The Identity Tampa Bay Captures Lightning In A Bottle With Endavo

The Identity Tampa Bay is a sports and lifestyle digital media platform highlighting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lightning, and the best of the Bay Area and its surrounding cities. Besides their popular newsletter that comes out at one o’clock every day for those hoping to extend their lunch break by 15 minutes, The Identity Tampa Bay makes video content for people who want to know what’s going on in and around the Bay Area seven days a week.

Leveraging Endavo, The Identity Tampa Bay delivers diverse content across three channels, including monthly skits, ID Original productions, and a soon-to-be-released podcast, captivating over 500,000 annual viewers.

“When we were initially starting the ID Tampa Bay, we were researching multiple different digital networks to see what they were using for their content. One of those platforms was THEA, who were using Endavo for their video content hosting and distribution. We were originally going to choose Endavo. However, we ended up going somewhere else at the time because we needed a platform that could perform live broadcasts. Eventually, we switched back to Endavo right when they enhanced their livestreaming services, and it was easier than we could’ve imagined. That was one of the main reasons why we chose Endavo.”

That’s Ben Shotten, Sr. Manager of Business Operations at The Identity Tampa Bay. While he and his team found success in viewership on a different OTT platform, they were not quite satisfied with the experience.

“With the other platform we were on, the pricing for what we were getting wasn’t worth it, and the customer service was not as good. We needed the ability to get things done quickly on the platform and website we were using to post our content. In a sense, the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze for what we were paying.”

Because of this, Shotten and his team started searching for another platform to host their content. And Endavo was that platform.

With Endavo, Shotten and his team at The Identity Tampa Bay were able to find solutions to all the problems they had been experiencing with their competitor.

“Using Endavo is great because while they are very useful in the big picture, they also get all of the small things right. Compared to the platform we were on before, the back end of Endavo is incredibly easy-to-use. With our previous platform, I attended long training seminars and continued to have issues. With Endavo though, I was sent access and was told to go play around with the platform. I was encouraged to break things and learn in real-time, which was really valuable.”

A significant issue Shotten and his team encountered while working with other platforms was the limited customization options available.

“Somehow, the last platform we were with couldn’t figure out how to make the platform fit our brand colors. When we asked Endavo if our platform could fit the exact style of our brand, they said that it was the easiest possible thing we could’ve asked from them.”

“Endavo’s customer service is also just outstanding. It takes 30 seconds to put in a ticket and get a response back from someone on their team. They give you a timeline immediately, and I know they are always there if we need to escalate troubleshooting.”

Shotten has found a whole host of useful features while using Endavo, from analytics reports to customizable banners.

“I really appreciate Endavo’s integrated analytics and the ability to incorporate them into Google Analytics. They always keep me updated on how they are trying to improve this feature as well as they transition to GA4.”

“It’s also incredibly easy to create banners and switch them out depending on what I need. If we’re doing a special initiative, I can create one for that. If I want banners strictly for sports or lifestyle, I can group them into those categories on the homepage.”

“We also run banner and pre-roll ads on our channels. Endavo makes that process so easy too. With other platforms, they require you to send them the code for the ads AND they need access to all of your Google information. With Endavo, I just sent them my code and plugged the ad ID number into the backend without giving them all of my Google information. Again, everything is just a lot easier with Endavo.”

Since The Identity Tampa Bay’s transition to Endavo in 2022, things have been running smoothly, and Shotten doesn’t see any need for a change.

“I don’t see us moving away from Endavo. They help us meet all of our goals. When we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do in 2018, Endavo would’ve been our first choice. Once they added live broadcasts in 2022, it just made sense to go back. I don’t see us going off it unless the prices unexpectedly go through the roof.”

“For small departments like ours, our pockets our very tight and we have to be thoughtful about what we spend our money on. Having Endavo as a partner to work with and help us fit our budget needs is just incredible and has been very helpful to us. I truly see Endavo being a longtime partner, and who knows what the future holds for other organizational sides throughout Vinik Sports Group as well.“