MLB

THE 2019 FAN ENGAGEMENT/ FAN EXPERIENCE 100-1 RECAP

Hello and welcome to my annual 100-1 fan engagement/experience year in review where I take a look back on the creative, innovative, exciting and tailored strategies from teams, venues, sports marketing agencies and sponsors which in my opinion greatly captivated fans across the globe in 2019.

There is a customary heavy focus on Australia and New Zealand as I am based here and please do keep in mind that this is a very subjective list based on my own personal experiences at games, what I saw from colleagues around the globe and what fans have suggested. There will, of course, be ideas and activations that I have missed so please feel free to tag them and add to the discussion here or on social.

Some of the key areas of focus included:

Technology innovations from augmented reality to smart jerseys.
F&B incentives were again a trending area with more venues offering early bird offers, family-friendly deals, kids combo meal deals as well as catering for dietary needs and craft beer.
Innovative social seating experiences such as pools, couches, and beaches in venues to offer fans unique fan experiences that can’t be had at home.
Inclusive approaches that offer better access and representation to fans with diverse needs to enjoy the same fan experiences as every other fan both in the community and on game day.
Harnessing the power of fan-generated content. Find out what skills your fans have by listening to them and then utilize these skills. Fellow fans love this while the fan feels a genuine sense of appreciation that they’re being rewarded for their contribution. I’m a big fan of this area.
Sustainable environmental approaches as fans care about their local communities and the environment around the team and society.
More political and social justice concerns from fans and teams that put inclusion and communities first.
Seamless, tech-driven, fan-friendly venues.

When it comes to fan engagement strategies and improving the fan experience there are few thoughts that I’ll leave you with before starting the 100-1 recap:

Thinking like kids: We must never forget to think like fans, families and in particular junior fans. The ability to continually put ourselves in the shoes of kids and get on their level as well as remember the importance and feeling of those first moments of fandom that we had as kids when we were enthralled and excited by our favourite team or player.

Listening and responding with authenticity: Constantly listening to fans is vital but it is not enough. Responding with empathy and authenticity goes such a long way in driving lifetime fan loyalty.

Keeping it simple: The greatest fan engagement is often the simplest stuff. While I’m constantly road testing the latest tech on my game day travels because I’m a huge fan of the way technology is enhancing our game days I do believe that stripping it all back to the purest and most honest form of fan engagement ends up having the most significant impact on fans. There are a number of outstanding examples of this below.

Inclusion: More than ever thinking about fans as people and not customers and looking at what we can do to better listen and engage them for the benefit of all.

Personalisation: Never underestimate what it means to a fan to know that you have put them first by directly targeting them.

I trust that this educational summary provides you with some basis for thinking about how you can both improve your fan experience and better engage your fans on both a grassroots or global level while at the same time marvelling at the creativity on show here.

Finally, a huge round of applause to all of the hard-working, creative and talented front office team and venue crews, sports agencies, sponsors and other stakeholders out there who continually create these outstanding experiences for fans across the globe each year.

If you would like to peruse the previous 100-1 annual summaries then you can find them here:

100. Craft beer and sports team and venue partnerships continued to pour in this year with the establishment of new partnerships with local breweries and venues in an effort to bring fans, local businesses, and the community closer together by offering local and better quality beer options on game days.

I’ve written a fair bit about this area with my articles well worth a read to understand what teams, venues, and craft breweries are getting out of these partnerships. More info here.

Some of the craft beer and some of the other interesting beer developments from Australia and overseas included:

Melbourne Storm and Brick Lane Brewing
South Sydney Rabbitohs and Young Henry’s
Brisbane Bullets and Newstead Brewing Co
Melbourne Demons and Brewanity
Port Adelaide and Pirate Life Brewing Co
Newcastle Jets and Murray’s Brewing Co

99. Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) post-game kick to kick.

98. NBL Brisbane Bullets post-game on-court autograph session.

97. @MijnVitesse launched a pay per month ticketing model.

96. Wimbledon offering vegan strawberries and cream for the first time. A theme emerging of inclusive F&B offerings around the global grounds.

95. The hilarious New Zealand Warriors (NRL) ‘Bush Shirt’ that took social by storm and will be debuted in the 2020 season. A clever idea to tap into the random side of fans and a nation’s culture.

94. Weetbix and BBL/WBBL personalized backyard cricket bats.

93. Coventry City music themed ‘Specials’ kit for Kick It Out campaign round. Also special mention to West Ham United and their collab with Iron Maiden. Will there be more of these music/team kit collabs?

92. The Boundary Social at The Gabba, Brisbane.

91. F&B prices at Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII.

90. Chicago Blackhawks NHL chopping board giveaway to fans.

89. NY Mets Seinfeld Night and bobblehead giveaway.

88. Australian Women’s Cricket team trading cards. It’s been so good to see the rise of more women’s sport athletes being featured on cricket trading cards for fans of all ages to collect. Also Super Netball, WBBL and AFLW as well.

87. Brisbane Lions (AFL) umpired youth games in the community. You should also check out the review I wrote of the Brisbane Lions and Gabba’s Verandah fan experience.

86. Win an Adelaide Giants (ABL) contract for a day.

85. Chief Beer Officer at the LA Rams.

84. Queens Park Rangers crest collection for new members.

83. AFLX at Marvel Stadium. Light up goal posts, free trading cards and loads of kids activities. Another impressive event for 2019 at the venue. A lot of AFLX got blasted by the media and fans who weren’t the target market.

