2. Mission Statement
With the world quickly shifting to a digital future, new ways of monetization and entertainment open.
With the success of NFT (non-fungible-tokens) and the recent news of metaverses, this marketing plan
and strategy will help Orlando City SC to engage with its fans and open a digital door to new ones.
Supported by detailed research, we dive deep into the club's fans and why this new business and
marketing strategy can not only lead the way for other clubs and sports in its industry but its immense
monetization benefit. Furthermore, we discuss the club's marketing strategy and present the different
strengths of a new partnership with the tech company Mango Soft Inc.
Target Customers
Soccer is one of the biggest and most popular sports globally. It is the number one sport for many
countries, but not in the U.S. Here, it competes with MLB, NBA., P.G.A. Tour, and the N.F.L., to name a
few. Other sports take most of the attention and preference in the sports industry's when it comes to
the calendar, budgets, and broadcast licenses agreements. Yet, soccer and the M.L.S. have managed to
captivate their fan base and strongly expand from there. According to the Nielsen report, interest in
Major League Soccer had grown 40% in specific markets (Nielsen, 2019), Orlando, Florida, showing to be
one of them.
The M.L.S. fan demographic reveals a great diversity in the sport. A Nielsen report from 2017 shows that
38% of men and 26% of women are either "interested" or "very interested" in the sport (Pallien, 2019).
From this data, we can also obtain details of the very young fanbase that follows the sport. The
information supports that the league is most prevalent between ages 16-34, with over 50% of the
results. The older generation, from 55 -69, showed lower than 15% interest in the sport. Many in the
3. industry have celebrated its young demographic group. It has assisted the sport's and the league's
growth online on its many social media platforms, with teams like Atlanta United F.C. having more than
a million followers on Twitter.
One could also notice its diversity with its two largest fan groups. Statista indicates that Hispanics (33%)
and African Americans (26%) are the most interested in the league. In comparison, White and Other
(28%) ethnicities (19%) show less interest (Gough, 2020). Furthermore, with the growth of the Hispanic
population in different states, it comes as no surprise in the reception some M.L.S. teams are receiving.
For example, in 2020, Orlando City played Inter Miami C.F. in the M.L.S. is Back Tournament match
became the second most-viewed M.L.S. match with 492,000 viewers (Nwulu, 2020).
Many think that the increase in popularity of both the sport and the league has been thanks to the
following:
1. Growing Latino/Hispanic population in the U.S.
2. The men's national team qualifiers and the continuous success of the USWST.
3. The success of FIFA video games.
As a result of its popularity, the league broke a record in average attendance. Atlanta United F.C. saw
52.5 thousand spectators' attendances in their 2019 season, which is now considered the highest in the
league. Other teams like Seattle Sounders F.C., Cincinnati F.C., and the Portland Timbers also improve
their average attendance in the 2019 season. Orlando City SC was ranked 7th in the most attendance for
the 2019 campaign. (Soccer Stadium Digest, n.d)
4. The obtained data from the 2019 U.S. Census shows that Florida has a population of about 815,000
Hispanics and a little more than 518,000 black or African Americans between the age groups of 16-
34 (U.S. Census 2019). Therefore, following the data shown in the Nielsen report, these two groups
would be most likely to enjoy, watch, and follow the team on its different social media platforms.
SWOT Analysis
o Strengths
Youth Soccer Network: The project aims to expand the club's pool of talented young players, specifically
in Orlando. In addition, the purpose of the program is to bring the community and the club closer than
ever. It is stated that "By joining the Orlando City Youth Soccer Network (OCYSN), member organizations
will receive exclusive access to the club's technical curriculum and methodology, youth development
practices of City, and as a perk of being under the club's developmental pyramid, the opportunities to be
seen by the club's technical and scouting staff."
o Weaknesses
League’s Salary Cap: For 2019, Major League Soccer salary cap was set at $4.24 million per team.
As a result, the club must spread its salary budget across a minimum of 18 players and a
maximum of 20 players. The investor-operators decide the individual players' salaries, but no
individual can earn more than $530,000 per year. Compared to the NBA, the Salary Cap is
at $112.414 million; the salary cap is the total limit the clubs can spend on all players' salaries
and benefits.
