The goal was to build a solid foundation. Instead the Portland Fire ended up setting fan engagement records in year one. It’s a story of vision, engagement, and loyalty.
Portland fans are loyal. The Thorns have the highest attendance numbers in the NWSL. The Timbers built a sell out streak that spanned multiple seasons. The Trail Blazers have been repping Rip City for 55+ years. Fans show up for gameday in the Rose City. Go to a game, scroll the socials, hit a brewery, it’s clear, the 503 is loyal to their soil.
But loyalty is earned, not inherited. The Portland Fire knew that going into their inaugural season as a WNBA expansion team. When it came time to set goals for year one, the theme was straightforward. Build a strong foundation, show what the fanbase is capable of, and redefine what a basketball gameday experience could look like.
We built a foundation. It became a gameday tradition. And that tradition became loyalty that will outlast any season.
Kourtney Turner – Director of Game Experience at the Portland Fire
The Vision
Building the gameday experience would be done by a team of two. Leading the charge was Kourtney Turner, Director of Game Experience at the Portland Fire. She spent the previous 4.5 years on the game presentation team at the Golden State Warriors and Valkyries. In that time Turner grew familiar with Tagboard, and what it brought to the gameday experience. That familiarity, mixed with the success she saw in the Bay Area, made it a go-to platform for the experience she envisioned in Portland.
“Fans light up when they see themselves on the video board. I saw it in the Bay. I knew it had to be at the center of what we built here. Tagboard was the answer to our vision,” said Turner.
The Engagement
On gameday the Fire put out a call to action for fans to submit photos of themselves at the game. Once during pre-game warm ups, and once during the action. Fans scan the QR code and submit their photos. Kourtney and her colleague review the submissions and send the best ones to the video board. Plenty of teams run a version of this. Where the Fire are different is they leave the fan display up for the entire game.
The two call-to-action moments still spark the biggest, most concentrated bursts of scanning. But two-thirds of the scans happen outside those windows. Keeping the display up all game drives roughly three times the engagement of a couple short windows. On a given night, more than 10% of the building submits a photo.
“Most teams put up fan engagement displays for between 30-60 seconds,” said Turner. “We wanted fans to know the invitation never closes. If you’re in the building, you’re part of the show all night.”
And fans don’t just appear on the board. They help run the night. The Fire also use live polls at certain games. Fans vote on the halftime DJ set and weigh in on the gameday experience, with the results playing out on the video board in real time. The fans get a say, not just a seat.
This is what redefining gameday looks like. The display stays up all game on various screens, and the fans, not just the staff, drive what happens on it.
The Loyalty
Tagboard’s fan engagement technology is all backed with robust analytics. Session ID, time of scan, location of scan, and more. With this info the Fire can see not just when and where their audience is scanning, but whether it’s the same fans scanning from one game to the next. This is where loyalty comes into play. Nearly 1,500 fans scanned at two or more games this season, with a handful scanning at 10 or more. The fans are enjoying their gameday experience, and coming back for more. When they do, they stay engaged and keep interacting with the video boards.
“The photos get the reactions. The analytics are what let us build loyalty,” said Turner. “Tagboard shows us who’s returning and how they engage, so every game gets a little more dialed in. We like to win, and that’s true on the court and in the stands.”
The excitement shows. It’s not an uncommon sight for a fan to snap a photo of their submission on the video board and post it to their own social channels. It sets up organic reach, and grows the fanbase as people see it and want to experience a Fire gameday for themselves.
The Record
Kourtney set out to build a foundation. With the regular season almost complete, the Fire were on pace to break the all-time Tagboard record for fan submissions in a single season, ahead of established franchises with decades of history. An incredible feat for what’s considered a small market team.
But the record was never the point. It’s proof that the vision is working. Tens of thousands of fans choosing to be part of the show. Every submission is a fan who felt something worth sharing, and a reason to come back.
“By population metrics, we’re 12th of 15 WNBA teams. But we’re in the top 5 of attendance, and these numbers show how engaged our fanbase is,” said Turner. “You can feel the energy on gameday, but to see that the numbers match the vibe is reaffirming. It really shows that if we give our fans opportunities to engage, they want to.”
The foundation has been set, and the benchmarks are now set even higher. So where does this go for year two? Building on the habits and loyalty created in year one, and making sure fans know they are just as central to this franchise as the players and coaches.
“We built a foundation. It became a gameday tradition. And that tradition became loyalty that will outlast any season.”