The Bitcoin Hunt
- Brand
- Southampton FC
- Year
- 2022
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Puzzle
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- UNIT9
Objective
Sportsbet.io, Southampton FC's crypto-betting sponsor, needed to build trust with a British football audience wary of betting sponsors, and used the partnership to demystify Bitcoin by letting fans engage with it in a low-stakes, playful setting. Southampton wanted an activation that celebrated the partnership, drew in fans and the local community, and earned press attention as the first time a football club had let supporters compete to win a Bitcoin. The campaign targeted fans 25 and over, in line with crypto-betting restrictions.
Solution
The hunt starts in the real world: fans scan QR codes hidden around Southampton and inside St Mary's Stadium on matchday, each one unlocking a personal video message from a club legend and a collectible card. From there they move to the campaign microsite for round two, a browser puzzle where they connect the club's classic kit designs into lines — the more connections made, the higher the score, with 35,000 points needed to advance. Round three sends them hunting across Southampton's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for Bitcoins hidden in posts, photos and videos, submitting an answer on the site each day for a week. Ten finalists — three from each round plus one picked at random — meet in a live, Deal-or-No-Deal-style finale on the St Mary's pitch at half-time of the Crystal Palace match, opening boxes one by one until someone finds the Bitcoin. The whole hunt runs in a mobile browser, with no app to download.
Results
The hunt drew 800 entries, with participants engaging for an average of almost five minutes each. Coverage reached an estimated 30,193,077 people across 33 articles in international, national, regional and trade press. The live final played out before St Mary's Stadium's 32,000-seat crowd, for a Bitcoin prize worth £35,000 at the time.
- 1
In the first round, players explore Southampton and St Mary's Stadium hunting for QR codes placed at hot spots around the city and the ground. Scanning a code enters the player into the draw and unlocks a personalized message or exclusive content from a Southampton legend. Along the way, players can also pick up limited-edition branded cards scattered around town.
- 2
Players who can't find a code can instead register directly for the draw on the campaign microsite, where the full rules and a 25+ age restriction are posted.
- 3
A second round opens a blockchain-themed mobile puzzle game on the microsite, introduced by a brief about Southampton's historic kit designs. Players link the club's past shirts together in a chain, scoring more points for longer, denser connections, echoing how blocks link in a blockchain. Reaching a score of 35,000 or higher qualifies the player for the finalist selection.
- 4
In the third round, players follow the club's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube accounts over a week, looking for a bitcoin image hidden in posts, photos and videos. After spotting it, the player identifies which Southampton player it was hidden next to and submits that name on the club's Bitcoin Hunt page, with each day of the week offering a fresh attempt. Finding every hidden bitcoin across the week reveals a code that serves as the entry ticket to the draw.
- 5
In the live grand final, the selected finalists take the pitch at St Mary's during halftime of a match and play out a Deal-or-No-Deal-style show, opening boxes in turn to find the one containing a bitcoin. The player who opens the winning box is crowned champion on the field and takes home the bitcoin prize.
