Spotlight: FOX Sports North Covers NHL Draft for the “State of Hockey"

Minnesota served as Draft Central for the 2011 NHL Draft June 23-26 with events happening across the “State of Hockey” for four days, including the main attraction at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. FOX Sports North kept hockey fans up-to-date with coverage on-air, online, and via numerous marketing efforts and promotions.

·     FOXsportsnorth.com writers wrote fourteen stories over four days, creating exclusive online content and a drastic increase in unique visitors

·     The network provided extensive on-air promotional coverage, including a Draft countdown clock

·      The FOX Sports North marketing team awarded one lucky fan the experience of a lifetime: a behind-the-scenes VIP tour at the Draft

Online: FOXsportsnorth.com

The .com crew put together comprehensive local and national coverage of the Draft as it teamed up with the FOX national website in the days leading up to and through the draft. FOX Sports North writers wrote fourteen stories over four days creating a drastic increase in unique visitors and capturing hundreds of thousands of views via numerous list galleries and other content, including:

Read: Minnesota Pipeline
Read: Size Advantage
Read: Clutterbuck: ‘There’s nothing like getting drafted’

Marketing/OAP Efforts
The FOX Sports North marketing team promoted Draft festivities on-air and online prior to and during the the big event. The OAP department created and aired a :05 countdown clock as well as multiple promos for a variety of specific events.  

The marketing team worked with the Minnesota Wild to create exclusive opportunities for Draft fans. One lucky fan won the “NHL VIP Giveaway” via FanZone and numerous fans got to record their own “Be a Sports Anchor” video update from the Wild Fan Fest.

Be a Sports Anchor: Check out all of the recordings from Fan Fest

Production

NHL news and Draft updates specific to the Minnesota Wild were included in live Minnesota Twins pre and postgame programming throughout the weekend. The production team produced multiple special features and all on-air mentions always mentioned FOXsportsnorth.com exclusive coverage.

Watch: Hometown Hero: Minnesota native and Minnesota Wild second round pick Mario Lucia’s reaction
Watch: Meet the Wild’s First Round Pick
Watch: Wild Fan Fest

Social Media
FOX Sports North’s social media platforms played in an important role leading up to and during the Draft, providing content as well as insider news and pictures (via Twitpic).