From the moment the CoCo got involved with this summer's Word Cup event, way back at the start of 2022, creating high-quality video content from the event was a top priority for us. When you're running a major Scrabble tournament, it's important to look beyond the tournament itself. A positive player experience is important, to be sure, but you also want to make the event fun and engaging for the entire outside world that's beyond the four walls of the playing room. A championship event is a chance to let as many people as possible enjoy our great game.

To that end, putting on a top-notch Twitch stream was a major focus for us. And I'm happy to say now, looking back, that that effort was successful. We have a number of people to thank for that, including our producers (Christian Kay and his brother Andrew Kay), our commentators (Jesse Matthews, Weibin Toh, Jeremy Khoo, Aditya Iyengar, Sam Rosin, and Paul Gallen), and the organizations who supported us along the way (WGPO, Scopely, and The Carter Chapman Shreve Family Foundation). In the end, it all went off without a hitch! We broadcast all 31 rounds of the tournament for the world to see, and many of you tuned in to watch.

In addition to streaming the event live, another key goal of ours was to create a robust archive of video content, so that Scrabble fans everywhere could go back and watch the games later on demand.

We're excited to announce that starting today, that video content is now live. 

Feast your eyes: All 31 rounds of this year's Word Cup are now available to view at your leisure. Here they are...

Round 1: Chris Lipe vs. Moiz Ullah Baig

Round 2: Austin Shin vs. Waseem Khatri

Round 3: Dave Wiegand vs. Geoff Thevenot

Round 4: David Eldar vs. Joel Wapnick

Round 5: Lindsay Shin vs. Terry Kang

Round 6: Joshua Castellano vs. Jesse Day

Round 7: Brian Bowman vs. Thomas Reinke

Round 8: Evan Berofsky vs. Dave Wiegand

Round 9: Conrad Bassett-Bouchard vs. David Eldar

Round 10: Thomas Reinke vs. David Webb

Round 11: Dave Wiegand vs. Geoff Thevenot

Round 12: Austin Shin vs. Conrad Bassett-Bouchard

Round 13: Jesse Day vs. Sammy Okosagah

Round 14: Marlon Prudencio vs. David Whitley

Round 15: Ben Schoenbrun vs. Dave Wiegand

Round 16: Conrad Bassett-Bouchard vs. Dave Wiegand

Round 17: Jesse Day vs. Evan Berofsky

Round 18: Geoff Thevenot vs. Marlon Prudencio

Round 19: Dave Wiegand vs. Will Anderson

Round 20: Evan Berofsky vs. Peter Armstrong

Round 21: Peter Armstrong vs. Dave Wiegand

Round 22: Austin Shin vs. Dave Wiegand

Round 23: Jesse Day vs. Dave Wiegand

Round 24: Will Anderson vs. David Webb

Round 25: Will Anderson vs. Dave Wiegand

Round 26: Dave Wiegand vs. Jesse Day

Round 27: Evan Berofsky vs. Dave Wiegand

Round 28: Will Anderson vs. Dave Wiegand

Round 29: Dave Wiegand vs. Jesse Day

Round 30: Will Anderson vs. David Eldar

Round 31: Jesse Day vs. David Eldar

If there's a game (or a few games) in particular that you really want to watch, you're welcome to check them out at any time. Alternatively, if you just want to queue up the whole tournament, starting from the beginning, you can view the entire Word Cup as one continuous playlist. Whatever works for you.

Now that all these games are out there, I'd like to take this opportunity to say a few words about why this sort of content is important.

For as long as I can remember, there's been a lot of chatter in this community about "growing the game." Scrabble, after all, is a beautiful game that's appealing to millions and millions of people all around the world, and yet our community of tournament players remains comparatively small. There's enormous potential for that to change, if we can show the world how much fun and excitement there is to be had on the tournament circuit. And I firmly believe that putting more energy into content is a crucial part of this effort. 

Here's where I'm coming from. In my day job, when I'm not focused on Scrabble stuff, I work in digital marketing. And one of the key concepts that I think about every day is the distinction between outbound and inbound marketing.

A generation ago, all marketing was outbound. Companies would put out ads on the radio, junk mail in people's mailboxes, and so forth, hoping it would motivate them to buy products. As we all know, that stuff doesn't work anymore. The most successful marketing now is all inbound - you bring people in to your brand by having compelling content that keeps them interested. Brands don't reach out and grab customers. Customers come in, of their own volition, because they play an active role. They go on their laptops or phones, they Google stuff, and they actively find whatever they're looking for.

And specifically, the stuff they're looking for these days is almost always video. There's an expression in the business - "If it moves, it will move." People are far, far more likely to become interested in a product or a brand or an idea if they come across compelling video content that gets them interested. You've probably got examples of this in your own life, if you think about it. How many times have you tried to learn something - how to play a board game, how to change a tire, how to make a soufflé, you name it - and turned to YouTube for guidance? In 2022, this is just what people do. They look for video. Why wouldn't Scrabble be the same way?

News flash: It is. People look for Scrabble video content all the time. And to be clear, they do find some - but it would be great if they found more, and if it were higher-quality. My hope is that by putting these 31 Word Cup games out there for the world to see, we can showcase the game for a wide variety of viewers. Some might be current Scrabble players; others might be future tournament enthusiasts we've yet to meet.

So if you're a Scrabbler out there who enjoys watching high-quality games: By all means, watch these! They're pretty great. And if you're someone who cares about growing the game by introducing new people to tournament Scrabble: Maybe consider sharing this content with others! They just might like it. And maybe they'll tell their friends, and their friends will tell their friends, and so on. You never know.

And by the way: If you're someone out there who's ever considered creating content like this yourself, I couldn't possibly encourage this more. Do it! It's super fun, for one thing, and besides, it just might help us expose this silly little crossword game we all love to more people around the world. If you have any questions or concerns about getting started, I personally will do whatever I can to help - and I'm sure there are others who would be, too. Please, just reach out.

In the meantime, though: Enjoy these 31 games. They're doozies.