Every team, and most brands, are on the eternal quest to get younger, more engaged fans. Get ‘em early, and maybe you convert them for life. It’s why there has been a fascination with MMA and an ever-growing obsession with esports and gaming amongst influential people, teams, media outlets and brands, and why it will continue to be a fickle and elusive space.
This week we have the great weekend doubleheader of both Star Wars Day (May 4) and Free Comic Book Day (first Saturday in May) falling back to back. That means 48 hours (April 28 was also National Superhero Day btw) on the engagement calendar that every team, and many brands and athletes should continue to circle as a way to engage with a fun, and potentially new and promotable audience, especially through the digital and social space.
We start with Friday being Star Wars Day (may the 4th be with you) which has become the hottest of hot promos (Star Wars) in professional sports. How hot? According to our friend Ben Hill at Milb.com, close to 30 minor league teams will be doing May 4 Star Wars promos, and virtually every MLB team has now adopted a Star Wars themed night. The list includes the Yankees giving away an Aaron Judge Jedi bobblehead, the Rangers’ home game on May 26 offering a Han Gallo bobblehead, (for Joey Gallo), the Braves are giving away Ozzie Lando Calrissian Star Wars bobbleheads in honor of youthful second baseman Ozzie Albies, the White Sox will give out a Hawk Solo bobble in tribute to retired broadcaster Hawk Harrelson, the Diamondbacks will have a Paul (Goldschmidt) Solo bobblehead and at Citi Field in New York you can get Mr. Met as a Han Solo bobblehead.
The second geeky hotspot, which as mentioned earlier, is the first Saturday in May every year, Free Comic Book Day. The simple nationwide promotion has thousands of participating outlets getting traffic, and moving inventory, by giving away a series, or even just one, comic book to anyone who comes in. All indications are those coming in are stopping and sampling more, looking at collectables, and posting photos for promotion, all of which leads to great good will and an increase in traffic both online and in actual brick and mortar local stores.
What else does Free Comic Book Day offer? A chance to have reading initiatives engaged, all of which tie to great community events for teams, especially those winter sports, both college and professional, looking for an offseason fan engagement rally point. Teams and athletes can easily use the social space to create their own Superheroes, or in the case of NBA teams, use their comic savvy players like Brooke and Robin Lopez to create content that can reach a bigger audience. Want more? Any number of teams have created comic books or fantasy programs around their teams, why not use the day as a way to promote those efforts…or even run contests for fans to engage and create their favorite Superhero modeled after their favorite athlete? The Bears for example, have expanded their ties to players as Super Heroes with a wide line of collectables, all of which play really well in social. Factor in the continued success and marketability of films especially Black Panther, and the combo of sport and comic books is hotter than almost ever or at least in the past 20 r 30 years.
There are lots of simple ways to tie in, all of which can spread out to a wider casual audience through creativity, and in turn, you may catch a full net of those elusive millennials who see that teams, leagues and even some brands, are looking to merge sports and fantasy together in a language and a medium that they understand.
Now keep in mind that all this outreach has to be genuine, and fun. Making it an over ticket sell, or just throwing up a Batman image talking about your “heroic effort to sell group tickets” won’t get much ROI. Don’t even bother checking the box. For those who want to use fun crossover emoji’s, who want to develop fun top 10 lists mixing super heroes, fantasy and sports, and those who want to take the time to talk to athletes and staff about their larger than life interests, this whole week can be a great deal of fun to engage a new audience.
Free Comic Book Day and Star Wars Days have generated countless branding, sales and collectable opportunities and continue to gain more steam, and both are another easy way for teams to engage around on multiple platforms. Grabbing both and growing should be on the must do for all those looking for younger and newer; it is certainly a nice entrée into an engaged community, a similar one that likes gaming and can again become fans for life.