5. This large discrepancy between the two sports salary caps certainly doesn't help the MLS to
grow, sign more than one or two world-class players, and most important, does not give MLS
clubs the chance to keep young and growing talent in its league. As a result, young local players
use it as a gateway to go to other countries and other leagues where they get better paid and
can play with other world-class talents.
o Opportunities
Hosting Venue: Exploria Stadium hosted the 2021 Concacaf: Alongside nine other stadiums, Exploria
Stadium, home to Orlando City Sc and Orlando Pride, became the host venue for the 2021 Gold Cup. The
addition of the Exploria stadium makes Orlando, once again, a destination point for not only fans of the
theme park but also now fans of the sport. Its also an excellent opportunity to prepare the community
for the world-famous FIFA World Cup who will be playing their 2026 tournament between the US,
Canada & Mexico, with Orlando being one of the host cities.
o Threats
Other Sports: (I.e., NBA) For competitors, Orlando City SC and other M.L.S. teams compete within the
industry. The NBA. is considered one of the most popular sports in the U.S.; some groups and families in
Florida may have the opportunity to either go and see an NBA Orlando Magic match or an M.L.S.
Orlando City SC match. When comparing both teams' average rate of attendance Orlando City F.C.
shows a higher average with 22,761 versus 17,092 attendees. Yet, when looking at the total season
attendance, Orlando Magic shows an overall higher attendee total with 529,870 (Gough, 2019) for the
2019 season versus 386,940 (Soccer Stadium Digest, n.d) for the Orlando City SC.
6. Unique Selling Proposition
With a fanbase worldwide, soccer offers excellent marketing potential. Many businesses use
soccer's worldwide reach to communicate and market messages to diverse audiences between
events and televised games. The tourism industry spent $1.4 billion on soccer sponsorships
across the top six leagues - Germany, U.S., Italy, Netherlands, U.K., and the United Arab
Emirates.- between 2008 and 2017. (Pallien, 2019) With the league's and the team's audience
growing year over year, many opportunities for sponsorships and partnerships arise; this is more
the case for a competitive, successful, and known team in any of these leagues. Having the teams
reach further in tournaments or cup finals makes them more attractive for business propositions
and possible sponsorship deals. This is the case for both club and league as it helps fund the team
and possibly make additional signings, which would help increase brand awareness. Orlando
City SC, at this moment, is 6th in its conference league and has made the M.L.S. Playoffs,
making them title contenders for the 2020-21 M.L.S. season.
With marketing in soccer going further than billboards, jerseys, and sporting events, famous
soccer players tend to have an incredible reach to their fans through social media, allowing them
to be marketing influencers in a way. Most recently, before he departed from the league, Zlatan
Ibrahimović was this top player that, with just his name in the league, it gave the MLS exposure
to millions across the world. And although some clubs concentrate on signing top players like
Zlatan, Orlando City SC's approach to its team roster is different and centered on younger and
diverse talent. However, that is not to say superstars have not joined the team. For example,
Ballon D' Oro winner Ricardo Kaka was once an Orlando FC Player in top teams like Real
Madrid and AC Milan after his career. Still, after he retired from football, the team has now
7. concentrated and changed its focus on showcasing entertaining football, more strategic with its
roster of players from the likes of Nani, Ruan, and others. Despite not having the marketing
reach of someone like Zlatan or Kaka, the Orlando City SC fanbase has grown due to their
positive results in league matches and tournaments and its very young fanbase. With the hopes of
increasing the teams and the players' brand and allowing them to be marketing influencers for the
team and its partners.
Pricing & Positioning Strategy
Orlando City F.C. provides different ticket packages to its fans and supporters. These options extend
from a single game ticket, group tickets, premium settings, and season tickets. It also provides a
discount rate for students through a student pass and a membership that offers additional discounts
and benefits. Season tickets range from $236 to $2,970, as to where a single match ticket at $25 can go
as up as $200. As the pandemic has impacted most, if not all, outside activities, prices have very due to
lower attendance numbers than other seasons. For comparison, in the N.B.A. season 2019-20, the
Orlando Magic Single-game goes for an average ticket price of $60 (pp). They also offer $599 for their
"Fast Break" Season Pass offered to Florida residents. They also offer a Season Ticket starting at $899
offer to all and with some additional benefits. The soccer club offers great competitive pricing when
compared to other competitive sports in the state.
8. Distribution Plan
As league partners, Fanatics, the American online retailer of licensed sportswear, sports equipment, and
merchandise. The company runs and manages all MLS merchandise from shirts, shin guards, pants,
training equipment, and more. It's through here where fans worldwide can go online, purchase, and
support their favorite MLS teams. In addition, The Den, the official Orlando City SC merchandise store
located in the Exploria Stadium (2018, March 2) Orlando City SC., the home stadium for the OCSC, is
sponsored by Fanatics, although its run and managed by club employees.
Moreover, most of the ticket sales are run and managed through Ticketmaster, another third-party
agency. One can purchase single-match tickets through this entity, whereas group tickets, suites, and
other add-ons are run directly by the football club sales department.
