Great idea from the Seattle Sounders FC: "March to the Match"

Saw this via Mark Bradley's excellent Fan Experience blog. What a great tradition.  Fans get pumped up for the game and their enthusiasm goes viral in the community.

The “March to the Match” is a pre-match ritual that inspires fan support and community unity. Fans gather 60-minutes prior to kickoff in Occidental Park and march to CenturyLink Field together in unison while singing and chanting the Sounders FC fight songs. The “March to the Match” takes place 60-minutes before each Sounders FC home match at CenturyLink Field. Comic, broadcaster and halftime emcee Ken Carson can be found at "March to the Match" giving away Sounders FC prizes. The Sounders FC official band, Sound Wave, in partnership with the Sounders FC supporters groups leads the “March to the Match” procession.

Fans make the calls OR fantasy sports meets realty

Sports Marketing 2.0 reports:

Fans of Hapoel Kiryat Shalom, in Israel’s third amateur division, can now use the team’s Web site to vote on the starting line ups and to give instructions to the field coach. Read more here.

Here’s more on this from Reuters UK read it here

Bill Veeck tried this once - he let fans in the stands at a baseball game play the role of manager and vote for what play they'd like to see. I'll have to go back and re-read the book - can't remember if they won the game or lost.

How the 1990 FIFA World Cup made Pavarotti a superstar

From Adfreak:

In 1990, the BBC selected Pavarotti’s version of the Puccini aria “Nessun Dorma” as the theme song for its coverage of the FIFA World Cup. The song was a perfect fit for the games in Italy not just because of its dramatic beauty, but also because it climaxes with the Italian word “Vincerò!” (meaning “I will win!”) on the highest note. In addition, the 1990 World Cup also saw the debut of The Three Tenors, an opera all-star team featuring Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras... If you’re a fan of soccer, opera or brilliant marketing decisions, be sure to read the BBC’s firsthand account of how “Nessun Dorma” was selected as the theme. And if you want to see a cultural shift happen in front of your eyes, watch this legendary performance on the eve of the 1990 World Cup.