The Predators Celebrate Halloween With JibJab

Are you looking to create new, captivating video board vignettes? Are you looking for ways to create holiday-specific fan entertainment?

The Nashville Predators recently celebrated their Halloween matchup against the Dallas Stars by featuring a creative JibJab vignette on the jumbotron during the game. The clip centered around a Monster Mash thematic with the faces of Predator players incorporated into the mix. The clip proved to be a huge hit with fans and was later featured on the team's Facebook page for all to enjoy.

Check it out below:

Teams Strike Gold with Crossbar Challenges...

Are you looking for new ways to entertain fans at halftime? Are you looking to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for one lucky fan?

Sports organizations should consider offering more promotions that put the skills of fans to the test. This practice, seen commonly overseas in the rugby and football circuits, serves as a great way to engage all fans in attendance during halftime festivities and also provides sponsors a chance to capitalize on aligning with a memorable in-game moment.

While most organizations commonly implement halftime entertainment that tasks fans with scoring to win, most should consider ways to alter these type of promotions to challenge fans in unique ways: 

• Football - Challenge one (1) select fan with hitting the field goal posts/crossbar
• Hockey - Challenge one (1) select fan with trying to hit the post (instead of scoring)
• Soccer - Challenge fans with hitting the crossbar (instead of scoring)
• Rugby - Challenge fans with hitting the crossbar
• Basketball - Challenge fans with banking a shot in off the glass

Here are two (2) great examples of Crossbar Challenges serving as a highlight at games played overseas:

Rugby

During a recent English rugby match, one lucky fan took home 250,000 euros after successfully hitting the crossbar with a punt (while not wearing shows) during a halftime Crossbar Challenge event. The winner, rugby fan Stuart Tanner, became an instant household name after coverage of the promotion was picked up by several major media outlets. See the stunt below:

Soccer

EPL club Stoke City recently held a halftime Crossbar Challenge at Britannia Stadium featuring a collection of team mascots and boxers Ricky Hatton and Scott Lawton. One contestant electrified the crowd by hitting the crossbar. 

The Crossbar Challenge also serves as a tremendous feature to include in media broadcasts of soccer matches (as seen by the Leyton Orient team challenge below):

The Seahawks Host a Dachshund Dash at Halftime

Are you looking to offer unique forms of halftime entertainment? Are you looking for new ways to support local dog shelters and charitable organizations?

When the Seattle Seahawks hosted the Detroit Lions at Qwest Field on November 8th, the team called in some extra assistance with their halftime entertainment. The Seahawks hosted the 3rd annual dachshund dash (commonly referred to as a weiner dog race) from the 50-yard line to the end zone. The races, benefiting Dachshund Rescues, featured two heats and a post-race awards ceremony with custom-made trophies.

The sold-out crowd of 67,000+ fans found the unique race to be quite amusing. Check it out below:

Barclays Lets EPL Fans Take Home The Trophy

Are you looking for a new way to showcase your team/leagues' trophy hardware? Are you looking to create a national promotion that appeals to sports fans everywhere?

As the title sponsor of the English Premier League, Barclays has effectively positioned itself as one of the largest stakeholders in soccer around the globe. The major global financial services provider will only strengthen its positioning with its newest promotion, "Barclays Home Win". 

Barclays' Home Win promotion will enable twenty (20) fans around the globe to win the chance to take the Barclays Premier League trophy home for a day. All consumers have to do for a chance to win the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is log on to http://www.barclayshomewin.com and submit their name, country, telephone, email, and favorite EPL club. The offer serves as a way for Barclays to celebrate the extension of its league title sponsorship until 2013.

All winners will be provided the opportunity to have the Barclays EPL Trophy in a controlled environment (e.g. school, work, or home) between 10am-4pm on a designated weekday. Two (2) security personnel will accompany the trophy and will control any touching of the trophy (in other words, you can have it, but you can't do anything you want with it). Consumers can submit as many entries as they would like until the promotion expires December 11th.

Check it out below:

NASCAR Lets Fans Tweet Their Way to Vegas

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Are you looking for new ways to leverage Twitter? Are you looking to create new promotional offers using social media platforms?

NASCAR recently announced that it will offer a "Tweet2Vegas" sweepstakes that will enable fans the chance to win a trip to Las Vegas to attend the NASCAR After the Lap session Dec. 2-5. 

For a chance to win, fans must correctly answer questions posted on NASCAR's Twitter page each day between November 9-15. NASCAR will post a question to all of its followers at 3pm EST each day and fans must then respond with the correct answer and list their first and last name, phone number, city, and state to tweet2vegas@nascar.com. Contestants are only able to submit one question response each day.  

NASCAR will provide the winner with a trip for two that includes round-trip airfare, 3-night hotel accomodations, and ground transportation to and from the hotel. The NASCAR After the Lap session (presented by Tissot) includes interview sessions with each of the top drivers in the Chase at the Hollywood Theatre in Last Vegas.

Here is how NASCAR (@NASCAR) has promoted the offer thus far on Twitter:

The Pace Car Arrived in Style at the Dickies 500

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Ron T. EnnisAre you looking for new ways to showcase the arrival of an important asset at a NASCAR event? Are you loking for ways to distinguish your track/event from others?

