As part of my interview process with Wasserman, I had six days to prepare and present new partnerships for the XFL.
60 Seconds on the Game Clock
XFL was a new league (pre-covid) that gave players who weren’t NFL level material a second chance to play
XFL Stadiums were strategic: large cities with the nation’s top media markets
3 New partnerships: Wingstop, Navy Federal, Play Station
Wingstop:
Football is Food! Football fans eat about 1.33 Billion chicken wings every Superbowl (according to the National Chicken Council)
Each stadium has a Wingstop within 7 miles
Promotion 1: Wingstop Wednesday at selected Wingstop locations in each of the 8 cities. Fans can take 10% off their order if they walk in repping their team’s gear, and 15% off if the team won the weekend before
During the off-season, players could make appearances at Wingstops to have MEET AND EATS with fans, which would support the XFL’s first value of connecting with fans and giving them amazing experiences
Promotion 1: A military appreciation game for women veterans
This will also acknowledge their female audience
Sunday March 8th 2020 International Women’s Day
Two games, hosted in DC and LA
All-women color guard
Invite women service members to the coin toss and acknowledge them
Have a special lounge designated for women service members and their families during the game
During commercial breaks, show videos of players thanking the influential women in their lives
Flyover with women pilots
This would inspire little girls watching the game and connect with the untapped patriotic female audience
Navy Federal Credit Union:
Football is Finances! The buying power of women is huge. 96% are involved in financial decisions for their families
45% of NFL’s fans are women, but they aren’t a focus of marketing. The XFL can capitalize on this opportunity
Navy Federal has physical locations in all 8 XFL markets, and also offers online banking
Play Station:
Football is Fun! 40% of people who play video games are between ages 18-35 - The age of the XFL’s target audience
One of the top-ranked video games for this age group was Madden NFL which suggests another football video game could be successful
PlayStation has recently released a 2MD virtual reality game
Vince McMahon - CEO and Chairman of WWE Wrestling
Owns XFL League
WWE's Wrestle Mania is April 5th @ Raymond James Stadium (home of the XFL's Vipers)
Vipers back at home following Sunday against NY Guardians
Keep some of the wrestlers in town for a meet-and-greet during the game, and set up PlayStation controllers where fans can play and purchase the latest 2020 wrestling game.
A great opportunity to connect two markets!
Any stadium could host this experience, and perhaps take it a step further by holding a wrestling match on the middle of the field; it would be a first for many to see!
Main idea for experiential marketing
