GRAND
RE-OPENING
The opening of U.S. Bank Stadium was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...
until we got the chance to do it twice. Following a virtual 2020, I was tasked to lead the cross-functional committee to re-open U.S. Bank Stadium to fans in 2021.
Here's how we built a strategic event calendar, re-imagined the gameday experience,
and super-charged our team traditions to re-open the building after 636 days without fans.
VIRTUAL SEASON
Innovation during the 2020 Season
In a role designed to engage with live crowds, playing an entire season before an empty-stadium was a task our team never expected to encounter. But in every challenge is an opportunity.
We kicked off 2020 by leading the development of a virtual draft party- building cutting-edge technology integrations that won a regional Emmy award, and tripling our annual expected audience.
We leveraged that build into a "Pre-Game All-Access" show, letting our fans virtually into the building before each home game.
And we did our best to bring family, traditions, and a home-stadium edge to our players in a cavernous, empty stadium.
GRAND RE-OPENING COMMITTEE
Through 2021 off-season strategic sessions, the Vikings developed a key organizational priority for the upcoming season that would reverberate into every corner of the business: Welcome Back Our Fans.
I was selected by the Vikings COO to lead a committee on the Grand Re-Opening of the stadium. I would be tasked with building processes and leading collaboration across the company to develop plans that capitalized on the brand opportunities in this critical moment in franchise history.
Our first step: recruiting the team. We worked across departments to form a 14-member working group and
7-member executive committee to drive the process forward. Members of the committee reflected broad functions across the business, including Analytics, Events, Sales, Partnerships, Design, Social Impact, Finance, Public Relations,
Brand Activation, Guest Relations, and Game Presentation.
STRATEGY + PROCESS
I led the team through strategy and process, and collectively we drew up a vision for what a successful committee outcome would entail.
We built a phased approach to define our mission and KPI's, identify areas of opportunity based on informed research, and design integrated programs to best activate against those opportunities.
Ultimately, we earned consensus around a holistic strategy that re-imagined key elements of the gameday journey, and rolled up to Opening Day with a strategic event calendar intended to reach each of our target segments.
OPEN STADIUM PRACTICE
Leading up to Opening day, we targeted our first event to be accessible to the entire community. The Vikings held their first practice at U.S. Bank Stadium in team history, with attendance open to the public.
The event allowed an accessible touch point for families and lower-income fans, and allowed Covid-hesitant fans a chance to re-enter the building and familiarize with 2021 protocols outside the stress of gameday.
BUILD WEEK
We set a strategic target to impact positive brand sentiment throughout the broader community.
Teaming up with Habitat for Humanity, a Vikings group led by players, alumni, and executives constructed a new home for a Twin Cities family in the week leading up to the home opener.
Premiere Night offered suite holders, partners, and select season ticket members an experience that money couldn't buy. These guests first interaction with the stadium included a VIP reception in the stadium clubs, before a program which let them behind the curtain.
With Premiere Night, we invited our biggest partners to be the first to witness the 2021 Showtime sequence, watching as the gameday production team went through final dress rehearsals for Opening Day.
Season-ticket members held a special role, as we asked them to serve as stand-ins for the players running out of the team tunnel. To prep them for action, Vikings Legends John Randle and Scott Studwell met with them in the team locker room, giving them a pre-game speech and applying some of Randle's famous gameday eye black.
KICKOFF CONCERT
To give gameday a big game feel, we brought in country superstar Dustin Lynch for a free concert on the
stadium's front lawn in the lead-up to kickoff.
Fans with or without a game ticket were invited to attend, opening the gameday revelry to the entire community, and enhancing the gameday experience for ticketholders.
Fans filled the 10,000 capacity lawn, and we simulcasted the show onto the stadium's video boards to extend the party to those fans entering the stadium immediately as doors opened.
SHOWTIME
On average, 80% of fans in attendance at U.S. Bank Stadium on gameday are attending their only game of the season. Over 500,000 unique fans will experience a Vikings game in any given season.
Given these statistics, we sought to create a program that would impact each of these fans and create a draw for all of our fans to come back to a Vikings game. We rebuilt our entire pregame introduction sequence, re-imagining the story as a single, interconnected storyline, seamlessly weaving between mediums to surprise and delight the fans.
We commissioned a custom score from the Minnesota Orchestra, staged production shoots with current players and alumni, designed a custom Hollywood-grade camera rig, and drove unified support through the Grand Re-Opening committee for an infrastructure investment to make U.S. Bank Stadium snow indoors.
FUTURE IMPACTS
Results beyond the 2021 season
In addition to the programs implemented for the 2021 season,
the committee's work directed future planning for the Viking organization.
As a direct result of the committee's research and comprehensive proposal, millions of dollars in capital funds have been directed to permanent infrastructure updates to impact the stadium as soon as 2022. These still confidential projects will serve as an additional investment to improve the U.S. Bank Stadium fan experience for decades to come.
RESULTS
The Grand Re-Opening committee led a strategic and collaborative process to capitalize on the Marketing opportunities surrounding a Grand Re-Opening of the stadium.
Our work built programs greater than the sum of their parts, strategically met diverse fan personas where they needed us, set the organization up for continued impact into the future, and delivered against all of the KPI's set at the on-set of the project.
And through 10 home games in 2021, amidst all the ebbs and flows of Covid concerns, there was not a single unsold seat in the house.