Fans attending the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway were treated to one of the greatest pre-race highlights in NASCAR history on Sunday. Shortly before the race, track representatives called on a Chinook helicopter to land on the track and personally deliver the official Chevy Camaro pace car for the race.

The Marine who piloted the Chinook helicopter, Col. Doug Hurley, was rewarded with the opportunity to drive the pace car around the track. Texas Motor Speedway followed the pace car grand entrance with a special "Start Your Engines" call from ZZ Top.

Source: Yahoo! Sports

The Gophers Turn to the Ghostbusters on Halloween

Are you looking for new ways to drive fan excitment at your team's games played on holidays? Are you looking for creative ways to support Halloween halftime festivities?

The University of Minnesota Athletic Department recently did a great job calling in the Ghostbusters to help bring their halftime entertainment to life on Halloween. After the University's marching band finished performing Michael Jackson's hit song "Thriller", the Gophers called on their mascot, Goldy, and a team of Ghostbusters to take care of a ghostly Michigan State fan in the end zone.

Check out the University of Minnesota's halftime entertainment below:

On a related note, UConn featured a costume parade for young fans at halftime of their game played on Halloween at Rentschler Field:

Disney and Lady Foot Locker Offer an Ultimate Race Weekend

Are you looking to create an enticing promotion targeting female consumers? Are you looking for new ways to stimulate interest in the running space?

Disney recently teamed up with Lady Foot Locker to create a "Run Like a Princess" sweepstakes that is driving some buzz in the running space. During the month of November, consumers have the chance to log on to http://www.LadyFootLocker.com and register to win (up to once per day) an enticing Grand Prize promotional package that includes:

• Round trip airfare for (2) to Orlando, FL
• (3) night hotel accomodations at a Walt Disney World Resort
• $750 in Lady Foot Locker gear
• A $275 spa package to a Walt Disney World Resort spa
• (2) race entries to be used at any (1) of (3) races
• VIP starting line position, post-event party, etc.

The promotion serves as a great way for Disney and Lady Foot Locker to target female consumers and drive incremental awareness for Disney's Princess 1/2 Marathon Weekend Presented by Lady Foot Locker, which takes place March 5-7, 2010. To drive interest, the collaborating parties came up with a pretty creative tagline - "You've Always Wanted to Be a Princess. Here's Your Chance to Run Like One" and are also offering (50) First Place $100 Lady Foot Locker Gift Card prizes.

Check out a clip detailing the 2009 Disney's Princess Half Marathon event:

A special thanks to Mike Rodriguez for his insights and contributions to this column. 

Coors Light Offers the Race to Refreshment

Are you looking for ways to leverage a beverage company around an endurance-related event? Are you looking for new ways to integrate alcoholic beverage companies?

Coors Light is capitalizing on the buzz around the 2009 ING New York City Marathon by partnering with the New York Road Runners to offer a creative "Race to Refreshment" promotion for NYC residents and visiters to enjoy. The promotion enables consumers who stop in ten (10) participating establishments across the NYC boroughs to receive a commemorative medal for finishing.

At each stop, participants must collect two (2) official Race to Refreshment stickers from each of the five (5) boroughs and securely place them on an official pamphlet. Once all ten (10) stickers have been received, consumers are asked to mail the form to a stated address and allow 12-14 weeks for the delivery of their exclusive medal. Coors Light distributors and participating locations will run the promotion from September 15th through November 8th.

As the Official Beer Sponsor of the ING New York City Marathon, Coors Light will also offer "refreshment as cold as the Rockies" to race participants and fans at post-race parties across Manhattan and provide beer for official hospitality events leading up to the race on November 1st.

Check out the promotional pamphlet information below:

Jelena Jankovic and Wrigley's Set a Smiles Record

Are you looking for new ways to leverage athlete endorsers? Are you looking to create an innovative promotional campaign that effectively engages consumers?

Tennis star Jelena Jankovic teamed up with Wrigley's Orbitz chewing gum to create a unique promotion in an effort to earn a berth in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The promotion asked tennis fans around the globe to submit a picture of their trademark smile for a chance to win a trip for two (2) to the Pyramisa Blue Lagoon resort in Egypt. Consumers responded to the call-to-action by submitting 137,264 photos for the promotion (80,000 of which were collected by Orbitz' "Smiling Patrols" field ambassador teams). The promotional site featured thousands of submitted pictures, so consumers could check out their pictures and share them with friends. 

Between March 1st and September 20th, all of the photos that consumers submitted were gathered and placed into a giant mosiac of a smile, measuring 930 square meters, inside Belgrade Arena. The collaborative effort to create the world's largest smiles mosaic helped Wrigley, Jankovic, and her native country of Serbia earn a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. 

Check out some pictures of the final mosaic below (pulled from the promotional website):

Beginning in March, Orbitz used a television commercial starring Jankovic to entice consumers to take part in the promotion. Jankovic, known for her trademark smile, was chosen as an Orbitz brand ambassador in Spring 2009. Check out her Orbitz advert (and behind-the-scenes footage) below: