Ticket sales are the lifeblood of a sports organizations. Finding innovative ways to attract both new and old fans to the stadium is vital to success. For a soccer club in a crowded marketplace like New York City with entertainment opportunities abound, capturing the attention of residents through creative outreach not only helps bring people through the gate, but make a great impression. On that note, NYCFC recently unveiled a new ticket sales venture called the City Blue Card with the hope of attracting new fans to Yankee Stadium.
The idea: entrust the best NYCFC supporters to bring additional soccer-loving residents to games.
How does the City Blue Card work?
Conceptually, the new initiative is pretty simple. Starting in 2020, each City Member (exclusive group with special access and amenities) will receive an allotment of City Blue Cards in addition to their Season Card. The City Blue Card entitles the recipient to two tickets to a number of select games. That’s it.
For NYCFC, this represents a great way to put the power into their fans’ hands and let them use their own network – be it a coworker, their barber, or their bartender – to bring new potential fans into the fold. Let your fan community build and manifest itself into a larger community; sometimes simple concepts can have the largest impact.
We’ll have to wait until next season to know whether the concept proved successful, but the idea, in advance, seems like a great one.
Drawing from inspiration
This isn’t the first time a club (or brand) has used the soccer referee card trope to entice action. In 2016, Pepsi unveiled a program using the Pepsi Blue Card as the centerpiece to a larger campaign. For Pepsi drinkers, the Blue Card symbolized something exciting about to happen. The campaign was supported by an app, digital and social content, as well as a commercial spot where two delivery drivers are shown a Pepsi Blue Card and end up on a soccer field with Sergio Agüero, James Rodriguez, Alexis Sánchez, and David de Gea.
Categories: Experiential, Major League Soccer, On-Premise, Promotions