ESPN Taps Sports Fans with First Rewards Card
ESPN is venturing in to the loyalty marketing arena with the launch of its first rewards card that lets consumers earn points to redeem for a slew of sporting events, experiences and merchandise.
Consumers register for the Total Access Visa Card—launched last month with Washington Mutual (WaMu)—at ESPNMakeYourPicks.com, which also earns them a sweepstakes entry dangling a sampling of card benefits. One grand-prize winner will get to choose five of 10 ESPN-related prizes, including travel, lodging and transportation to the X Games, ESPN Golf School, 2007 ESPY Awards Show, Winter X Games in Aspen or a $1,000 shopping spree on ESPNShop.com. The sweeps ends Jan. 31.
Cardholders earn five points for every dollar spent on purchases made from ESPN and one point for every dollar spent elsewhere. Consumers begin redeeming points at the 2,500 threshold. For 10,000 points, members can get a trip to ESPN’s Bristol, CT, headquarters and a tour of its SportsCenter set. Cardmembers can also earn VIP and game-day access to a range of sports experiences including draft parties and championship games in football, baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, racing, poker and horse-racing.
“Because ESPN covers a broad array of sports, it gives us the latitude and license to bridge rewards across all of them,” said Rick Alessandri, senior VP-ESPN consumer products.
As part of the rewards program, the sport entertainment company is also promoting a Sports Concierge Service. The service allows cardholders to call the company to make travel arrangements to sports events like the World Series of Poker. In addition, the more traditional reward offerings are also offered such as sports merchandise and collectibles, as well as travel, dining and retail rewards.
“We did feel it was important to have standard rewards such as travel gift certificates and other retail items,” Alessandri said. “It gives consumers the best of both worlds.”
To launch the new card, ESPN created buzz with a New York City event dubbed the ESPN Ultimate End Zone Celebration contest at Union Square Park last month. At the event, 25 contestants showed how they would celebrate if they scored a winning touchdown. Each contestant had 30-seconds to run a football down an artificial turf field and into an end zone in front of a large, cheering audience. A panel of former pro football players judged contestants on originality and entertainment value. The winner received a 40″ LCD Flat Panel HDTV, Sony DVD Dream System, X Games 20″ Moto X BMX Bike, and other sports-related prizes. ESPN also hosted a fan tailgate party with free food, music and entertainment for attendees.
Meanwhile, the card is also being supported via ESPN assets such as ads on ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN’s Radio and TV network, and via direct mail pieces sent out by WaMu to its customers.
Minneapolis-based Carlson Marketing handles the reward program.
