TAMPA, Fla. – The United Soccer League and COPA90 have teamed up to introduce the inaugural edition of “Supporters Week”, a seven-day celebration of the communities and fanbases across the USL Championship.
Beginning Saturday, August 17 through Saturday, August 24, USL clubs will pay homage to fans through a league-wide initiative as Championship clubs transform their social profiles, highlight the incredible supporter stories around the league, and showcase fan-generated content. As the week unfolds, fans will also have a unique opportunity to interact with club and league social channels, contribute to the league website, and provide supporter-centric photos and videos to be shared across USL Championship’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram platforms.
In addition, clubs across the Championship will provide fans the opportunity to interactively impact an element of their in-stadium experience, including the use of social and app-based polling to determine which kit their team will wear, cleat styles, drink specials, goalkeeper glove colors, names on the back of jerseys, warmup music, and more.
“For a lot of our clubs, every week is supporter’s week,” said USL Vice President of Communications Ryan Madden. “But from a USL HQ perspective, we wanted to find a cool, unique way to say thank you. The reality is our league doesn’t exist without the fans so the least we can do is to creatively engage, empower, and work to see the league more clearly through their eyes. And to have a partner like COPA90, whose mission it is to celebrate soccer fans across the world, is perfect.”
Off the field, the USL and COPA90 have also partnered with seven Championship clubs on a limited-edition apparel line dubbed the “Supporters Collection”. The capsule collection – set to drop early next week – will feature new minimalist marks, designed in tandem with the clubs and their supporters. This limited-edition collection will be available exclusively through the COPA 90 store.
Will McDonough VP, Brand & Commercial Strategy at COPA90 said, “We are massive fans of USL and their commitment to the supporters of their league, so when they approached us to collaborate around Supporters Week, it was a no-brainer. COPA90 is built on the idea of empowering soccer fans across the globe in new ways and this project fits in perfectly with that mission.”
Fans can stay up-to-date on all things “Supporters Week” through the #BeChampions hashtag on Twitter and Instagram.
Memphis 901 FC will play two matches during Supporters Week, starting on Saturday versus Birmingham Legion FC at BBVA Field. Memphis will also travel to Tampa Bay on August 24 to face the Rowdies.
About COPA90:
COPA90 is the home of global football culture, celebrating the sport in all its forms – men’s, women’s, gaming and more – and reflecting the beautiful game’s role in fans' conversations 365 days a year.
The brand's influence is far-reaching. With over 650 million views per month and 35 minutes per fan per week average watch time, COPA90 was recently recognised as the No.1 most influential sports brand on YouTube, according to Tubular Labs. And Fast Company voted COPA90 amongst the World’s Most Innovative Sports Companies for putting fans at the centre of global football culture.
Original filmed content has starred the likes of David Beckham, Stormzy, Paul Pogba, Big Narstie, Anthony Joshua, Maya Jama, and Lethal Bizzle. Content innovations include the World Cup 2018 Snapchat Discover channel sponsored by Visa, and a new partnership with PayPal on a women’s football content series that highlights COPA90’s strong connections to both women’s and grassroots football.
COPA90’s activity at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France included the daily podcast, sponsored by Visa, ‘Football Inside Out’, the creation of the COPA90 Clubhouse in Paris, playing host to star players, fans, and episodes of FIFA & Chill, and the ‘PUMA Trailblazers’ series, featuring interviews with stars of the women’s game.
The USL Championship is one of the most successful professional soccer leagues in the world, reaching a population of more than 84 million and fuelling the growth of the game across North America. Sanctioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation as a Division II professional league, The Championship includes a membership of more than 30 clubs across the United States and Canada.
Through The Championship’s headquarters in Tampa, Florida, the league’s clubs are provided with unparalleled support with a growing team of more than 50 professionals across 17 departments, ranging from operations to marketing, communications and sponsorship.
The Championship has a national media partnership with ESPN, wherein all league matches are broadcast on ESPN+, ESPN3 and across linear channels. The league also operates USL Productions, which includes a state-of-the-art facility that produced and distributed more than 500 league matches and more than 1,000 hours of original content to national partners, local affiliates and international markets throughout the 2018 season.
