WASHINGTON- Jump shots, drives to the hoop and three-point shots are not the only things fans will experience on a summer night during WNBA Mystics game.
The Washington franchise is offering more than a mere basketball game. To gain more exposure, the team is pushing an entertainment platform for its fans by promoting an intimate fan and player experience and providing social media applications.
“It’s a different strategy going after the summer. It’s a bit of a different clientele, more entertainment base, not as much win loss base,” said Joe Dupriest, chief marketing officer of Monumental Sports. “Big emphasis on social media and really getting the players out there and really showing the personalities.”
In the 16th season in Washington, the Mystics are used to the ebbs and flows of ticket sales and viewership on television. As one of the WNBA’s first expansion teams, the Mystics joined an elite league and potentially major market for professional sports.
The average number of viewers during the 2012 WNBA season was 180,000 viewers, with average attendance at arenas of 7,457 fans, according to an article in Sports Business Journal. The Mystics stand in the middle of the road on ticket sales and average about 7,000 fans per game at the Verizon Center.
“D.C. is really tough market, you’re competing with free museums… the Nationals in the summer, and women’s basketball doesn’t have the traditional basketball league fan,” Dupriest said.
In order to draw fans, the Mystics created the Kiswe Mobile application — the first professional team live-streaming games for free. With a simple swipe, fans can view every camera angle of a game, see instant replay, and box scores. Fans can also download the mobile Mystics app to keep up with game stats and latest news.
For the Mystics the entertainment and social media platform are cost-efficient moves. It comes down to free marketing. “Really accessible behind the scene photos and vines showcase the player’s personalities in a free way,” Dupriest said. “The model use to be to bring people to the website. But now everyone is in social media so we are going there.”
The franchise attributes its success to the personality of its players. After acquiring two NCAA national champion college players in the 2014 draft, the Mystics have continually pushed the personalities of the players to promote the team.
For former University of Connecticut standout Stefanie Dolson, it’s about getting the Washington community involved.
“We want any music that will appeal to this community and D.C. in general. Music that I enjoy when we warm up… just get the fans ready to have fun,” Dolson said.
Mystics point-guard Bria Hartley says player interaction with fans is important for not only the Mystics franchise but for the WNBA league as well. “Tweeting about our games and informing everyone really helps,” Hartley said. “We have a lot of great players coming out of college that are helping the game grow.”
Television avenues have also helped boost accessibility. In the spring of 2013 ESPN extended its television contract with the WNBA until 2022. The contract is worth $12 million (or $1 million per team.)
An edition of Sports Business Daily in 2013, reported that since the ESPN extended the league’s contract extension, viewership has increased 28 percent to an average of 231,000 viewers.
Viewers can even catch more Mystics action on the Monumental Sports Network where fans can watch live streams of the games from their mobile devices. “But overall we are trying to get the franchise to hit every customer’s touch point,” Dupriest said.
The Mystic are currently (14-15) and second in the Eastern Conference. The team will go on the road for the last leg of its season and will match up against the Indiana Fever for Breast Health Awareness Night on Friday in Indianapolis.
Click below to check out what two of the Mystics players think about social media and the future of the WNBA:
WNBA CLIP from Medill Washington on Vimeo.