Sun Sports’ HEAT Week a South Florida Success

Four months removed from a championship parade celebrating the Miami HEAT’s back-to-back NBA World Championships, FOX’s Sun Sports turned up the temperature on South Florida in the days leading up to Miami’s regular season opener. 

HEAT Week, a week-long celebration on the network, began on Tuesday, Oct. 22 with a robust programming lineup and a grass-roots activation that kept HEAT fans buzzing about their favorite basketball team. Read on for an in-depth recap:

FOX Sports Florida Fantasy Auction Raises $93,000 For Miami Marlins Charities

On Monday, July 29, the Miami Marlins game vs the New York Mets set the stage for the 8th Annual Marlins Foundation FOX Sports Fantasy Broadcast Auction, which gave viewers the opportunity to bid on some amazing experiences online and through the broadcast. All proceeds from the signature event benefited the Marlins Education Fund.

FOX's Sun Sports Goes All-In for Second Straight Miami HEAT Championship Celebration

Having a parade down beautiful Biscayne Boulevard never gets old, and for the second time in as many seasons, FOX's Sun Sports was on hand to cover all the festivities from start to finish on Monday, June 24, 2013.

The moment confetti began falling inside the AmericanAirlines Arena to commemorate the Miami HEAT's third NBA World Championship in franchise history, Sun Sports started mobilizing to cover a victory parade and celebration that saw an estimated 400,000 plus fans in attendance.

Click more for the story of everything that went into yesterday's five hours of live celebration coverage.

Tampa Bay Rays Broadcast Auction Raises Eight Year Record

Another year. Another record.
Two weeks ago, FOX's Sun Sports hosted the 8th annual Tampa Bay Rays Broadcast Auction.

The FOX Sports Florida Girls were on hand encouraging viewers to bid on unique items and baseball experiences, and with all proceeds benefiting the Tampa General Hospital Foundation and Rays Baseball Foundation, a record amount was raised once bids were tallied.

Super Selfie: Near Miss Becomes Direct Hit

While on assignment, Sun Sports' Tampa Bay Rays reporter Kelly Nash posed for a picture at Fenway Park in Boston. Her"selfie," or self picture, showed that Nash was nearly nailed by a baseball.

Seeing the potential for viral content, FOX Sports Florida's Digital Content Manager interviewed Nash for a story (click here) that was posted to FOX Sports Florida.com on Sunday, April 28. Her story quickly spread.

FOX Sports Florida / Sun Sports Named Finalist For Cynopsis Sports Media Awards

The 2nd Annual Cynopsis: Sports Media Awards Breakfast is scheduled for Wednesday, April 17 at The Yale Club in NYC. Last week, Cynopsis announced the finalists for this year's awards and FOX Sports Florida / FOX's Sun Sports were named finalists in four distinct categories:

Live Stream Presentation
Discovery Channel, Red Bull Media House and YouTube - Space Jump Live
CBS Interactive, Inc - Masters Live on CBSSports.com
FOX Sports Florida/Sun Sports - Miami HEAT Championship Celebration
NBCSports.com - Super Bowl XLVI
Turner Sports - NCAA March Madness
Turner Sports - PGA Championship LIVE
 

Marketing Initiative
Big Ten Network – 2012 BTN Big 10K Race
FOX Sports Florida/Sun Sports – Magic Move Campaign
Major League Baseball – MLB Fan Cave
NASCAR – NASCAR Contenders Live Presented By Toyota and Sprint
Time Warner Cable Sports – “One Home. One Goal.” Campaign
Turner Sports – NCAA.com 75th Voting and Interactive Timeline
 

Pro-Social Campaign
Big Ten Network – “BTN LiveBIG” Campaign
ESPN – Jimmy V Week for Cancer Research
FOX Sports Florida/Sun Sports – After-School All-Stars
MLB on FOX - Boys & Girls Club of America
NFL - Recharge After-School Program

Spot (Regional)
FOX Sports Florida/Sun Sports – Magic Fan Express
Time Warner Cable Sports – Time Warner Cable SportsNet Signature Bus Spot
YES Network – 2012 Yankees on YES
For a complete list of finalists, visit http://www.cynopsis.com/events/sports-awards/

Tampa Bay Bucs WR Vincent Jackson Picks Up Military Families with the Lightning Fan Express

On Friday, February 1, 2013, the Tampa Bay Lightning throttled the visiting Winnipeg Jets by a score of 8-3, but prior to the Bolts continuing their inspired play on the ice, FOX’s Sun Sports, the Lightning and Tampa Bay Buccaneers All-Pro Wide Receiver Vincent Jackson teamed up to inspire local military families off the ice.

Heat Live Rewards Sizzles on FOX's Sun Sports

On Saturday, December 1, the defending world champion Miami HEAT hosted the Brooklyn Nets and FOX's Sun Sports utilized the broadcast to officially unveil the new HEAT Live Rewards social media program to viewers and Heat fans alike.

The successful on-air launch highlighted a program that has been beneficial to the network across a multitude of social media outlets.

FOX Sports Florida Makes Magic During First Social Media Night

On Tuesday, November 13, FOX Sports Florida and the Orlando Magic partnered to host the first Social Media Night of the season. The broadcast served as the official in-game launch for the newly minted Magic Live Rewards program, which rewards fans of the team and broadcast by allocating points for tweeting, using Facebook, checking in on Get Glue and Four Square, and more.

FOX Sports Florida Fires Up the Fan Express

With baseball winding down and basketball just around the bend, FOX Sports Florida and FOX's Sun Sports proudly welcomed the Fan Express on its respective maiden voyages through the sunshine state.

