Reno Ice Raiders

We were approached to spearhead the relocation of the Ice Raiders Hockey Club franchise to Reno, NV. We outlined the strategy for announcing the relocation, including teaser posts, press releases, announcement videos and social media presence. We continued as their digital marketing team for the past 3 seasons, selling out of season tickets each year, and selling out 97% of games (14-18 per season) in their 650 seat arena.

01:00

The Ice Raiders Move to Reno

01:03

Reno Ice Raiders Hockey is Back

00:17

Throwback Jersey Reveal

Social Media

We knew having a strong social media presence and voice as a sports team would be important to help engage and connect with their fanbase, sell tickets, and create a community for this team. We studied the NHL's Seattle Kraken's social media launch as a new team in Seattle and how they built hype, community, and uniqueness. We also did site visits to Reno to discover what made the city unique, what would appeal to locals, and how we could connect this new franchise to the community.

Part of the relocation was a rebranding of the uniform, including a stripe of blue that wasn't present during their California days. We brought that into the design and photography as well to help differentiate the franchise, and add cohesiveness to the feed.

Results

During the first season in Reno, 2740 new followers on Instagram, selling out 16 home games in a 650 seat arena.
Years 2 and 3 saw an average of 1300 new followers, and selling out 34 of 36 games over those two seasons.
2023-24 saw the Reno Ice Raiders have the most reach and engagement of any hockey team in their league (12 other teams)

Pre-Reno era, there wasn't much of a brand standard yet, and photo and video was either fan-generated or sporadically done by friends.

During this era, they did not have a budget for media, but had established themselves in their community of Vacaville.

During the announcement to Reno era, we started teasing more of the new uniforms and players, until the award winning launch video. After we revealed more, including showcasing locations in Reno via photos and video. The blue is underlying through all the media.

During the 4 months between announcing and home opener, the Instagram gained over 2000 new followers.

Screenshot 2024-07-19 at 8.17_edited.jpg

2023-24 season saw the largest increase of followers since the relocation. We not only started to mic-up players during games, we also installed a GoPro behind the goal, and revitalized our graphic design for Game Days and Final Score posts.

More video content was created with the players in Q&A formats and interviews.