Wednesday, February 23, 2011

FS North Scores Hat Trick with Hockey Day Minnesota


  • Content created for TV, web, and social media platforms 
  • TV ratings up 42% year to year
  • 200% increase in uniques, 1,100% increase in page views on FoxSportsNorth.com vs. 2010
  • Over 80 instant video highlights from the broadcast were shared across social media platforms
  • Designated hashtag (#HDM) trends nationally and locally on Twitter
FOX Sports North, in conjunction with the Minnesota Wild televised the award-winning Hockey Day Minnesota on Saturday, February 12.  The day-long event included over 14 hours of hockey-related programming and four games from three different Minnesota locations: the Moorhead Hockey Complex, Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis. Two of the four games were played outdoors.


Production/Programming

The 2011 event included four hockey match-ups from three different locations across Minnesota as well as live “look-ins” from numerous spots across the “State of Hockey.” Two high school boys’ match-ups were played outdoors from the Moorhead Youth Hockey Complex and included some of the most impressive and highly anticipated high school match-ups in Hockey Day history. 

Later in the day, FOX Sports North featured the University of Minnesota vs. University of Denver at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis and an intense NHL match-up between the Minnesota Wild and St Louis Blues in St. Paul.

Viewership was up 42% from 2010 with a 1.63 rating average over the 14.5 hours of television coverage.
Production/Operations: FOX Sports North’s production and operations team took the 2011 event to a new level using four television control rooms, three Mobile TV Group production trucks, four LIVE-U packs (for numerous live hits) and over 150 FOX Sports North employees, including 18 on-air talent and over 100 freelance crew from the Minneapolis market.
Features: The FOX Sports North production team produced over 15 special features and vignettes, including: 
·         A Tough Decision
·         Home Grown Business
·         To view all features, click here 
Web Traffic/Social Media
Web traffic: The Hockey Day Minnesota micro site on FoxSportsNorth.com recorded remarkable traffic, a 200% increase in unique visitors and 1,100% increase in page views from last year.

Instant Video Clips: Over 80 instant video highlights from the broadcast were made available to viewers via FoxSportsNorth.com, Facebook and Twitter via Snappy TV. The instant video clips received over 10,000 views. Examples:
·         5:34pm: GOAL #3, Anthony yells "SCOORRREE!" Gophers up 3-0
·          6:53pm: A hockey rink cake that's 8 feet long?!-Happy Hockey Day! 
·         To view all Instant Video Clips, click here

Editorial coverage: FoxSportsNorth.com published numerous stories as part of Hockey Day Minnesota
·         Sansevere: A great day, a great Hockey Day in Moorhead
·         Wild cap Hockey Day with a big, bloody win
·         To view all stories, click here
Online Live Chat: FoxSportsNorth.com hosted a day-long web chat with numerous experts and analysts.
·         Live Chat Replay
Post Comments On-Air: Fans had the opportunity to post comments on the television screen (scrolled along the bottom) through a special link on FoxSportsNorth.com
Fan Zone:  Fan Zone on FoxSportsNorth.com attracted 220 new members Saturday - Sunday.

Facebook/Twitter: FOX Sports North received over 175 re-tweets/@ mentions via Twitter and over 190 comments/”likes” on Facebook.
Twitter Conversation: Fans were encouraged to join the Hockey Day Twitter conversation by tagging  #HDM. The #HDM received over 435 responses and was reported as “trending” in Twitter reports both locally and nationally.


Celebrity Re-tweet: Hollywood producer Kevin Smith (@thekevinsmith) has over 1,700,000 followers on Twitter: @thekevinsmith I will forego using the FARGO accent for one full day. Happy Hockey Day, @MNWild - and to ALL Minnesotans (except Prince)! #HDM


Other Details
Attendance: A record-breaking number of fans attended the outdoor high school hockey games and activities in Moorhead, Minn. The hosting committee believes there were between 5,000 -7,000 spectators in attendance.
Media Partners: For the first time, FOX Sports North included various media partners as part of the broadcast including representatives from the Pioneer Press and KFAN Sports Talk Radio. 
“Local Celebrity” Involvement: Ceremonial Puck Drops: Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and Minnesota Senator Al Franken dropped the pucks before the outdoor games from Moorhead, Minn. 

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