525K Unique Players for
William Hill's Final One Standing
GFN’s fan-first channel network turned football fans into verified game entrants at scale for William Hill.
AFTV’s live watchalongs helped NordVPN reach millions through
authentic, high-energy fan moments.
When William Hill decided to launch Final One Standing, a free-to-play football elimination game with a £500K prize pool, they needed a media partner who could reach real football fans at scale, without it feeling like an ad. GFN activated its football creator network across 23 weeks of the Premier League season and overdelivered on every single contracted metric.
The main objective was to gain 150,000 entries (UK and Ireland only, KYC-approved) into the £500K jackpot game before the first match of the Premier League season, and then keep numbers on the rise with brand new games launching every other week once the season started.
William Hill’s Final One Standing needed to cut through the noise and land in front of real football fans, not just served impressions. The challenge: drive massive awareness and player registrations across the Premier League season, in a highly competitive sports media landscape, while maintaining the authentic voice that football fans demand, all while adhering to William Hill’s protocols and compliance mechanisms within each creative.
The brief called for 40M video views and 200 branded integrations across the campaign term (23 weeks), driving genuine player registrations while staying true to fan culture and keeping The challenge wasn’t just reach, it was relevance. Football fans don’t respond to interruptions. They respond to creators they trust.
The Activation
GFN embedded Final One Standing inside content fans were already watching. 34 creators, 55 social accounts, and 15.2M+ combined followers carried the campaign week in, week out. With 51.3% of the network’s audience UK-based, every view was landing in the right market.
The campaign ran across four phases from July 2025 to January 2026 — pre-launch for the £500K Jackpot, post-launch call-outs spanning several new jackpots to enter across the active Premier League season, a Beat Robbie phase, and a Holiday window — keeping William Hill front-of-mind throughout the entire season rather than in a single burst. Flagship channels AFTV and DR Sports anchored the activation across all phases, supported by creators including United View, The Kop TV, West Ham Fan TV, The Kick Off, Magpie Channel TV, and more across YouTube, Instagram, and X for the pre-launch.
AFTV and DR Sports were central to the campaign’s performance. AFTV delivered 497 total posts, 26M+ video views, and 81M+ impressions, while DR Sports delivered 521 posts, 22M+ video views (38% UK & Ireland), and 64M+ impressions. The total inventory value reached £445,022 across AFTV and £514,217 across DR Sports, underlining both the scale and the commercial value of the channel mix used.
The Result
- 52.4M+ video views with ~38% being UK-specific
- +31% over target on views ––– +12,4M views vs plan
- 525,000 unique players registered.
- 3M+ total game entries (restarts, new jackpots entered)
- 260 branded integrations against a contracted 200 — +30% over plan.
- 174M+ total impressions across all platforms.
- 1,361 branded posts published across the full campaign.
- 1.76M+ total engagements.
- 268 million minutes of branded content watched on YouTube alone.
- 3.29% Avg. Engagement Rate Across All Platforms
why it worked
The campaign worked because it never felt like a campaign. William Hill’s message was carried by creators fans actively choose to watch, across a full season of football, in communities where the game’s elimination mechanic genuinely resonated. Consistent weekly presence built recall. UK-first audience selection drove conversion. And a network that consistently outperforms meant the numbers kept growing beyond what was ever promised.
Client testimonial: William Hill Adam Courtney Sponsorship Manager “GFN were great partners, going above and beyond to make our integration as seamless as possible. Their highly-professional team are a credit to the organisation.”
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