The DC Lottery will launch its first-ever licensed DC United pro soccer ticket in March.
“Soccer continues to grow in popularity here in DC. And our Scarborough research indicates that people who attend DC United matches over-index as lottery players,” said DC Lottery Marketing Director John Gorman. “This DC United licensed product instant ticket gives us an opportunity to reach several demographics. First, we want to appeal to soccer fans by developing a beautiful ticket that offers our players the chance to win season tickets, DC United signed merchandise, or unique experiential prizes that our players can only win through the second chance contest. Secondly, DC United fans skew younger-Millennial so this an opportunity to make in-roads with this demo too. And thirdly, it is true that Hispanics over-index as soccer fans so we anticipate that this product will help us reach that audience as well.”
The DC Lottery contracted directly with the team. “We negotiated a comprehensive partnership agreement that granted licensing rights and also detailed the marketing, media, and promotional deliverables from DC United to the DC Lottery,” said Gorman.
“Our agreement grants us the right to have our Lucky Lottery Mobile on-site outside JFK Stadium for tailgate activations throughout the season,” he added.
In terms of sales expectations, “we anticipate that this will be a niche product that will index between 85-90 over its first 12 weeks,” said Gorman.
The lottery plans to leverage the on-field opportunities to promote the ticket. Experiential opportunities include the monthly second-chance drawings, social media contests and on-air contests with its radio partners—106.7 the Fan or El Zol (both CBS stations).
“We have also arranged for a DC Lottery representative to post live updates from the field on the days our lucky winners are at the stadium to enjoy and experience their prize,” said Gorman.
The arrangement also positions the lottery for an enviable partnership. DC United is building a brand new, state-of-the-art soccer stadium at Buzzards Point in Southwest DC for the 2018 season.
“There will be tremendous excitement and press as we approach that opening date,” said Gorman. “We see this current partnership for the 2017 season as a launching pad for a more robust partnership for the upcoming 2018 season. We expect that there will be some valuable lessons learned this year that will allow us to activate more effectively for the 2018 season when DC United moves to their new stadium, and there will be significant earned media opportunities.”