82. Kensington Oval beach cricket party atmosphere complete with jet ski chairs.

81. Melbourne Storm (NRL) Street Crew.

80. Commemorative yesteryear tickets from Collingwood AFLW.

79. Adelaide Crows (AFL) and Borussia Dortmund replying to fans with personalised kit wallpapers.

78. AGF Children’s Day drawings.

77. AIK Fotboll selling pre-signed jerseys for fans.

76. Manchester United and Marriot launched the ‘Seat of Dreams’ at Old Trafford.

75. New Zealand Warriors (NRL) and Auckland Blues (Super Rugby) ‘Codes of Auckland’ partnership and the Sydney Kings (NBL) and Sydney FC (A-League) partnership.

74. At Pollock FC in Scotland a big football fan – a dog called ‘Yardley’ – is allowed to watch games from the stands at Newlandsfield Park. Now that’s inclusion. Also, #74 just a bit of a laugh in the list. Also, lets put the Dallas Cowboys cat here too. That was very responsive from the AT&T Stadium and team to add the cat to the lineup.

From DAK to CAT! Meow that was a great transition, @dallascowboys! 👏🏼#MINvsDAL #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/tvsIR7XG6T

— Allie Dicken (@Allie721) November 11, 2019

73. Reuseable cups from Rylands FC and free hot drinks to those who bring their own reusable cup along on match days.

72. @OU_Football launched a website with content and profiles of each signee. They made each of them their own logo and announced the athletes on the site.

71. This lovely story from the UT Vols.

70. Cousin Eddie hat giveaway from M State. One of the best random giveaways of the year.

69. This barbershop and barbershop singing girls at the V8 Supercars at Sandown Raceway in Victoria.

68. New Jersey Devils (NHL) had kids draw pictures of their favourite players and then put them up on the screen.

67. Seattle Sounders (MLS) calling out racism and fascism and in the process showing how inclusive they are to their community.

66. Coventry City FC’s family zone but in particular their ‘lucky dip’ idea which I thought was simple and effective.

65. The Lawn at the MCG and in particular the caricature part of this. A simple and effective idea for hospitality guests and for kids in a fan zone. Here’s also a review I review of The Lawn fan experience that I wrote for Digital Sports Labs.

64. Brisbane Roar (A-League) CEO shouting fans drinks at away games.

63. Montrose FC got fans together to road test the pies for the venue. Possibly the best fan engagement all year for food lovers.

62. Reading Fightin Phils had a gender reveal fireworks night.

61. The Holden mini-trucks race circuit at the State of Origin match at Optus Stadium in Perth, Western Australia.

60. Family-Friendly Sunday’s at the SCG. Discounted F&B prices for fans. What other venues are doing similar things?

59. Gender-Neutral toilets at Whitten Oval for the Western Bulldogs AFLW match. A very inclusive way for all fans to be made to feel welcome on game days.

58. Freebies for kids at Marvel Stadium over summer 2019/20 BBL/WBBL matches.

57. This classy note from Manchester City to fans.

56. Various LA Dodgers themed nights.

55. DB Cooper CSI themed night at the Portland Pickles.

54. Pink Beer for the Pink Test at the SCG.

53. The Pool and Boundary Beach Club at Optus Stadium, Perth, Western Australia.

52. New Zealand All Blacks ‘Black Laundry’. “Running until the start of November, and open ahead of every All Blacks match, Steinlager wants to inspire Kiwis to show their true colours by sacrificing an item of clothing and dying it black – with one Auckland woman already having dyed her wedding dress.”

51. Fans First free shipping. Savannah Bananas removed merch shipping fees.

50. San Francisco 49er’s ‘All You Can Eat’ tickets.

49. State of Origin Light Show at Optus Stadium, Perth.

48. The Queensland Maroons visited the Brisbane Police Watch House.

47. Parramatta Eels (NRL) moving statue at Bankwest Stadium. Check out Bankwest Stadium too. I wrote a fan experience review for Aus Leisure Mag which can be found here.

46. This stubby cooler sweater from Cricket Australia as a hospitality piece of merch. Had to include something merchandise related and this was one of the best pieces I picked up this year. More on Brisbane’s The Gabba and Cricket Australia fan experience can be found here.

45. Sydney Roosters (NRL) members names on the LED ribbon at the SCG. Nice way to made to be feel welcome.

44. Brisbane Broncos (NRL) hackathon. What other teams did these well in 2019?

43. Peterborough PUFC young fans guard of honor.

Great to see so many first time fans at the game today – the looks on their faces when they see the players is priceless! Big ‘fans for the future’ initiative as alluded to by @JasonDavidNeale earlier is coming soon to get these back and ultimately season ticket holders.#pufc pic.twitter.com/KyuVypQRew

— Jake Baxter (@Jake__Baxter) February 2, 2019

42. These incredible kit reveal videos from Arsenal (Adidas) and Chelsea (Nike).

41. Free iconic Tayla Harris kick AFLW badges handed out at AFLW games.

40. Eredivisie Toy Toss.

39. Manchester City became the first sports club to launch with YouTube Kids.

38. Royal Antwerp FC launched a special section for their vision impaired fans.

All fans deserve a great experience. @official_rafc has a special block for blind fans. Well done! #fanengagement #fanexperience pic.twitter.com/Mbq2unhUnZ

— FANexperience👏 (@FanexperienceNL) December 20, 2019

37. The @ThunderbirdsAHL‘s celebrated the 30th anniversary of the animated comedy series “The Simpsons.” with these Ice-O-Topes jerseys.

36. Kombucha coming into F&B offerings more and more like at Seattle Seahawks for foodies as healthier stadium concession products gain deeper traction with fans.

35. Iranian women were allowed to attend a national team game for the first time in 40 years.

Iranian women were allowed to attend a national team game for the first time in 40 years.