Offers
Through the Lions Nation mobile app, available through android and the IOS store, premium
members can live-stream all local matches while also participating in exclusive offers that
includes a points and rewards system for all their purchases. Including tickets, food & beverages,
and merchandise. Premium members also receive a 10% discount on F&B, merchandise in the
stadium (The Den), or also online through MLSStore.com. To participate, one only needs to
download the app to your phone and register with your email and personal information.
Furthermore, one can gain access to once-in-a-lifetime experiences and exclusive events, enjoy
access to discounted tickets, receive complimentary Orlando Pride tickets, and get priority access
to ticket presales. (Orlando City SC ,2021)
9. Marketing Materials
As discussed in the Find Some & Win More article (FindSome&WinSome, 2016) OCSC's marketing
success starts with efforts like the Orlando City Foundation, which promotes health and wellness in
children, frequent public appearances, meet and greets, and general handshaking around the town.
Everyone from upper management to the team's stars is genuinely grateful to the fans and the Orlando
community. Moreover, Orlando City Soccer Club flat-out owns purple in Central Florida. In an almost
Pavlovian sense, the moment anyone even remotely familiar with the team sees the royal hues of an
Orlando City Lions scarf or banner hoisted overhead. They think Orlando City Soccer Club even before
seeing the crest or reading the name. This team truly stands out in their market with a bold color choice,
a feat so many brands struggle to achieve.
Figure 1 Orlando City SC #Purple Ad
10. Promotion Strategy
The soccer club's marketing strategy will consist of a push and pulls concept, where its push is self-
driven and prioritizes sales. This can be for both tickets, season tickets or single-game tickets, or the
team merchandise. On the other hand, the pull promotional strategy is more geared towards
advertising, including social media, internet videos, outbound calls, and email marketing. These
strategies aim to reach out to people, show what is offered, and then convert into customers and,
through the experience, repeat customers.
Online Marketing Strategy
Nowadays, with the impact of social media and its reach, everybody with their smartphones tries to keep up with
their feeds. Consequently, social media is an essential, if not the most important, tool for a marketer. Today the
live video has become a gateway for sports content. In Orlando City SC, we use the top 4 social apps: Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. We share and broadcast both live videos and short clips of everything Orlando
City SC and its players through these. We also have the club's YouTube Channel for more fan-related content,
where we offer a more in-depth dive into the players, staff, club history, and match recaps. All our applications and
services allow us to connect directly with fans worldwide. These allow us to share original content and exclusive
content from our partners with over a 1.5million followers between all services.
Perception plays another vital role in a sports franchise's success, especially now in the digital age. Mass surveys,
benchmark polls, entrance, and exit polls, tracking polls, and focus groups are available to measure it. A much
faster approach uses media monitoring tools to gather data analytics on hashtags, users, mentions, likes, and
more.
11. Figure 2 Brand 24- #VamosOrlando Data Analytics (Oct 14- Nov 14)
The obtained data from Brand24 helps create a clearer picture of the club's perception of its fans and others.
Utilizing the supporting data, the club's 156 mentions of #VamosOrlando generated almost 3k different
interactions in 30 days and reached more than 1.2 million accounts. We can also obtain from the image (Figure 1)
the positives vs. negative interactions. Although the positive interaction(mentions) surpasses the negatives, the
club should generate more social media content to create a more massive, impactful online presence with its fans
and followers worldwide. Doing so would not only benefit the club but could also be used to attract more
partnerships.
Conversion Strategy
Interaction with fans is no longer limited to the arena or day of the event. We now have unlimited ways
to reach out, interact, and gather more data through digital interaction than ever before. These social
spaces provide the necessary measuring and messaging tools to reach, discuss and convert new fans.
Examples of these tools are:
12. o Email subscriptions
o Facebook groups
o Twitter Direct Messages
o Newsletter sign-ups
o New followers on social media
Joint Ventures & Partnerships
The OCSC has a diverse list of partners and sponsors. These include Orlando Health, Exploria Resort,
Walt Disney World, Fairwinds, Ford, Ticketmaster, Heineken, and Publix. Relationships with these brands
and businesses are essential as they are aligned with their fan demographic, specifically their local fans.
The addition of the tech company Mango Soft, already known for its app development of OCSC and
Orlando Pride, Lion Nations App where fans can obtain a player profile, chants, the schedule, standing,
even Livestream matches from their smartphone, would be a great addition to the list of official
partners. With fan interaction now primarily shifting to the digital space, including social media, mobile
applications, or Augmented reality, and working alongside the stadium and match experience, this new
partnership would help create new and exciting experiences while staying competitive in the sports
industry. Referral Strategy
13. Strategy for Increasing Transaction Prices
Like prior seasons, ticket prices will vary on league table standing, performance, and sales stadium
quota. As per the new addition of Digital art NFTs and/or digital merchandise that will be available
through meta, prices will also vary based on NFT's quantity and demand.
