Bigballs Films Launches YouTube Football Channel ‘Copa90’

Football Served Fresh with Original Content Shaped by the Fans

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Award-winning social entertainment company Bigballs Films is giving football fans a fresh perspective on the game and putting them at the heart of the experience with a new YouTube football channel - Copa90, launched as part of YouTube’s original channels initiative.

After launching almost a hundred channels in the US, YouTube has announced plans to bring new original channels across UK, France and Germany, created specifically for today’s connected viewers, to its platform. Well-known personalities and content producers from TV, film, music, news, and sports, as well as some of the most innovative new media companies in the world and some of YouTube’s own existing partners, will launch new, advertising-supported channels for YouTube’s worldwide audience. Bigballs Films is launching a football channel as part of this new initiative.

Covering the wide world of football beyond the 90 minutes on the pitch, Copa90 brings fresh entertainment, opinion, performance, humour and music formats that reflect the fan’s agony, ecstasy, humour and love for the game and allows them to shape the content. Aimed at young, male European football fans, selected strands will translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian and Polish.

Launch formats include:

The Best YouTube Football Clip Show Ever - Chris Cohen scours YouTube to serve up the very best football clips of the week, adding his unique comedic spin and viewers post clip ideas for the next week’s show. From professional footballers embarrassing themselves, to balls in the face and insane goals, this is an irreverent celebration of the world of football.

Comments Below - a presenter-led show discussing the week’s biggest footballing stories, where the community gets to set the agenda by posting their comments. From a ref’s decision, to a player getting caught with his trousers down, no topic is offside and it’s all down to the viewers.

Footballers Are People Too – There’s more to the modern footballer than huge pay cheques, flash cars, and goals. Just like the fans they have everyday lives, and for the first time Copa 90 gets access to footballing heroes to show a side of them never seen before. In the launch show Norwich and England ‘keeper John Ruddy shares his love of horticulture. Who knew?

Kit – presenter double act Tim and Gendle put claims about the latest kit - from shirts to shin pads and balls to video games to the test. Using original, off the wall methods they go out on location to find out if the claims stack up. Is the new premiership ball really the most visible ball ever? Can you drink Liverpool’s new shirt claiming to be made of coffee? Tim and Gendle are on a mission to find out.

Goal! - a humorous format that celebrates the goal scorer in all of us. When Balls of Steel’s presenter Neg sees a ‘goal’ he just can’t resist the challenge of scoring. Goal! sees Neg and his football wandering the streets of Europe trying to score in the in the unlikeliest of places - from a market stall in East London, to a multi-storey car park entrance in Prague and the Arc de Triomphe.

Big Mouth – Copa90 has signed some of the best videoblogging talent on YouTube to bring their unique perspectives on the beautiful game - from the Football Virgin who questions why anyone would like football and support a team, to the anonymous Secret Footballer who exposes the goings on at the very heart of the Premier League.

Copa90 All Stars – Travelling to iconic European cities and working with the hottest freestyle talent on the planet ‘Copa90 AllStars’ blends mind blowing tricks, easy to follow tutorials and football stunts in a show that anyone who has kicked a ball will be talking about week after week.

The Eurofan – Each match week during the Champions League comedian, Radio 1 DJ and Southampton fan Tom Deacon travels to a different European host city and becomes a home fan for the day. And via appeals on Copa90 he will challenge the local football community to look after him, initiate him into their footballing rules and show him the best of their city.

Copa90 has also partnered with sister company We R Interactive’s global social football game hit I AM PLAYR - the first free to play football game that lets users play the life of a professional footballer, on and off the pitch - experiencing the excitement, scoring the goals and feeling the glory.

Tom Thirlwall, CEO Bigballs Films said, “Football is now a true global lifestyle phenomenon and with Copa90 we’re bringing a fresh take on football to YouTube with original content that puts the fans at the heart of the incredible experiences the beautiful game brings to our lives beyond the 90 minutes on the pitch. Our ambition is for Copa90 to be the most successful, most watched football lifestyle channel in the world and for fans to look back and think “What did we watch before Copa90?”

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About Bigballs Films

Bringing together film-makers, TV producers, creatives, digital strategists, community managers and game and app developers – Bigballs Films is a company working at the vanguard of the constantly evolving media landscape. Since 2006 the company has been creating, distributing and monetising award-winning content for global brands across TV, web, mobile and the real world.

Led by CEO Tom Thirlwall, the company creates innovative and exciting film, mobile and gaming content for brands such as Nike, adidas, Vodafone, Oakley, Johnnie Walker and Google. Credits include the Bafta nominated real-time festival drama “Who killed Summer” (Vodafone), the world’s first social network drama, Kate Modern (Toyota, Cadbury’s and Proctor and Gamble), the “We want Piers Bramhall” campaign (Visit Wales) and an award winning viral ad with Lionel Messi, the world’s best football player (Adidas).

Bigballs Films is the content partner to sister company We R Interactive’s, online football game I AM PLAYR which fuses point-of-view video, social networking and gaming to allow gamers to play the life of a professional footballer both on and off the pitch. I AM PLAYR has established itself as the de facto ‘home for brands in gaming’ integrating brands such as Nike, Red Bull, Ginsters and Alfa Romeo and featuring top football talent including Steve Gerrard, Theo Walcott, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Aaron Lennon. With over 5.5 million installs, 1.5 million monthly active users and adding thousands of new users globally every week, I AM PLAYR is the world’s biggest film-driven football social game.

Among Bigballs Films most prestigious achievements are three BAFTA nominations, a Gold Cannes Lion and awards from the Broadcasting Press Guild and the Global Mobile Marketing Awards.

www.bigballsfilms.com

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