TAMPA, Fla. – The United Soccer League and COPA90 have teamed up to introduce the inaugural edition of “Supporters Week”, a seven-day celebration of the communities and fanbases across the USL Championship.
Beginning Saturday, August 17 through Saturday, August 24, USL clubs will pay homage to fans through a league-wide initiative as Championship clubs transform their social profiles, highlight the incredible supporter stories around the league, and showcase fan-generated content. As the week unfolds, fans will also have a unique opportunity to interact with club and league social channels, contribute to the league website, and provide supporter-centric photos and videos to be shared across USL Championship’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram platforms.
In addition, clubs across the Championship will provide fans the opportunity to interactively impact an element of their in-stadium experience, including the use of social and app-based polling to determine which kit their team will wear, cleat styles, drink specials, goalkeeper glove colors, names on the back of jerseys, warmup music, and more.
“For a lot of our clubs, every week is supporter’s week,” said USL Vice President of Communications Ryan Madden. “But from a USL HQ perspective, we wanted to find a cool, unique way to say thank you. The reality is our league doesn’t exist without the fans so the least we can do is to creatively engage, empower, and work to see the league more clearly through their eyes. And to have a partner like COPA90, whose mission it is to celebrate soccer fans across the world, is perfect.”
Off the field, the USL and COPA90 have also partnered with seven Championship clubs on a limited-edition apparel line dubbed the “Supporters Collection”. The capsule collection – set to drop early next week – will feature new minimalist marks, designed in tandem with the clubs and their supporters. This limited-edition collection will be available exclusively through the COPA 90 store.
Will McDonough VP, Brand & Commercial Strategy at COPA90 said, “We are massive fans of USL and their commitment to the supporters of their league, so when they approached us to collaborate around Supporters Week, it was a no-brainer. COPA90 is built on the idea of empowering soccer fans across the globe in new ways and this project fits in perfectly with that mission.”
Fans can stay up-to-date on all things “Supporters Week” through the #BeChampions hashtag on Twitter and Instagram.
Memphis 901 FC will play two matches during Supporters Week, starting on Saturday versus Birmingham Legion FC at BBVA Field. Memphis will also travel to Tampa Bay on August 24 to face the Rowdies.
About COPA90:
COPA90 is the home of global football culture, celebrating the sport in all its forms – men’s, women’s, gaming and more – and reflecting the beautiful game’s role in fans’ conversations 365 days a year.
The brand’s influence is far-reaching. With over 650 million views per month and 35 minutes per fan per week average watch time, COPA90 was recently recognised as the No.1 most influential sports brand on YouTube, according to Tubular Labs. And Fast Company voted COPA90 amongst the World’s Most Innovative Sports Companies for putting fans at the centre of global football culture.
Original filmed content has starred the likes of David Beckham, Stormzy, Paul Pogba, Big Narstie, Anthony Joshua, Maya Jama, and Lethal Bizzle. Content innovations include the World Cup 2018 Snapchat Discover channel sponsored by Visa, and a new partnership with PayPal on a women’s football content series that highlights COPA90’s strong connections to both women’s and grassroots football.
COPA90’s activity at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France included the daily podcast, sponsored by Visa, ‘Football Inside Out’, the creation of the COPA90 Clubhouse in Paris, playing host to star players, fans, and episodes of FIFA & Chill, and the ‘PUMA Trailblazers’ series, featuring interviews with stars of the women’s game.
The USL Championship is one of the most successful professional soccer leagues in the world, reaching a population of more than 84 million and fuelling the growth of the game across North America. Sanctioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation as a Division II professional league, The Championship includes a membership of more than 30 clubs across the United States and Canada.
Through The Championship’s headquarters in Tampa, Florida, the league’s clubs are provided with unparalleled support with a growing team of more than 50 professionals across 17 departments, ranging from operations to marketing, communications and sponsorship.
The Championship has a national media partnership with ESPN, wherein all league matches are broadcast on ESPN+, ESPN3 and across linear channels. The league also operates USL Productions, which includes a state-of-the-art facility that produced and distributed more than 500 league matches and more than 1,000 hours of original content to national partners, local affiliates and international markets throughout the 2018 season.