For example, MLS first NFTs Secret Walls NFT (2021, MLSsoccer Staff) merged soccer and street-art
culture together, representing MLS's first step in the NFT space. The tokens ranged from $96 to up to
$5,000 per token.
With such fluctuation in prices, as these prices are either set by the creator or league or can be given to
the highest bidder, it will be best to coordinate on a case-by-case basis.
Retention Strategy
Our campaign will continue the retention strategy featured in our prior seasons. This includes a
continuous push to the points and rewards system offered through the Lions Nations App. Through this
strategy, fans earn points for purchasing tickets and attending games and by opening the app,
participating in quizzes, purchasing F&B in the stadium, and more.
Taking into consideration our two new concepts, NFTs and the club's Metaverse. We would implement
the points and rewards into these concepts to increase retention and fan engagement with the club.
Furthermore, we could include specific NFTs to be gifted to annual season ticket holders, further
encouraging some packages versus others.
14. Budget (Breakdown)
Budget Narrative:
Banner ads:
When looking to generate around 4,000 impressions a day for each quarter, $700 will help us
generate around 350,000 per quarter.
"Banner ad cost is characteristically calculated according to its "number of impressions," with
one impression equivalent to a single page view by a web user. Rates can go as low as 50 cents
per one thousand impressions (CPM)." (Digital Information World, 2017)
15. Local SEO:
For our year-long campaign, our local search engine optimization budget will spend the most in
its second and third quarters, hence its larger budget in these. For its first and last quarter, we aim
to see the products/campaign's organic reach.
"The actual cost of local SEO starts at $400 per month but can be as much as $4,000 per month,
per business location. There is less locally optimized content produced at the lower end of the
investment, and fewer backlinks and signals generated." (Foxxr Digital Marketing, 2021)
Influencer:
Julie Poe was an Orlando Sentinel Soccer Beat Writer; she connected with Orlando City SC and
Pride fans through social media and her Orlando Sentinel columns and articles. She also
managed to host Twitter Space, where she connected with hundreds of fans live and spoke about
the changes of the club and the fan's feedback.
She, or someone with her quality and experience, will be an excellent choice as the campaign's
influencer, as her charisma and her knowledge and experience with the club is vital.
Julia Poe, https://twitter.com/byjuliapoe
16. Newsletter:
We will continue with the club's original newsletter strategy. We will add the campaign's new
content to any ongoing newsletter.
"The average price of a paid newsletter is $11 a month, but prices vary from $5 a month on the
low end to high-value newsletter charging $49 a month."
Press Release:
"PR Newswire will charge you $350 to $8700, depending on the scope of the distribution. These
prices are for the standard 400-word press release. Every extra 100 words will be priced
additionally, starting at $140 and going up to even $2200 ($22 per word!). Distributing your
press release locally or to most states will cost $350. Targeting your top markets or regionally
will bring the price up to $575 and sending your press release nationally will cost around $805."
(Prowly, n.d)
Client Events:
"Event planners often plan parties to celebrate special events, such as graduations, birthdays,
anniversaries or the arrival of a baby. The type of party can impact the cost of the event. For
example, a marriage proposal event coordinated by Lisa Presnell Productions can cost between
$500 to $850 where full-service party planning starts at $500 in addition to 15 percent of the
costs of the party." (Fash n.d)
17. Website:
With an established website, updated with all the necessary tools and personnel to update its
data, our cost will be low as we will focus more on the mobile application
2021 Website Maintenance pricing vary, "today, businesses invest $35 to $5000 per month, or
$400 to $60,000 per year, on website maintenance." (WebFX, nd)
Mobile App:
We will continue to push new content to our mobile app, including videos, blog, sweepstakes,
update the points and rewards system, and more. These updates would fall under the
maintenance schedule, which will be covered under the developer's/programmer’s monthly cost.
Lion Nations App Developer, Mango soft Inc, charges $1,678+ (est.) monthly admin,
maintenance fee.
Email Newsletter:
We will continue to push our email newsletter to inform our fans about news surrounding the
club and releases of new club NFTS and the new ticket bundles and packages. Alongside social
media and the club's website, this will be a primary way to keep up to date with all news
surrounding the club.
18. "Pricing varies widely depending on the scope of work, but most email marketing agencies often
charge anywhere between $300 to $2,000 per month for their services." (Campaign Monitor,
2021)
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