{"id":11927,"date":"2025-10-06T19:53:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T23:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/2025\/10\/06\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T13:54:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T17:54:02","slug":"a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/","title":{"rendered":"A Slam Dunk in IRL: Becoming Unskippable and Unignorable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The brief was simple: how does ESPN score big and become unignorable for its first-ever DTC launch? The answer: IRL media at the heartbeat of New York \u2013 the subway. Join Jo Fox, SVP of Marketing at ESPN, and Brad Alperin, Head of Brand Solutions at OUTFRONT, as they share learnings from the ESPN app launch, including an E train takeover by NYC\u2019s most iconic mascots. They\u2019ll show how real-world activations cut through, connect, and create cultural moments nationwide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The brief was simple: how does ESPN score big and become unignorable for its first-ever DTC launch?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":11928,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[40,10],"topics":[2],"class_list":["post-11927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-awnewyork-2025-sessions","tag-streaming-ctv","topics-editorial"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.0 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Slam Dunk in IRL: Becoming Unskippable and Unignorable | AW360<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Slam Dunk in IRL: Becoming Unskippable and Unignorable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The brief was simple: how does ESPN score big and become unignorable for its first-ever DTC launch?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AW360\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-06T23:53:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-09T17:54:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-02-at-4.55.07-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1502\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Advertising Week\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Advertising Week\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Advertising Week\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ae698b8b96e141836006836db70d9e69\"},\"headline\":\"A Slam Dunk in IRL: Becoming Unskippable and Unignorable\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-06T23:53:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-09T17:54:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":89,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Screenshot-2026-05-02-at-4.55.07-PM.png\",\"keywords\":[\"AWNewYork 2025 Sessions\",\"TV + Streaming\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Slam Dunk in IRL: Becoming Unskippable and Unignorable | AW360\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Screenshot-2026-05-02-at-4.55.07-PM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-06T23:53:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-09T17:54:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Screenshot-2026-05-02-at-4.55.07-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Screenshot-2026-05-02-at-4.55.07-PM.png\",\"width\":1502,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/news\\\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\\\/11927\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Slam Dunk in IRL: Becoming Unskippable and Unignorable\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/\",\"name\":\"AW360\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"AW360\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/AW360_Logo_2023_FullColor.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/AW360_Logo_2023_FullColor.png\",\"width\":1906,\"height\":849,\"caption\":\"AW360\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\\\/aw360\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ae698b8b96e141836006836db70d9e69\",\"name\":\"Advertising Week\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3136b4a05c15e5dac7e877b1998ec3e252a59b6da6e4b471522d944c91b71940?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3136b4a05c15e5dac7e877b1998ec3e252a59b6da6e4b471522d944c91b71940?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3136b4a05c15e5dac7e877b1998ec3e252a59b6da6e4b471522d944c91b71940?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Advertising Week\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/advertisingweek.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Slam Dunk in IRL: Becoming Unskippable and Unignorable | AW360","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Slam Dunk in IRL: Becoming Unskippable and Unignorable","og_description":"The brief was simple: how does ESPN score big and become unignorable for its first-ever DTC launch?","og_url":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/","og_site_name":"AW360","article_published_time":"2025-10-06T23:53:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-09T17:54:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1502,"height":850,"url":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-02-at-4.55.07-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Advertising Week","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Advertising Week"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/"},"author":{"name":"Advertising Week","@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/#\/schema\/person\/ae698b8b96e141836006836db70d9e69"},"headline":"A Slam Dunk in IRL: Becoming Unskippable and Unignorable","datePublished":"2025-10-06T23:53:10+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-09T17:54:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/"},"wordCount":89,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-02-at-4.55.07-PM.png","keywords":["AWNewYork 2025 Sessions","TV + Streaming"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/","url":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/","name":"A Slam Dunk in IRL: Becoming Unskippable and Unignorable | AW360","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-02-at-4.55.07-PM.png","datePublished":"2025-10-06T23:53:10+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-09T17:54:02+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-02-at-4.55.07-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-02-at-4.55.07-PM.png","width":1502,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/a-slam-dunk-in-irl-becoming-unskippable-and-unignorable\/11927\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Slam Dunk in IRL: Becoming Unskippable and Unignorable"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/#website","url":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/","name":"AW360","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/#organization","name":"AW360","url":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/AW360_Logo_2023_FullColor.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/AW360_Logo_2023_FullColor.png","width":1906,"height":849,"caption":"AW360"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/#\/schema\/person\/ae698b8b96e141836006836db70d9e69","name":"Advertising Week","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3136b4a05c15e5dac7e877b1998ec3e252a59b6da6e4b471522d944c91b71940?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3136b4a05c15e5dac7e877b1998ec3e252a59b6da6e4b471522d944c91b71940?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3136b4a05c15e5dac7e877b1998ec3e252a59b6da6e4b471522d944c91b71940?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Advertising Week"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/advertisingweek.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17814,"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11927\/revisions\/17814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11927"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=11927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}