Four Fun Sports Promotions for Football Season

by Joe Kustelski in July 28th, 2022

Build your database and your loyalty program with simple NFL and NCAA Football promotions that your fans will love.

Football season is the #1 time of year to build your database of players with an eye towards online AND retail conversions.

Nearly 93 million people watched the Super Bowl in 2021. NFL games accounted for 75% of 2021’s top US broadcasts. 

Your patrons LOVE football, and how much more fun is football if you give them a chance to get IN the game?

Our favorite football marketing promotions grow your database, build loyalty and give your customers a reason to visit your property and come watch the big game at your casino’s sports bar or sportsbook.

1. Local Team Games

Grand Lake Casino

Sports fans have strong allegiances to their hometown teams and follow them fanatically.

Grand Lake Casino in Oklahoma has a ton of Dallas Cowboys fans, so a promotion designed to engage fans before their opening game with Tom Brady's Buccaneers is a no-brainer. The promotion would continue each week throughout the season.

We also came up with an idea of a game for ALL of the local teams: the Cowboys (both Dallas and Oklahoma State), OU Sooners and Arkansas Razorbacks.

Grand Lake Casino Football Freeplay

This is how we capitalize on this sentiment: 

  • Marketing promotion: Weekly challenge for your favorite local team or teams.
  • How to play: Each Gameday, players will make picks against the spread, total points scored, and prop picks for the team and the players.
  • How it works: Each weekend, players watch their picks result in real-time, and check the leaderboard to see if they won. Top players win prizes, based on their performance.
  • Prizing: We recommend modest prizes for each day that there are games, and typically slot credits drive site visits for winning players.

2. Player Prop Games

Certain top players command a LOT of attention. Everyone has heard of Tom Brady, right?

We loved this promotion we created for Barstool Sports as they engaged players who loved Brady even after he left the Patriots.

This promotion taps into that passion for players that many fantasy player feel: Derrick Henry in Tennessee, Pat Mahomes in KC, Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, Russell Wilson in Denver (now).  

  • Marketing promotion: Play the TB12 Challenge (or other favorite player)
  • How to play: Make six prop picks on one top NFL player.
  • How it works: Each weekend, players watch their picks result in real-time, and check the leaderboard to see if they won. Top players win prizes, based on their performance.
  • Prizing: Weekly prizes for either high score or perfect scores.

3. Season-Long Leaderboards

One of our favorite promotions from the 2021 season was USA Today's Big Game Pick 6.

Players made NFL picks against the spread each weekend for a shot at some pretty incredible prizes.

A simple mix of weekly and season-long prizes drove engagement throughout the promotion.

The good news: these leaderboard promotions can be completely customized

  • Marketing promotion: Invite your friends (or your loyalty program VIPs) to play along for great prizes that drive site visits.
  • How to play: Make picks each week on top NFL (or college) games to climb the leaderboard and claim a prize.
  • How it works: Real-time results allow players to see their weekly and season-long total scores.
  • Prizing: In addition to a season-long prize, we recommend Weekly “Top Score” and "Perfect Score" prizes.

4. Hosted Games: Play the Influencer

As we learned at the Casino Marketing & Tech Conference, influencers and brand advocates can help you accelerate database growth.

Our new "Play the Influencer" games highlight your brand ambassadors to drive more gameplay throughout the promotion.

  • Marketing promotion: "Beat the Expert."
  • How to play: Players make picks each week and play along with an appointed host.
  • How it works: Contest hosts kick things off by making their picks, then the rest of the community makes their picks each week.
  • Prizing: We recommend season-long prizes, as well as weekly “Top Score” and "Perfect Score" prizes. We can also turn on the Hosts scoring, and players who beat the Host's score can win prizes as well.

Want to Learn More about Building Your Player Database? 

Download our 2022 NFL Season Gameplan here to help map out your database-building plan for NFL and NCAA seasons. 

Set up a live conversation with Daniel to discuss how Chalkline can build your database of loyal players

Check out our highest-rated monthly webinar: Four Ways to Use Football Freeplay Games to Build Loyalty Programs & Customer Databases.

Learn more about Chalkline's free-to-play games.

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