What a moment 👏 pic.twitter.com/362PHNqdAV

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 10, 2019

34. Baltimore Ravens Pop Up Shop idea.

33. LinkedIn sponsors Grimsby Town FC to help community score jobs. They launched the ‘LinkedIn Lounge’ – a permanent matchday fixture throughout the season, where match goers will be able to see current vacancies in the area, along with details of how to apply.

32. Huggity’s scrum machine challenge.

31. For the Raptors 25th-anniversary, @PizzaPizzaLtd created an interactive GameBox to offer a tabletop gaming experience.

30. Tottenham Hotspur’s fast pour beers at the new venue in London. Tech has been around for a while but it seemed to take off this year with the launch of the new stadium.

29. Baltimore Ravens debut mixed reality Raven in venue.

The @Ravens unveiled this new mixed-reality feature tonight. 😲pic.twitter.com/p8rkCTrImz

— Front Office Sports (@frntofficesport) December 13, 2019

28. NBA smart jerseys.

27. PSV helps a young fan enjoy a matchday experience like no other.

26. Chelsea FC unveiled a new ‘shirt holders’ Nike kit designed by fans.

25. Penn State Football’s creative poster that transforms into a helmet.

24. Hertha BSC ticket bot.

23. Premier League smart shirt.

22. FC Midtjylland hired a bagpipes player to greet Rangers fans.

We also hired a bagpipe-player to greet you when you get into the ground 🎵🎶 @RangersFC #FCMRangers pic.twitter.com/bpEmkqJu8x

— FC Midtjylland (@fcmidtjylland) August 8, 2019

21. FC Union Berlin made these posters up for their recently deceased fans.

20. Feyenoord and Opel offer each away game a clubcar for four fans to travel to away games.

19. Everton FC. Treats on seats for first time under 11 Season Ticket members to welcome them to Goodison Park for 2019/20.

18. Paris Saint-Germain partnered with Deliveroo for in-seat ordering at Parc des Princes.

17. Swindon Town FC Junior Takeover Day. Also another good example of this below from Brentford FC.

Junior Takeover Day | 2⃣0⃣1⃣9⃣

Introducing Mini:

♦️ Gaffer
♦️ Media Man
♦️ CEO
♦️ Kitmen

We had a great day 👊

🎥: SY Media#STFC 🔴 pic.twitter.com/8sqU9TMPmc

— Swindon Town FC (@Official_STFC) November 3, 2019

16. Brilliant work from Watford FC for those fans wanting to know costs, first time attendance and every detail for the match. This makes it so easy for fans to better understand the game day.

15. Andres Iniesta’s Farewell Jersey idea from beIN Sports.

14. VR work from Bayern Munich.

For all fans. Step in the virtual @FCBayern world. #VirtualReality #sportsbiz pic.twitter.com/i1W1y3fwgC

— FANexperience👏 (@FanexperienceNL) December 18, 2019

13. These ushers at Fiserv Forum for the Bucks game.

I can’t say enough about the incredible ushers at the @FiservForum. From one who fist-bumped us on the way to our seats at the #Bucks game to these guys to another who pulled aside my son to tell him he’s a great fan …

Pro sports arenas and stadiums take note. #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/p78mM4CAy2

— Amy Bailey (@Amy__Bailey) February 24, 2019

12. GWS (AFL) ahead of the 2019 AFL Grand Final.

11. Dallas Cowboys/AT&T Stadium AR ‘Pose With The Pro’s’ activation. Also another fine example from Wolverhampton Wanderers too below.

One of the coolest, most innovative in-stadium activations I’ve ever seen. 😳 #SportsBiz pic.twitter.com/FSE2m7tYmh

— Brad Friedman (@BradFriedman713) September 10, 2019

Nothing beats meeting the real life players. Not even a cool #AR app. 👏
Nice combination of both by @Wolves. #fanengagement pic.twitter.com/ecpYG7Yk0O

— FANexperience👏 (@FanexperienceNL) October 21, 2019

10. Bat flips at the BBL/WBBL.

9. Swindon Town FC taking fans to their seats on their first game days.

8. DC United getting the local music community involved in game days.

7. FC Utrecht galvanising fans to donate their warm clothes to their supporters who live below the poverty line.

🧥 Voor supporters, door supporters!

Heb jij warme kleding over? Neem die zondag mee als je naar #utrfey komt en lever het in bij de DHL-busjes bij het Fanplein of de Bunnikside. De kleding komt ten goede aan supporters en inwoners van de regio die onder de armoedegrens leven. pic.twitter.com/55TliT2uKV

— FC Utrecht (@fcutrecht) December 19, 2019

6. Charlotte Checkers having personalised notes on fans seats.

Handwritten thank you notes to all of our season ticket holders waiting for them upon arrival tonight. pic.twitter.com/MVLZenY66f

— Shawn Lynch (@checkerslynch) October 25, 2019

5. The Washington Capitals announcing their official team dog of the team.

🐶INTRODUCING THE GOODEST BOY!🐶

Meet Captain, the official team dog of the Washington Capitals!

In partnership with @AmericasVetDogs, Captain will be with us for over a year as he gets ready to assist a Veteran or First Responder.

Follow along on Instagram / Twitter: @CapsPup pic.twitter.com/w0ODidDgu8

— Washington ☃️ Capitals (@Capitals) October 5, 2019

4. The warm welcoming work from Brentford FC’s team to create personalised welcome emails to fans coming to Griffin Park for the first time. A delightful way to ensure fans feel welcome and have all the information they need to be able to get the most out of their first experience.

3. The work of teams like Melbourne Rebels (Super Rugby), Penrith Panthers (NRL) and Newcastle Knights (NRL) listening to their fans to lower the prices on their jerseys to $99 from the original costs of upwards of $170.

