Soccer Aid takes money via red button
Release date: May 29, 2006
ITV’s recent Soccer Aid reality TV show in aid of UNICEF, was driven by an interactive application from Pushbutton.
Soccer Aid brought together two teams made up of celebrities and former footballing legends. An England eleven captained by Robbie Williams took on a Rest of the World team starring Diego Maradona and lead out by Gordon Ramsey.
The TV show was supported by a ‘red button’ service from Pushbutton that enabled viewers to access news and gossip from the two camps as they prepared for the big game on Saturday, find out about donation methods, and enter Soccer Aid competitions.
In an entertaining game, a capacity crowd at Old Trafford saw England lift the trophy beating the Rest of the World team by two goals to nil – supplied by Les Ferdinand and Jonathon Wilkes.
According to ITV’s website “Proceeds from the match at Old Trafford, including net profits from ticket and programme sales, raised almost £1 million [for UNICEF] with a further £300,000 donated by ITV from viewer participations via competition phone lines and text messaging.”
Pushbutton Managing Director, Paula Byrne, said “We are delighted to have been involved in Soccer Aid. Interactive television comes into its own in this kind of show – where you really need the active engagement of the audience to support the event with their hard cash as well as their time.”