Fan Re-Engagement Campaign Helps Fuel Seawolves Comeback
Fan Re-Engagement Campaign Helps Fuel Seawolves Comeback
The Seattle Seawolves made a return to the Major League Rugby Championship game this season, but their rebound wasn’t just a rugby success, it was a business success.
With a strong marketing plan from Madak, the Seawolves enjoyed a massive fan following that fueled the team’s playoff run.
The COVID shutdowns around the nation in 2020 hit different regions in varied ways. In the Pacific Northwest, shutdowns and restrictions were particularly stringent, with limits on fan capacity going well into 2021.
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Dillon Ross, VP of Business Strategy called the season membership renewal period going into 2022 the team’s “most vital season membership renewal period.”
The Seattle Seawolves turned to Madak for help on selling game tickets, renewing season ticket holders, website management and expanding their player programs through the development and launch of the Seattle Seawolves Rugby Pathway. It was a case of divide and conquer. Madak would handle implementing the strategy, focusing on increasing ticket sales, and the Seawolves business office would close the deals.
“Madak led the creative process, digital development, and email marketing for what turned into the highest renewal percentage in Seawolves club history,” explained Ross.
Going from worrying about getting any increase in fans after those COVID-affected seasons of 2020 and 2021, the Seawolves were looking at a complete turnaround.
A Five-Fold Return
Madak worked closely with the Seawolves to create photos, videos, and creative assets to drive paid media and email marketing. Through the media campaign, designed to drive awareness, and email marketing campaigns, with a more direct call to action, Madak helped drive a season ticket renewal rate of 83%—the highest renewal rate since in the team’s inaugural season in 2018.
And they did it efficiently, driving the cost-per-click engagement down 61% and providing the Seawolves a 5x return on ad spend. Madak also helped double the website traffic which ended up in a 33% increase in merchandise sales year over year.
For Ross and the Seawolves, what Madak did also helped the club manage resources.
“It really allowed the business team to focus on selling tickets and not worry about the marketing aspect of it, because Madak had it covered,” Ross said.
Fueled by that fan base, the Seawolves then surged to the MLR final in New Jersey.
“The past MLR 2 seasons, working with the Seawolves has been very rewarding for the team. Collaborating with the internal team in the front office allowed us to build on the momentum from the onfield performance and drive a fan experience that resulted in an uptick of ticket sales and overall increased engagement from the fans. We look forward to a continued relationship with the Seawolves in the future.” Adam Lejeunekopp, Madak CEO.