2. The amazing work the Gold Coast Titans (NRL) and other organisations did to create a rugby league physical disability competition so that these young players could play the game they love. Watch Leagueability on ABC here. “A heart-warming, inspirational story about a bunch of young blokes who live for the game but have never been allowed to play and start a physical disability rugby league competition in regional Australia.”

1. AS Roma’s new recruits and missing persons campaign. There are just no words for how brilliant this was.

So there you have it for 2019.

A pretty impressive list of fan engagement strategies and fan experience insights from across the globe highlighting the outstanding work being done to entertain and delight fans in various parts of the world.

100 (actually there’s well over that as I’ve combined a few here and there) truly exceptional strategies but what have I missed? What was happening for you as a fan in your neck of the woods?

Thanks also to my colleagues and the people I look up to in the industry and this space such as but not limited to:

Be sure to also scroll back through the 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015 countdowns too to see what’s been happening over the past few years (found at the top of this post).

Let me know at @MrBlairHughes on Twitter or on LinkedIn.

Thanks and have a great holiday break.

Fan Engagement 2015 Year In Review: 101 Global Fan Engagement Activations

What a year 2015 has been for fan engagement in the sports business.

From digital delights to giveaways galore 2015 has seen some outstanding fan engagement activations from across the globe. With innovative and fan first ideas ranging from the areas of ticketing, virtual reality, merchandise and food to iBeacon’s, fitness and 3D printing, clubs and stadiums have been working hard to listen and increase the emotional loyalty amongst fans and drive deeper connections through storytelling between all parties.

As a passionate fan engagement and sports fan, I wanted to highlight the impressive work that has been produced in 2015 by putting together a brief (ok it’s pretty extensive actually) summary of some of the best global fan engagement ideas from this year and shine a light on the hard working marketing, digital and fan engagement teams who do so much for their members and fans across the world.

This is in no particular order and is by no means the definitive list of the ‘best in fan engagement’ from this year however it should be viewed as a launch pad for a discussion about what else was brilliant in fan engagement from 2015.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on anything I’ve missed and I’ll add them to my 2800+ fan engagement Pinterest board here: Blair’s Fan Engagement Ideas Pinterest Board.

Finally, a big thank you to all of my sports business and fan engagement followers and colleagues who constantly share ideas.

Without further delay, let’s get started.

1. The LA Dodgers always have some of the best fan giveaways with this year’s including a Hispanic heritage night, social media night ‘Back to the Future’ Movie night and Running night, Pups at the Park as well as giveaways that included fans getting their hands on one of 10,000 free yoga mats at Dodger Stadium.

LA Dodgers

2. As part of NRL Grand Final week the NRL hosted an epic fan zone called NRL Nation at Darling Harbour in Sydney. The site featured digital activations, signing sessions, photo opportunities and much more. NRL Nation

NRL Nation

3. The 49er’s created an interesting ’Ninerfier’ contraption in conjunction with Levi’s that saw fans get ’Ninerfied’ before heading into Levi’s Stadium. The team also gave out free shirts on the opening game day, launched their Twitter vending machine and kept evolving the fan experience with their app that features loyalty rewards as part of the Faithful 49 and also shows you the fastest moving toilet lines! Faithful 49

49ers/ Levis Stadium

49ers

49ers/ Levis Stadium

4. Super Rugby team Western Force held a ‘Superhero Saturday’ themed event which let fans in for free if they wore a superhero costume. Super Hero Saturday

Western Force

5. Sporting Kansas City allowed fans to pass around their US Open Cup trophy through the whole crowd at Sporting Park for their MLS game in October.

Sporting Kansas City

6. Melbourne Storm gave fans the chance to have their name on the team banner and win seat upgrades on the centre line in a private bar. Furthermore Melbourne also let young fans engage in a junior reporter type activation. The Storm also led the way in increasing loyalty among their members with their Lightning Rewards program. More on this here Lightning Rewards

Melbourne Storm

7. Ronda Rousey had a cool activation called #WalkoutWithRonda for the UFC fight against Holly Holm in Melbourne, Australia.

Ronda Rousey UFC

8. The Brisbane Broncos held a live video signing of a new player. Brisbane Broncos contract signing

Brisbane Broncos

9. The Seattle Sounders march to CenturyLink Field is a fan engagement masterpiece that needs to be experienced and continues to grow every MLS season.

Seattle Sounders

10. Carlton Blues used audioBoom’s recording widget to have fans record in their message of thanks to retiring player Chris Judd. The Blues also used audioBoom to record over 100 short audio biographies of club legends and then put these into QR codes around the club house on colourful plaques to encourage fans to visit the club and use their phones to access this special historical team content.

Carlton also held a 90’s themed game to commemorate the 1995 Grand Final win and they even dropped everything in the club shop by 19.95%. Furthermore their ‘bongo cam’ which sees fans play the bongos on the imaginary drums was a good laugh while the Virgin Australia activation which saw a virtual plane fly around the outside fence was also impressive as it saw a whole row of fans pick up a free return flight to the US.

Carlton Blues

11. Boston Celtics featured a game called ’Shot in the Dark’ that had a fan blindfolded while shooting at the hoops for a prize at the TD Garden.

Boston Celtics

12. Western Australian AFL teams Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles held good fan engagement initiatives such as the #FlyTheFlag and #TheWestIsFinals that had fans participating on social media.

West Coast Eagles

Fremantle Dockers

13. The 2015 Rugby World Cup saw over half a million fans come into the 15 fan zones around England. RWC Fan Zones

Rugby World Cup 2015

14. Cricket Australia and beer company VB teamed up to call on fans to earn a place in the Australian cricket team by having their name on the jersey. Fans are able to nominate the person who has inspired them to work hard and take action. The most inspiring stories will win their nominee’s name on the shirt of an Australian cricket player for the VB ODI series this summer. VB promotion

Cricket Australia/ VB

15. New fan zones from Sunderland, Chelsea and West Bromich Albion all gave their respective fans extra value on Premier League game days.

