AHL Names 80s Night Most Unique Ticket Sales Promotion or Theme Night
The league selected San Diego's theme night, which included specialty jerseys, a themed giveaway item and new branding pieces throughout the team's digital efforts
Jun 18, 2020The American Hockey League today awarded the San Diego Gulls the title of Most Unique Ticket Sales Promotion or Theme Night for the organization's 80s Night, held Jan. 11, 2020 vs. the Ontario Reign at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
80s Night - a new theme debuted during the 2019-20 season that saw the Gulls rebrand themselves completely for one evening - kicked off with an 80s-themed pre-game tailgate in the arena parking lot consisting of themed music, photo opportunities with a Delorean car from “Back to the Future” and other activities for fans of all ages.
Upon entry to the arena, all fans in attendance received a free Fanny Pack presented by Cal Coast Credit Union. The design of the fanny packs mimicked the look of the player uniforms and themed merchandise with blue, pink and purple accents. Fanny packs were a huge hit with the fans, distributing over 9,000 items on ingress. Fans continued to sport their fanny packs in public and wore them back to the arena for subsequent Gulls games.
The in-game presentation completely changed to fit the theme, featuring retro music, videoboard features and fan contests. The team sported specialty uniforms with bright blue, pink and purple accents, auctioning them during the game and online through DASH, with all proceeds benefitting the San Diego Gulls Foundation. In addition, fans purchased 80s-themed merchandise including t-shirts, hats and jerseys on the concourse during the game and on the Gulls Online shop, generating more than $37k in merchandise revenue.
Through the team's paid advertising campaign, its 80s-themed graphics recorded over one-million impressions on digital and mobile platforms. The 10-day digital advertising flight outperformed all previous flights, generating more than two-times the average direct ticket sales for all paid ads.