Engaging Fans with ARCADE
The 6th Annual Awards
- Best Use of Gamification
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
Tradable Bits and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment created a fun, engaging way for sports teams and leagues to connect with fans dubbed “ARCADE.” The premiere season of ARCADE included 5 distinct casual, classic arcade style games designed to entertain all fans, from the casual fan to the super fans. The dynamic and engaging games proved to have a dwell time higher than industry averages as fans delved into snackable games Flickshot Frenzy, Face-off, High-Flyers, Pop-a-Shot, and T-Shirt Time. On the league side, ARCADE is quickly and easily customized by teams with skins available for Basketball, Football, Hockey, Soccer, and Australian Football. Most of all, ARCADE can be customized to include sponsor partner branding, thereby becoming a revenue generator by expanding teams’ inventory of saleable assets.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
Tradable Bits and MLSE created an engaging and fun environment for fans. By leaning into casual games that appeal to wide audiences of gamers and non-gamers, the ARCADE addressed fan appetite for quick, accessible entertainment. By integrating games with contests and sponsor-supported experiences, Tradable Bits and MLSE transformed fan interactions into more dynamic, entertaining, and engaging experiences.
Instead of brief engagements, messages and interaction points are layered throughout the gameplay experience, offering a more nuanced and dynamic interaction platform for fans, teams, and sponsors. Fans receive an engaging and immersive experience, which stands out in the competitive landscape of sports marketing, while sponsors gain access to an actively engaged fan base, increasing visibility and interaction opportunities. Simultaneously, teams acquire valuable digital inventories, enriching significant moments in the season.
Objective
Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment Digital Labs (MLSE) and Tradable Bits (TBits) aimed to:
- Build a pipeline for revenue generation within the sports industry plagued by limited inventory
- Create new avenues for fan engagement
Strategy & Execution
Strategic goals included:
- Broad Engagement through Play
- Increased Fan Interaction
- Data-driven Approach for Targeting Demographics
- Layered Messaging through Gameplay
- Holistic Impact on Sports Marketing and Stakeholder Value
The execution resulted in 5 ARCADE game types for Basketball, Football, Hockey, Soccer and Australian Football, including:
- Flickshot Frenzy
- Flickshot FrenzyFace-off
- Flickshot FrenzyHigh-Flyerz
- Flickshot FrenzyPop-a-Shot
- Flickshot FrenzyT-Shirt Time
Tradable Bits and MLSE launched 40+ games with commercial partners as part of the kickoff phase of ARCADE and worked with each sponsor to connect ARCADE to their products and wider marketing initiatives so games provide engagement as well as sales results. One such example was the transformation of “we-win, you-win rewards” for fans in the venue that extended digitally to engage at-home fans. In this scenario, a wider breadth of fans were able to reap the rewards of commercial partners through their scores in ARCADE itself, while driving more redemption of sponsored offers.
ARCADE started as the cornerstone to retaining engagement and monetization during COVID, when live events shuttered. Since then, ARCADE has transformed into a major sponsorship asset through the use of gamified content.
Organizations
- Tradable Bits
- Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE)
Links
Credits
Jim O'Mara
Director, Digital Experiences
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Daniel Houseley
Product Lead
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Nic Bradford
Lead Designer, Digital Experiences
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Eric Dickinson
Digital Project Manager
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Danny Tran
Lead Developer
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Chidozie Ikpe
Game Developer
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Fahad Edward
Game Developer
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Becky Wu
Game Artist
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Carmen Yuen
Game Artist
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Ruqian Da
Game Artist
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Jenna Furigay
Web & Platform Specialist
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Samuel Ross
Sports Strategy Lead
Tradable Bits
Selena Neumark
Product Lead
Tradable Bits
Tim Mullaly
General Manager APAC
Tradable Bits
Lenny Goh
VP Partnerships
Tradable Bits
Dmitry Khrisanov
CTO
Tradable Bits
Darshan Kaler
CEO
Tradable Bits
Alicia Taggio
Director of Customer Success
Tradable Bits
Derrick Matthews
Game Artist
MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment)
Noah Meadows
Software Engineer
Tradable Bits
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