Chelsea FC Stamford Bridge

Sunderland AFC

16. The Melbourne Cricket Ground listened to fans and lowered the prices of food and drinks and saw massive rises in consumption. The consumption of hot pies increased by over 130,000 units, chips were up 37% (150,000 additional sales) and salads also went up by over 130%. MCG food prices a big hit with fans

MCG

17. Pittsburgh Steelers held a women’s training camp. Steelers Women’s Training Camp

Pittsburgh Steelers

18. A-League club Melbourne City streamed real time data and statistics from GPS tracking devices to fans during matches this season by transmitting the information directly to the scoreboard video screen at home matches and made the data available on social media apps and its website. Game data to stream live for Melbourne City football fans

19. The NY Mets let fans had a ‘Beer Passport’ for fans who could sample various New York craft beers at Citi Field.

NY Mets/ Citi Field

20. EA Sports asked fans of the Australian women’s football team, the Matilda’s to choose the player for the cover of FIFA15. EA Sports Matilda’s

EA Sports/ Matildas

21. Orlando City SC put fans faces in their squad numbers on the back of their jerseys.

Orlando City SC

22. Melbourne Demons asked young fans to submit a book review which was an educational bit of fan engagement. Melbourne Demons Book Review

Melbourne Demons

23. The NFL’s Baltimore Raven’s created emoji’s for fans. Raven’s Emoji’s

Baltimore Ravens

24. The QLD Firebirds ANZ Championship netball team provided free healthy recipes for fans such as nutritious bean burritos and chicken bites.

QLD Firebirds

25. Copa America changed some of Chile’s bus shelters to resemble goals in the lead up to the event.

Copa America

26. Sydney’s Allianz Stadium offered free pies to fans who used their mobile food ordering app. Allianz Stadium pie deal

Allianz Stadium

27. While Match.com and MLB.com teamed up in 2014 to give singles another reason to cheer during the season by giving members the opportunity for single baseball fans to connect online, the Atlanta Hawks encouraged fans to use the mobile app Tinder to transform Philips Arena into a premier social networking hub in the NBA as part of their “Swipe Right Night”. Atlanta Hawks Tinder Night

Hawks Tinder Night

MLB Singles

28. The FFA Cup let fans choose the football design for the ball used in the 2016 club competition. Design the Westfield FFA Cup 2016 ball!

FFA Cup

29. The St Louis Ram’s NFL team created a wellness zone for fans at their stadium complete with football skills drills and healthy nutrition tips. St Louis Rams Wellness Zone

St Louis Rams

30. The Central Coast Mariners paid homage to their coastal traditions and history by honouring the Central Coast Life Saving Association with this special jersey for fans. 500km up the road, fellow A-League club the Newcastle Jets did something similar with their Australian Air Force inspired kit for fans. CC Mariners SLS Jersey

CC Mariners

Newcastle Jets Air Force Jersey

31. The NJ Devils held a cross fit workout session for fans at The Prudential Centre ahead of their NHL match.

NJ Devils

32. The Australian Diamonds wrote fans a sick note pass for fans to give to their employers for the Netball World Cup after their win.

Australian Diamonds

33. The El Paso Chihuahuas held their Wiener Dog Race. I’ll just leave it at that.

34. The Cricket World Cup and Tui teamed up to give fans the chance to win 1M by buying a $30 ‘bullseye’ shirt and money if they caught a six. The $30 shirt, part of the Tui Catch a Million promotion, encouraged cricket fans to purchase the shirt and attempt to cleanly catch a ball for their chance to win up to $1 million.

Cricket World Cup 2015

35. The Gwinnett Braves let pregnant fans into CoolRay Field for the game and then added that if you went into labour during the game that your child would get a lifetime of free birthday parties from the team. Gwinnett Braves

Gwinnett Braves

36. The NSW Blues rugby league team had fans names on their jerseys in conjunction with beer company VB.

NSW BLUES

37. The San Francisco Giants printed ‘first game’ certificates for fans at AT&T Park.

SF Giants

38. Sydney Swans and ANZ Stadium gave free massages to fans at their AFL games.

Sydney Swans/ ANZ Stadium

39. The NY Islanders held their Beard-A-Thon which is acelebration of the great tradition of the playoff beard. Beard-a-thon® was launched in 2009 and since then, over $3 million has been raised for all participating NHL team charities.

NY Islanders

40. Richmond Tigers let fans design their own AFL trading card. Richmond Tigers Footy Cards

Richmond Tigers

41. The Rugby World Cup ticket design introduced a Rugby World Cup first as it used augmented reality technology as part of the ticket design to enable fans to engage with the tournament through interactive content. RWC 2015 Augmented Reality App

Rugby World Cup 2015

42. The Australian F1 Grand Prix again produced a fan engagement masterclass with in excess of 100 various activations that fans could participate in. However the one that I enjoyed seeing the most and which cost nothing to facilitate was when the gates to the circuit were opened to the fans who then proceeded to bolt to the finishing line while collecting leftover bits of race car tyre rubber along the way.

AUS GP F1

43. The 49ers and SAP had a few fun virtual reality activations at Levi’s Stadium that included the ‘Quarterback Challenge’.

49ers/ Levis Stadium

44. Geelong gave a free jersey away to fans who signed up to a three game Cats AFL membership

Geelong

45. Charlton Athletic in London put a couch on their sideline for fans to get up close and personal at the game.

Charlton

46. The NRL Bulldogs let fans be the game day photographer and also created a private Instagram account to unveil the 2016 jersey. BULLDOGS USE PRIVATE INSTAGRAM TO LAUNCH 2016 JERSEY

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs

47. Chelsea FC and the Netball World Cup’s Australian Diamonds created fan zones that featured digital print out’s of fans with star players as a memorable keepsake.

