On this episode of #Storyteller, we sat down with two of the brilliant minds behind Seattle’s two newest sports franchises.
Becca Elliott is the Director of Digital Fan Experience for NHL Seattle. With a background in product management, she is bringing her unique background into the sports world to examine the intersection of fan engagement and technology.
Michelle Delancy is the Sr. Director of Digital Marketing and Events for the XFL’s Seattle Dragons. She brings 10 years of experience from the sponsorship, sports events, and athlete management space, as they work to build a new league from the ground up.
Elliott on how they plan to improve the fan experience:
There is not a single meeting that goes by, even when it’s financial budget meetings, that we don’t sit there and think about, how will this affect the fans? How will this make their experience better? How can we continue to strengthen Seattle and the community here and the sports fans, the avid sports fans that we have, how do we honor them moving forward. In fan experience, it doesn’t matter if we have the flashiest technology in the world, if it doesn’t work properly, and if it doesn’t help keep you in your seat longer, or help educate you as a fan, then we haven’t done our job.
Delancy on using access as entertainment:
Access is the biggest thing that the XFL also wants to talk about. So when you’re watching the game, you see video cameras in the locker rooms. You may see players taking selfies or high fiving people in the crowds. You may see the players arrive through a tailgate opportunity. So, the XFL is really big on access in the entertainment piece. So that is something that players will get used to and fans will really enjoy as well.
Elliott on why she questions every decision a fan makes:
We have the ability to question every single thing that a fan does and how they interact with us as a team. From a product perspective, it’s amazing. I sit in every meeting and every decision we make, the question I always ask is, why are we doing it that way? And the reason, ‘other teams do it that way’, isn’t good enough.
Delancy on how do you market with a small budget, in a big city::
I don’t have a really large budget, but we have a really large city. So, what’s the best way to do that? It’s not necessarily just buying TV commercials, because most of you fast forward and pass through them. It’s using a lot of digital, using some billboards, some different things to make all of that work. The most important thing is lead generation or word of mouth. Continuing to have opportunities to get in front of the fans in new ways.
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