Helping the Jets make a splash across the pond
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Wanting to grow American Football globally, the New York Jets teamed up with SPORTFIVE in 2021 to bid for the United Kingdom as their key international market and “second home” through the NFL’s International Home Marketing Area (IHMA) initiative.
Continuing the collaboration, the Jets’ appointed SPORTFIVE as the team’s in-market partner agency.
Leveraging the Jets’ strong brand and traditions, SPORTFIVE supports the New York Jets to grow their fanbase, brand and commercial revenues in the UK through a number of marketing initiatives, including social and digital media, events, content creation and strategic partnerships.
The Challenge
In 2021, the NFL founded the ‘International Home Marketing Areas’ initiative. The initiative grants clubs access to international territories for marketing, fan engagement and commercialisation as part of a long-term, strategic effort to enable clubs to build their global brands while driving NFL fan growth internationally.
The announcement saw the New York Jets team up with SPORTFIVE to prepare a bid for the UK market. Following the successful bid, the Jets appointed SPORTFIVE as their in-market partner agency, with the long-term aim of developing the team’s fanbase, brand and commercial revenue in the UK.
Our Solution
Through a dedicated team, fully integrated into our global agency structure, SPORTFIVE developed a UK-adapted, go-to-market strategy centred around four key marketing functions; strategic partnerships, social media, events and digital media.
Teaming up with strategic and commercial partners such as Sky Sports, TalkSPORT and Charles Tyrwhitt; SPORTFIVE activated the New York Jets brand to engage with partners who have a strong history and connection with the target audience.
In addition to partnering with key UK stakeholders, SPORTFIVE have helped the NFL side to develop and maintain a strong connection with their UK fans, through creating and managing fan-engagement channels.
Dedicated Twitter and Instagram channels, as well as a Digital Hub and Podcast were launched specifically for UK fans, providing key platforms to tailor content to the target audience. As well as ensuring a strong digital presence, SPORTFIVE have also worked with the Jets to deliver a number of in-person events, including the first-ever live UK draft pick, from the tallest building in London, The Shard.
The Results
Putting UK fans at the heart of the marketing strategy has yielded strong results for the New York Jets brand ‘across the pond’.
The launch of the club’s UK-dedicated social media platforms has seen remarkable numbers, with the Jets’ channels having a higher engagement rate than all other UK IHMA teams combined, in 2022.
Operating as a hub for all things New York Jets in the UK, the dedicated Digital Hub website has over 120,000 page views and an engagement rate of 88% - providing the perfect platform for fans to meaningfully connect with their team.
Strong social presence forges fandom for life
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Impressions across all UK social media channels
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UK fans across Twitter and Instagram
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Higher engagement rate than the next best NFL IHMA account
Market-specific content forges fandom for life
Choosing the future's brightest stars at London's tallest building
The NFL Draft is an integral part of the annual American Football calendar, with teams from across the league getting the opportunity to choose from the next generation of stars in the hope of competing for glory in the coming season.
The historic event has occurred annually since 1936 and plays a big part in teams' hopes for a successful season.
In 2022, SPORTFIVE worked with the New York Jets to announce their draft pick from the tallest building in London, The Shard. Former New York Jets center, Nick Mangold made the announcement from the 72nd floor of the iconic building.
New York Jets stars x The English Premier League
Wanting to connect with UK fans through targeted and specific content, SPORTFIVE and the New York Jets have launched a dedicated UK content strategy driven by a team of experienced and in-the-know social media experts.
As the UK’s most watched sports league, The English Premier League is an excellent showcase example to learn from for any sports league in the world. Regular NFL fixtures in the UK have rapidly grown interest in American Football amongst UK fans, including many fans of the Premier League.
Content which taps into this growing connection has been strongly welcomed across Jets’ social channels, with fans of both leagues finding the cross-sport collaboration to be fun and engaging.
Connecting with the fans of the future
As important as it is to connect with the Jets’ existing fanbase in the UK, it’s also key to look to the future.
Through visiting and engaging with local youths in London, the club are looking to build on the NFL’s growing presence in the UK and ensure that the club can provide a meaningful connection with young fans.
Authentic fan-experiences like the NFL flag football practice session held at Ealing Primary School are a key part of raising awareness for American Football in the UK and giving you fans an opportunity to interact with club stars.
Draft watch-party in London
As well as engaging with fans at schools and across social media, SPORTFIVE and the New York Jets have teamed up to ensure that fans across the pond get to take part in a real football fan experience.
Hosting a series of get-togethers for Jets’ fans in the UK, the club works with their dedicated fan-base to ensure that no-matter how far away they are from the stadium, every fan can have that amazing match-day experience.
For the 2022 NFL draft pick, the team organised a dedicated watch-party in central London, allowing all UK fans to come together and enjoy the show with Jets’ legend Nick Mangold.