Chelsea FC Stamford Bridge

AUS Diamonds

48. The All Blacks and sponsor AIG created the AIG HAKA 360 that in their words ‘Combining a love of rugby with a passion and commitment to innovation for its customers, AIG is pleased to bring Virtual Reality (VR) innovation to All Blacks fans through our branded Haka 360° campaign. The virtual Haka 360° experience app directly connects fans with dynamic All Blacks content which can be brought to life with the use of VR headsets. Imagine standing on the pitch amongst the All Blacks pre-match, watching the team performing the traditional Maori Haka up close. This is the thrill the Haka 360° app and headset delivers.’ All Blacks 360 Haka

All Blacks

49. The Toronto Raptors held #DrakeNight and had perks such as a “Hotline Bling” booth where fans could film their own gif-worthy dance moves within the video’s colourful confines. Those moves were then shown on the Raptors’ official Vine account. Drake Night

Raptors Drake Night

50. The Gold Coast Titans held a rock and roll night and created a ‘fan of the match’ while bringing back classics like ‘catch the bomb’.

GC Titans

51. The LA Kings and StubHub combined at the Staples Centre to have fans create their own commemorative ticket by going into a ticket booth and adding different features on a touch pad.

LA Kings

LA Kings/ StubHub

52. AFL team Collingwood Magpies gave out free polaroid photos to fans at the MCG.

Collingwood

53. The Detroit Tigers and DooB teamed up to turn fans into 3D models. At a Tigers game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, fans could undergo the “DOOB-lication” process that begins with posing in a 3-D-scanning system with 54 high-definition cameras to capture every angle. After the scan, the photos are sent to DOOB’s processing facility in Brooklyn. The printing process takes up to 18 hours with the curing process adds another week. Tigers fans being turned into 3-D models

DooB Detroit Tigers

54. ANZ Stadium created the ‘Fanometer’ that let fans vote to see if Tottenham or Sydney FC would own the Sydney Harbour Bridge with their team colours.

Fanometer

55. The O2 and the Rugby World Cup worked together to feature fans names on the roof of the O2 for the ‘Wear The Rose’ campaign. The roof was transformed into a giant, blooming rose and a canvas for fans tweets. England fans can have their own messages of support projected onto The O2 roof

Rugby World Cup 2015

56. The NBL hosted an educational night for coaches to attend and learn from the NBL coaches.

NBL

57. Doncaster Rover’s #MyLocalScream Halloween themed match invited fans to mingle with mascot Donny Dog and the first team players in a day of scary fun, including ghost walks, spooky stories and a special Halloween party with the players in the Belle Vue Bar after the match. MY LOCAL SCREAM

Doncaster Rovers

58. The Netball World Cup in Sydney featured a brilliant FanFEST that included in excess of 25 interactive, digital and netball themed activations ranging from a nail and hair salon and chill out lounge to skills zones, daily netball fitness sessions and digital lip sync battles that were so popular that every national team squad ended up joining in and doing their own rendition to Taylor Swift’s hit tune ‘Shake It Off’. The creation of the fan experience started long before the tournament with the NWC website offering fans the chance to choose the official on court music playlist, bib bunting for the fan caves of those who could not attend and the establishment of a netball fan dictionary to educate newcomers to the sport. FanFEST also included digital activations from The Creative Shop such as the Fan’s MVP where fans could select their player of the tournament on a digital touch screen, ‘Cover the Court’ where fans could test their footwork, the virtual reality ‘Perfect Pass‘ game which tested fans passing skills and the ‘Cheer Cam’ which enabled fans to record their celebrations to Australia’s previous Netball World Cup wins.

2015 Netball World Cup

59. The Tennessee Titans NFL team held a Football 101 day for female fans. Football 101

Tennessee Titans

60. The A-League had a great fan engagement concept for the A-League Grand Final where they let fans choose a food item for sale in the stadium, who would sing the national anthem, have a say in the man of the match voting, vote on what song the band Peking Duk would play as well as decide what the ‘walk out’ song would be when the teams made their way to the field. It was all part of Hyundai’s Letting the Fans Choose campaign. A-League Grand Final Fan Engagement

61. Leicester City and Walker’s combined to create a special ‘Vardy Salted’ packet of chips for fans of Premier League record breaking goal scorer Jamie Vardy and then had these available for fans along with a note of thanks in every seat.

LCFC

62. The Wallabies and Qantas gave fans the chance to choose the design of the Qantas plane that would send the Wallabies over to London for the Rugby World Cup.

Wallabies

63. Scotland’s Hearts of Midlothian football club unveiled a new kit that featured all 8,000 names of supporters who rescued club from extinction and who donated at least £120 to the rescue fund. Hearts Fan Jersey

Hearts

64. The WS Wanderers teamed up a licensing deal with rockers KISS to run a limited edition of merch. WSW and KISS

WSW

65. The Jacksonville Jaguars were the first NFL team to release their own video game. It’s called “Duval Dash,” named after the county that Jacksonville finds itself in. The game at com is an 8-bit game. Jags Duval Dash

Duval Dash Jags

66. The Australian Ice Hockey League gave fans free rides to the games through Uber.

AIHL

67. The Seattle Sounders let fans design the 2016 scarf design. Sounders Scarf Design

Seattle Sounders

68. Hawthorn Hawks hid a jersey in a park for fans to find and the results were TV gold (and brown)! How this only has 400 odd views is beyond me.

