How to onboard 200 fans in one game night

Two hundred sign-ups in one night sounds like a marketing budget. It is not. To onboard fans on game night, you need a QR code, one sentence, one offer they can use before they leave the arena, and about an hour of prep. Here is the plan, minute by minute, with what to print and where to put it.

The math is simple. A junior team draws 1,500 people on a Friday. If 13 percent of them scan, you have 200 members before the Zamboni finishes its lap at the second intermission. Thirteen percent is not a stretch when the offer is visible and the ask is short.

What you need before the doors open

• A group on my.livingsisu.com with your logo and a cover photo.
• One offer from a partner who is in the building: the team store, the concession stand, the restaurant across the street.
• The high-resolution QR from the share page, printed at three sizes: jumbotron, poster, ticket-sized card.
• Three tracked share links, one per location, so you know tomorrow which one worked.
• One sentence everyone repeats: the PA announcer, the ticket staff, the store clerk.

Tracked links come with the Premium plan. If you are on Free, use a single QR and count the total. You still get a number, just not the split by location.

The one sentence

People scan when they know what they get and how long it takes. Not before. Write one line and use it everywhere:

"Scan, join the fan group, 15 percent off at the team store tonight."

That is it. No "download our app", no "join our community", no explanation of what a group is. The offer does the explaining. The word "tonight" does the pushing.

Test it on someone at the front office who has never seen the group. If they ask a question before scanning, the sentence is too long.

Step by step: game night

1. Doors open (60 minutes before puck drop). QR cards at the ticket window. The staff hands one out with each ticket and says the sentence. Poster at the team store with the same QR.
2. Warm-up. The offer is visible at the store entrance: "Members: 15 percent off tonight. Scan here." People see the reward before they see the ask.
3. First period. QR printed on the program, next to the roster. Fans read the program during stoppages. That is a captive minute.
4. First intermission. Jumbotron QR, full screen, 30 seconds, twice. The PA reads the sentence. This is your biggest moment: everyone is looking up and nobody is watching hockey.
5. Second period. Store staff scan member barcodes at the register. New members see the offer work in real time. Their friends ask how they got it.
6. Second intermission. Jumbotron again, with a fresh line: "Already 140 fans joined tonight. Scan before the third."
7. Next morning. Open the stats. Read the number of members joined, where they came from (QR, code, link, email) and which tracked link won.

Where the QR goes, and where it does not

Not every spot in an arena works. From the ones that get scanned to the ones that get ignored:

• Jumbotron between periods. Best spot. Big, bright, everyone is idle.
• Program. Small but in the hands. Works all game long.
• Ticket window and store counter. Someone is already standing still with their phone out.
• Bathroom stall doors. Better than it sounds. Two minutes of undivided attention.
• Boards and rink glass. Ignored. Too far, too much going on.
• Social media post the day of. A few sign-ups, but you cannot control who sees it.

For sizes: a jumbotron QR needs to be readable from the upper bowl, so fill the screen. A poster QR should be at least 10 centimetres wide. The card can be small because it is held at arm's length.

The offer that gets people to scan

The offer comes from your own partner, not from us. It should be usable tonight, in the building, with no conditions to read. Good examples for a junior team:

• Team store: 15 percent off with the member barcode at the register.
• Concession: free coffee with any hot dog, member QR shown at the counter.
• Restaurant across the street: a promo code for 10 percent off after the game.

A punch card ("buy 5 hot chocolates, get the 6th free") is a great second offer, but not for onboarding. The first offer has to pay off in minutes, not weeks.

Entering a partner and their offer takes about two minutes on my.livingsisu.com. Do it before the game, not during.

What the numbers look like the next day

A realistic result for a first try, 1,500 fans in the building:

• Jumbotron tracked link: 118 sign-ups
• Program and ticket cards: 54 sign-ups
• Store poster: 33 sign-ups
• Total: 205 members, 61 of them used the store offer that night

Sixty-one purchases at an average of 40 dollars is 2,440 dollars at the store in one evening, tied to a channel you own. If the store gives back a 20 percent commission, that is 488 dollars for the team on night one. Do that for a season and the Premium plan at 990 dollars a year looks like a rounding error.

And you never saw a single last name, email or photo. Fans joined without handing over their inbox, which is exactly why they scanned.

Keep them after the game

Two hundred members who never open the group again is a list, not a community. The week after:

• Post the next home game as an event with the ticket button.
• Add the three useful links everyone asks for: schedule, tickets, store.
• Send a second offer for the next game, from a different partner.

Check opens per day in the stats. If Tuesday is dead, post something on Tuesday. The dashboard tells you when your fans are around. Use it.

FAQ

Do fans need to download an app to join on game night?

They scan the QR, open their free AthleteCard, and the group is there. Members never pay to join a group, and you never see their last name, email or photo.

Can I onboard fans on game night with the Free plan?

Yes. Free gives you five offers, five resources, five events and two useful links, plus basic stats. Tracked share links per location come with Premium at 990 dollars a year.

Who provides the offer?

You do, with your own partners: the team store, the concession stand, a restaurant nearby. Entering a partner takes about two minutes. Living Sisu does not bring the offers.

Create your group

Your next home game is the best marketing night of the year. Create your group on my.livingsisu.com, print the QR, and count the members tomorrow morning.