West Ham Iron Cast Live
West Ham United took their hit Iron Cast Podcast to the next level with Iron Cast Live, a real-time watch-along for the UEFA Europa League Group Stage Draw. The goal? Engage fans in the moment, build hype around the draw, and experiment with live formats to explore future streaming opportunities.
Hosted by award-winning podcaster Chris Scull and club legend James Collins, with guests like Carlton Cole and Guvna B, the show delivered expert insights, fan reactions, and insider banter—broadcast live from West Ham’s base at the London Stadium.
Alex.Live ran the entire live production, collaborating with West Ham’s in-house team to nail the editorial and deliver a slick, multi-camera broadcast. We used Sony FX6s fed into a Blackmagic ATEM for dynamic, high-quality visuals and built a fully custom graphics package to display the draw results in real time—pulling data directly from Google Sheets to keep fans instantly updated.
To boost engagement, we brought in Social Dock, our tool that aggregates live comments from multiple platforms. A West Ham producer curated and pushed the best messages on-screen, while the panel had an iPad displaying live comments, letting them react instantly and keep the conversation flowing.
One of the standout innovations was a time-sensitive merchandise offer exclusive to viewers of the stream. Throughout the broadcast, a custom promo code offering 10% off at West Ham’s online store was displayed on-screen—valid only until the end of the show.
This wasn’t just a clever add-on; it was a strategic move to involve multiple stakeholders in the broadcast. By integrating the merchandise department into the live format, we created a seamless link between content and commerce—turning fan engagement into direct clicks and sales.
The offer added value for viewers while driving measurable ROI for the club, showing how live broadcasts can go beyond entertainment to boost revenue.
Live streamed on YouTube and Facebook, the show racked up over 25,000 views on YouTube alone, with fans buzzing in the comments:
“This was an incredible listen. Great cast, great idea.”
West Ham loved the results, and we’ve been working with them on even bigger projects since. Iron Cast Live wasn’t just a successful stream—it was a blueprint for how clubs can deepen fan engagement while driving real business outcomes through interactive, high-impact live content.