69. The Football League created the ‘Own The Arch’ Twitter campaign to see which team could get the most support. Here you can see Tottenham’s attempt as #SpursAtWembley. Fans given chance to ‘own the arch’ through Twitter vote

Wembley Stadium

70. The Australian Open Tennis featured a plethora of fan engagement activations however one of the best was the Twitter vending machine that let fans tweet away and receive a code back that they could then use for the vending machine which would in turn drop a prize for fans.

Australian Open Tennis

71. The Cleveland Browns gave a fan the chance to host and interview players (along with free food) as part of their official podcast.

Browns

72. Auckland’s Eden Park and AirBNB combined to offer fans the chance to stay over at the stadium while the Sydney Swans and the SCG did the same thing in Sydney.

Sydney Swans & AirBNB

All Blacks/ Eden Park

73. LAFC asked fans to choose the colours of the team’s design scheme from five colours.

LAFC

74. Taranaki Rugby Club had players sleep over night at fans houses.

Taranaki Rugby Club

75. The Rugby World Cup and Gilbert teamed up to run the #PassItOn campaign that had fans send in a video of themselves receiving and giving a pass of a Gilbert Rugby ball.

Rugby World Cup 2015

76. The All Blacks and Air New Zealand music video for #CrazyAboutRugby was one of the best music/safety videos created.

77. The Seattle Seahawks had a ’Nail Your Gameday’ activation where fans could pick up nail polish in the colours of the team.

Seattle Seahawks

78. The BlackCaps cricket team released a ‘leave pass’ for fans to give to their bosses for the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

BlackCaps

79. The NJ Devils and a host of other teams all had a designated driver program which gives fans a free soft drink if they sign up to drive their friends home.

80. The moving sideline contraption ‘SlideLiner‘ was a feature at the Real Madrid Vs Manchester City match at the MCG.

MCG SlideLiner

81. The Pittsburgh Penguins and CONSOL Energy Center used ibeacon technology to create a beacon-triggered experience for fans that sent them content that is location specific by way of the Penguins app. Once fans are in the arena, the beacon-triggered content is released, greeting the device users with special content. Once they reach the Mario Lemieux statue, an interactive experience is launched and they are provided with various types of discounts and offers for concessions.

82. The NRL Dragons had a social media booth at their Allianz Stadium game where fans could grab a picture in a special camera booth.

St George Illawarra Dragons

83. The Washington Redskins app gave season ticket holders the team news before the media received the news. Redskins App

Redskins

84. Twitter teamed up with the Aussie cricket team for the Cricket World Cup to send back twitter replies to fans who tweeted the team a message of support. The pic that came back featured your name on the back of the team jersey. Similar activations of thanks via twitter replies were also used by the Aussie Diamonds netballers, the Matilda’s and the Wallabies for their big tournaments.

Twitter/ Australian Sports

85. The NY Jets had a ‘Make Your Own Bobblehead’ activation at MetLife Stadium that saw fans create a digital bobble head version of themselves. NJ Jets Game Day

NY Jets/ Metlife Stadium

86. The MCG hosted ‘Sunday Fundays’ which let kids into the ground for free for Sunday AFL games and also featured a ‘kick to kick’ on the ground after the match and a special kids meal deal with free trading cards. AFL Sunday Funday

MCG

87. The 49er’s Uplause decibel reader at Levis Stadium and at other stadiums and arenas in the US greatly added to fans creating more noise and support in the stadium with this snap of the crowd reaching 111.1 at the 49ers being deafening.

49ers/ Levis Stadium

88. Fan Zones at the Auckland Nines, NRL Grand Final, Aus Open, Cricket World Cup and AFL Grand Final were large and successful fan engagement activations.

CWC15

Auckland 9’s

AFL

89. The FA Cup asked fans to take a snap during the FA Cup games with the winning picture to feature on the Cup final ticket. Get your Instagram photo on Emirates FA Cup Final tickets

FA Cup

90. Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand listened to fans and brought in NZ craft beers for Wellington Phoenix game days. LOCAL WELLINGTON CRAFT BEER AT PHOENIX HOME GAMES

Westpac Stadium

91. The NFL’s Vikings and 49ers engaged in a ‘Vine Off’ and executed what is the first collaborative Vine exchange in professional sports. On Monday Night Football Stage, Vikings And 49ers Strategically Execute First ‘Vine-Off’

92. The MLB introduced ’SnapBat’ which was a red and white baseball bat that took selfies of fans and players.

Snap Bat MLB

93. For the first time ever, fans decided the AT&T MLS All-Star captain using Snapchat. Fans had to take a screenshot of the player they wanted to be captain with one screenshot equalling one vote. For the first time ever, fans will decide the AT&T MLS All-Star captain using Snapchat

MLS

94. US Open fans were able to try to return Maria Sharapova’s 100mph serve via virtual reality. US Open Fan Engagement

95. The LA Kings had a neat virtual reality set up at Staples Centre whereby you could have your pic taken standing in front of a screen and then afterwards the mascot or player were in the picture with you. More on this here: Toshiba is pleased to feature PictureMe app in LA Interactive located next to the Figueroa Bar on the main concourse of STAPLES Center. This new mobile app is allows fans to take photos with ‘digital doubles’ of star Kings players. Operated from a media console embedded within Toshiba’s 65-inch Touch and Get kiosk, the augmented reality app projects a digital image of the selected player adjacent to the fan allowing for a memory-making photo opp. Kings introduce new off-ice elements as season begins

LA Kings

LA Kings/ Staples Centre

96. Taranaki Rugby Club had an offer whereby if a player scored four or more tries then every fan received free hot chips.

