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It can be hard to teach players how to play a new game. For the Cash Pop™ launch, the North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) decided to show Hurricane fans how to play, then offered them a free coupon to try the game out. The result was a 12x increase in redemption rate.
Blown Away by Results
NCEL has sponsorship deals with six professional sports franchises. Historically, these relationships have centered on static ads, including ribbon boards, scoreboard spots, and concourse booths.
For the launch of Cash Pop in November, the Lottery took a more ambitious approach. They wanted a short in-game moment that teaches the rules and prompts an immediate call to action. The Carolina Hurricanes became the laboratory for this new approach. “We wanted to support the [Cash Pop] launch by leveraging our professional sports sponsorships and promotional assets in current contracts,” explains Dustin Hickman, senior sports-marketing representative, NCEL.
Between periods at Hurricanes games, the house lights dimmed. Animated LEDs pulsed pink and yellow. The Cash Pop logo appeared on the ice. Fifteen pre-selected fans stepped onto oversized projected numbers. Then, a wheel was spun to determine the prize, which ranged from $50 to $250. One by one, the numbers “popped” off the ice until a single winner remained. In three minutes, the audience saw a clear and simple example of how the game works: choose a number and see if you win.
“So, the on-ice projection was great, but we weren’t done. We just showed you how easy and fun it is to play, but how could we further engage and encourage fans to play?” Hickman asked.
A billboard-sized QR code hovered in the corner of the video board, inviting every fan with a phone to “Scan for a free Cash Pop play.” The code links to a mobile coupon generated by CUE, whose bespoke integration with NCEL’s central system assigns each scan to a unique barcode.
Since fans immediately got access to the coupon and the arena had a self-service machine, fans flocked to try the game. The Lottery was able to get some great footage from players trying the game, as well as the on-ice contestants.
It also allowed for measurement. In 2022, the Lottery printed 15,000 Keno coupons for a giveaway. Less than 1% were redeemed. For Cash Pop, after 5,800 scans over 10 games, the rate was around 12%. Since these coupons were delivered digitally and connected to the central system, they could be cashed anywhere in the state. Redemption rates continued to rise weeks after codes were issued.
More Experiments
Throughout the spring and summer, the Lottery worked with other franchises to promote Cash Pop. Replicating the Hurricanes’ intermission, however, is not possible for most other stadiums. Smaller venues often lack projection systems or are unable to handle the event. For larger stadiums, it wasn’t cost-effective. The Lottery tailored each activation to the sport and venue.
- NFL’s Carolina Panthers: A “helmet shuffle” on the 360-foot videoboard hides the Cash Pop logo under one of three animated helmets. A couple of spectators got to guess and win a prize, providing a quick explainer to roughly 75,000 spectators.
- NBA’s Charlotte Hornets: One fan selects a numbered envelope held by the Honey Bees dance team, then shoots five free throws. Each bucket earns the envelope’s dollar value, echoing Cash Pop’s five daily draws while keeping the audience invested shot by shot. Ribbon boards and courtside LEDs handle the branding awareness lift.
- NHL Minor Team Charlotte Checkers: A 2½-minute video-board countdown projects the same 15-number animation, with mascot “Chubby” filming a skit in which he buys a Cash Pop ticket at the arena’s self-service machine.
- The NBA G League’s Greensboro Swarm: Courtside LEDs and an “instant replay” logo bug carry the message three times per quarter.
- Southern Professional Hockey League’s Fayetteville Marksmen: In lieu of an intermission, each icing call triggers a full-board Cash Pop bumper (190 exposures last season), which floods the rink in pink for a few seconds.
Since January 1, North Carolina’s concerted push behind Cash Pop has been effective. In the first full quarter after the launch, NCEL’s Cash Pop ranked third in per-capita sales at about $2.18 per person. From April to June, that number jumped to $3.17 per person. While that success reflects the full gestalt of the campaign, the Lottery aims to keep maximizing its sports sponsorships.
First, the Lottery is trying to expand its self-service footprint to more stadiums, which will enable players to redeem coupons quickly, while also providing great branding exposure. “That way it really makes a promotion come full circle,” Hickman says. “Promote a product, give somebody a sample, then have them redeem the coupon and try the game at the stadium.”
Second, they want to scale the promotion so everyone in the venue can play. One fan would compete on the field. The rest of the fans could play a digital version simultaneously on their phones. “We also want to say, ‘hey fans, everybody can play the helmet shuffle, for instance, and get a chance for a free coupon,’” Hickman says. “That’s the next level to it. We want to expand the promotion to get everybody involved.”
After all, the Lottery has shown it pays to be n(ice) when you include the whole stadium