Completed in 2019

Industry

Professional Sports

Problem

Soccer isn’t cool to the average Chicagoan

Background

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. That is, everywhere except the U.S. While Americans have been trying to popularize soccer for decades, the only major player in the country right now is Major League Soccer(MLS). Locally, Chicago Fire FC has been the Chicago MLS franchise since 1998. Winning the League Cup in their first season of existence, years of less-than-stellar play on the pitch and a move to suburban Bridgeview left the Fire with a smaller cultural footprint. Combine that with the long-term fanbases of teams like the Bears and the Bulls, and the Fire needed a new approach.
As Major League Soccer expands — the league now has 26 teams with cities like Cincinnati, Miami and Nashville all launching teams in the past 5 years and the Fire’s announcement that they would be returning to Soldier Field in the heart of the city, I got to wondering…

Hypothesis

If we can marry the culture of soccer with the culture of Chicago, people will adopt Chicago Fire FC as one of “ours” and support with attendance revenue and increased engagement with 21 – 35 year-olds.

Process

Research. I identified key cultural influencers who were fans of the team already and leveraged that passion into a concept that merged soccer x chicago x culture. I also created buyer personas for these influencers, as their fanbases reflected their own tastes and interests. I then repeated this process with a second cohort of potential consumers who work in cultural industries within Chicago and are absolutely nuts about soccer.

Storytelling. Compiling my research, I then Identified two specific concepts that: 1. could easily be executed by the team and 2: that would deliver immediate ROI:

An event that spoke to the global themes that fans of soccer worldwide go nuts over.
A way to show love to the longtime supporters community, some of whom had been fans of the team since Day 1.

Execution

Can I Kick It? A Celebration of Soccer x Culture

In collaboration with Step, the official team DJ, we executed two concepts pre-COVID that directly targeted fans of soccer who live in Chicago.

The first was a Premier League kickoff watch party at Ace Hotel Chicago. We invited fans of soccer — no matter the club — to kick back and celebrate the beginning of the season. We created an experience tying in the fashion, music and cultural moments around soccer. 100+ guests attended the afternoon event.

The second was a private event for the supporters of the team. We wanted to curate an experience that was all about them. So, in the dead of winter, we threw a party….because that’s what you do in Chicago. Over 300 guests attended throughout the evening and the team had full representation, from coaching staff to ownership.