Taranaki Rugby Club

97. The Tampa Bay Bucs launched RED which was a new campaign aimed to “celebrate the female fan base’ that featured game-day style tips to experiencing the Bucs all-new virtual reality quarterback training technology. RED Women’s Movement – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Bucs

98. The MLB had a Twitter lock down to celebrate National Coffee Day meaning that only MLB followers could access the deals and giveaways.

MLB

99. Major League Soccer team NYCFC let fans choose the captain’s armband design.

NYCFC

100. Hibernian asked for fan input into what colour they wanted for their 2016/17 home strip. Hibs fans asked to pick favourite shade of green for new home shirt

Hibernian

101. Proving just how simple and easy fan engagement can be, the Seattle Sounders MLS team had a ‘Smile Cam’ at their fan appreciation day in October.

Seattle Sounders/ CenturyLink Field

Thanks for reading.

Please feel free to share your ideas from the year that was in fan engagement.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Fun, Free, Fabulous: 2015 Netball World Cup FanFEST Review

Netball World Cup 2015

Fun. Free. Fabulous.

This was the slogan for the recent FanFEST held in August at Sydney’s AllPhones Arena as part of the 2015 Netball World Cup (NWC2015) and what a spectacle for the senses it proved to be for fans who travelled far and wide for the sport’s premier tournament.

The sport of netball in Australia is a success story that continues to set new benchmarks as a result of record-breaking crowds in the ANZ Championship, an ever-expanding number of corporate partnerships, huge rises in memberships and participation numbers along with the hosting of iconic events such as the NWC. However a significant and underrated highlight of all of these achievements surrounding netball in Australia is the success of the recent NWC2015 FanFEST. I recently interviewed one of the brains behind FanFEST in Netball World Cup fan engagement manager Haley Keays who shed light on the origins and planning of FanFest, the importance of providing unique experiences for fans of all ages and the subsequent outcomes of FanFest.

‘Memory maker’ Keays, whose background includes roles in ticketing and fan experience with the Sydney Kings, Asian Cup and South Sydney Rabbitohs highlights that the FanFEST fan engagement goal was to create a number of innovative, interactive and fun netball themed digital and hands on experiences within NWC2015 FanFEST during tournament time. Keays noted that it was all about creating authentic memorable moments for fans and that while for netball fans FanFEST was the ultimate fan social hub, activity zone, meeting point and entertainment home of the NWC it was also about ‘the fun away from the game’.

The idea behind the FanFEST came from the MLB’s Fan Festival along with a vision to make a fan experience and in turn a fan zone that was unprecedented in Australian sport. Keays states that creating the fan experience started long before the tournament with the website offering fans the chance to choose the official on court music playlist, bib bunting for the fan caves of those who could not attend and the establishment of a netball fan dictionary to educate new comers to the sport. A three month trophy tour to netball clubs across Australia and the positive social media call out of ‘#MySecondTeam’ where Australian Diamonds fans were encouraged to support another nation were also integral in creating excitement amongst fans in the lead up to the tournament.

Taking a tour of FanFEST on day one proved to be an incredible fan experience as upon entry I immediately witnessed hundreds of fanatical netball kids enthusiastically dragging their mums and dads around this enormous, colourful and sprawling fan zone. The event ended up seeing over 65,000 fans pack into the FanFEST location over the 10 days to sample in excess of 25 interactive, digital and netball themed activations ranging from a nail and hair salon and chill out lounge to skills zones, daily netball fitness sessions and digital lip sync battles that were so popular that every national team squad ended up joining in and doing their own rendition to Taylor Swifts hit tune ‘Shake It Off’. Keays highlighted out that while you ‘cant control the match result, you can control how much fun a fan has at an event’ and with young fans and families seen having loads of fun and participating in all these free activities there was no doubt that this was an exceptional fan site.

FanFEST included digital activations from The Creative Shop such as the Fan’s MVP where fans could select their player of the tournament on a digital touch screen, ‘Cover the Court’ where fans could test their footwork, the virtual reality ‘Perfect Pass‘ game which tested fans passing skills and the ‘Cheer Cam’ which enabled fans to record their celebrations to Australia’s previous Netball World Cup wins. Each of these interactive experiences were fully Wi-Fi enabled, which allowed fans to immediately share their user-generated images and videos to their social media channels via a personalised eDM. The importance of producing high quality user-generated video content was highlighted by the fact that the Cheer Cam and Lip-Syncing activations produced over 10,000 additional views from the sharing of the original content that fans created.

Further adding to the fan experience was the Fan Mail area where fans could write and then post a letter to their favourite team with some of these then being read out by the teams on social media. The #GetGameReady make up and nails station also had lines stretching out the door as young fans got kitted out in team nail designs and face paint. Fans could also participate in various competitions to win a bedroom makeover and other prizes, the Australian Diamonds had a photo booth where fans could get their own picture printed out with their choice of Diamond’s players. Supporters were able to participate in bingo with mascot Nettie and also have their make up freshened up at the ‘House of Wellness’, which also featured free massages. Designated sponsor marquees had free merch packs with giveaways galore all while being surrounded by live screens to sit back, relax and watch the matches while chowing down on gourmet healthy food choices.

With the FanFEST being a hive of activity over the 10 days of the tournament, Keays emphasised that the fact people who had paid for full tournament passes were coming every single day to FanFEST to see what was on offer, participate in the daily themed events like ‘Family Day’ and ‘Schools Day’ and soak up the atmosphere proved that the fan zone was a total success with fans of all ages.

In a year with so many high profile sporting events and fan zones across Australia there is no doubt that this was one of the years most well attended showcases of innovative and interactive fan engagement that fans had been able to sample. FanFEST and the outcomes that the NWC2015 fan engagement team delivered were exceptional and should be used as an example of how to provide a genuinely entertaining fan area for all fans that attend sporting games.