Over past two weeks, the Fan Express took its first groups of Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins fans to Tropicana Field and Marlins Park, ushering them in FOX Sports Florida style to their ballparks.

FOX Sports Florida Prep Zone a Sophomore Success

Late in the Florida high school football calendar last year, FOX Sports Florida launched Prep Zone via FOXSportsFlorida.com to modest numbers with a little more than a handful of streaming games available statewide.

Thanks in part to a full off-season of planning, an on-air-promotion campaign developed with Creative University- University of Florida students, leveraged PR relationships with FOX Sports Next (right) and a robust schedule featuring twice as many games, Prep Zone Florida is catching eyes and clicks throughout the sunshine state.

FOX Sports Florida / Miami Marlins Fantasy Auction Raises Record-High $94,000

On Monday, August 13, the Miami Marlins game vs the Philadelphia Phillies set the stage for the 7th Annual Marlins Foundation FOX Sports Fantasy Broadcast Auction, which gave viewers the opportunity to bid on some amazing experiences online and through the broadcast. All proceeds from the signature event benefit the Miami Marlins Education Fund.

FOX's Sun Sports goes LIVE for Miami HEAT Championship Celebration

With the Miami HEAT being crowned NBA champions for the 2nd time in franchise history, it was only fitting for FOX’s Sun Sports to party on— Miami style. On Monday, June 26, Sun Sports culminated a historical championship season for the Miami HEAT by airing the Miami HEAT Championship Celebration victory parade.

FOX's Sun Sports Rallies with Rays Broadcast Auction

With Rays ratings up +62% YOY on FOX’s Sun Sports this season, fans in Tampa continue to tune in and support their team.

On Wednesday, June 13, the Rays game vs the visiting New York Mets was the annual Rays Broadcast Auction, which gave viewers the opportunity to bid on some amazing experiences online and through the broadcast. All proceeds benefit the Rays Baseball Foundation and Tampa General Hospital's Children's Medical Center.

FOXSportsFlorida.com Records Second Busiest Traffic Day in Site History

 

• May Day: Powered by local and national writer coverage of the Miami HEAT’s eventful game 2 victory over the New York Knicks, FOXSportsFlorida.com began the month of May in record setting fashion.

• Headlines included HEAT / Knicks fire extinguisher fall out, Chris Bosh “video bombing” LeBron interview, a new college mascot and a roller-coaster day for the Tampa Bay Rays.
• Approximately 800,000 unique visitors in one day, which is more than half of the 1.44 million unique’s recorded through the entire month of May last year.

FOX Sports Florida Partners with Local NHL Teams on Social Media Nights

Social media night telecast for Lightning drives "watch and win" fly away sweepstakes and attracts more than 1,000 entries.


Marketing, digital, production and promotional elements combined to make each night successful for teams and participating fans.


Unique hashtags and incentives used to engage fans.


Strong feedback from teams and fans resulted in permanent social TV elements for remainder of season and plans to implement enhanced social marketing surrounding the NHL playoffs in South Florida.

Sun Sports, Orlando Magic Team Up to Raise $53,000 for Charity

Building upon successful traditions with team partners is always a great story, even more so when it's for a great cause.

The Orlando Magic Youth Foundation (OMYF) and Sun Sports/FOX Sports Florida teamed up for the third annual Broadcast Auction when the Magic hosted the Philadelphia 76ers on February 15, 2012.  

Sun Sports Scores Ratings Win vs ESPN

In seasons past, Miami HEAT on FOX Sports Florida / Sun Sports often struggled in side-by-sides vs. ESPN and TNT, sometimes not even scoring half the ratings as those networks. This year, the tables are turning thanks to:

• Support from the team and fan base for the SunSports brand
• Strategic Marketing and PR/social media efforts
• Leveraging relationships in market for tangible results

On January 11, the first side-by-side against ESPN (HEAT v. Clippers) showed a shift in some major demos: 

• Men 21-49: Sun 4.12 vs. ESPN 3.95
• Men 25-49: Sun 3.88 vs. ESPN 2.96. 

Overall, households finished just shy of the win with a positive 3.56 for Sun vs. 3.70 for ESPN.

On Friday, January 27, the HEAT hosted the rival New York Knicks in another side-by-side vs. ESPN and the final numbers showed a decisive victory for Sun Sports, as the network scored a 6.0 HH rating (vs. ESPN's 3.8) and wins in all major demos.

Click HERE for the ratings/elements breakdown of a big night for the Miami HEAT on SunSports.

Sun Sports Takes Over Downtown Miami

FOX Sports Florida / Sun Sports turned the temperature up in South Florida by “taking over” Downtown Miami last Wednesday, December 21.  As part of HEAT Week, a week-long celebration in anticipation of the HEAT’s season debut, Sun Sports wrapped five Miami-Dade Transit MetroMover cars in co-branded artwork throughout January and unveiled the vehicles with a massive morning activation at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center that reached thousands of fans.

• Early morning on-site HEAT Week event reaches thousands of commuters

• Millions of impressions for Sun Sports via MetroMover cars throughout January

• PR, Marketing, Social Media, Promotions and FOX Sports Florida Girls elements all combined for successful activation.

FOX Sports Florida Moves Into New Home

Monday, December 19, 2011 marked the beginning of a new chapter for FOX Sports Florida and Sun Sports, as the group officially moved into new offices in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The studio and office space is located on two separate floors is in the center of the Ft. Lauderdale  business district. The move brings the central business operations under one roof, while still maintaining team members in Orlando and Tampa.