. We also worked with the ad-operations team to get video ads running through the Brightcove player.
What we delivered
- Website plan and a new design for version 1.
- WordPress build with our development partner.
- Editor training and a go/no-go launch review.
- Brightcove video integration, including related videos at the end of each clip.
- Sportradar NFL widget setup.
- Support for ad units, including video ads in the Brightcove player.
- WP Engine hosting management and redirects.
- Site tracking setup.
- Ongoing management: a weekly review of web requests, plus fixes and new features through June 2023.
One site, many moving parts
Video, NFL data and advertising each came from a different platform. We brought them into one site the editorial team could publish to every day.
Brightcove videoSportradar NFL widgetsAd unitsEditor trainingWP Engine hostingWeekly requests
Outcome
The 33rd Team launched version 1 in time for the 2022 season. We managed it until June 2023, then handed it off.
The site has since been redesigned, so the images here come from our version 1 design files.
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