Moving beyond brand awareness to fan engagement
At a glance
VISION
Slalom partnered with the leading women’s sports team to grow its fan base and ticket sales. Through primary fan research accelerated by custom GPT analysis, we revealed new strategies for standing out in a crowded market.
Impact
Through end-to-end research design, we uncovered the missing link between brand awareness and fan engagement, fueling community impact and projected growth in ticket sales.
Key Services
Industry
Sports & live entertainment
Ready to build stronger fan loyalty?
Finding new fans
Los Angeles sports fans have endless choices, from the Dodgers, Rams, and Lakers to Angel City Football Club (Angel City FC)—a women’s professional soccer team with a celebrity-backed, female-led ownership group. While Angel City FC achieved rapid early success, a new challenge emerged: how to get more fans into the seats.
Since its inception, Angel City FC has scaled faster than almost any women’s sports organization. In just a few years, the club became the highest-revenue and highest-valued women’s professional team in the world. “Angel City FC really redefined the game in women’s sports,” says Carmen Bona, president, business operations at Angel City FC. “For the first time, you had a club that put women’s sports in the most premium tier.”
The club also puts a high value on its commitment to inclusivity and equity in sports. “Angel City was built with a mission to use sports and entertainment to drive equity,” says Julie Uhrman, co-founder of Angel City FC.
By its fifth season, however, the club knew it needed sharper insight into who its current fans were, who it wasn’t reaching, and how different audiences choose where to spend their time and money.
Because Angel City FC and Slalom had already formed a multiyear partnership—with Slalom serving as the club’s official business transformation partner—the next step was natural: conduct deep research and identify engagement drivers to inform how the club would grow its fan base and drive sustainable ticket growth in one of the most competitive sports markets in the world.
Angel City FC turned to Slalom for an assist.
Creating an insights-driven playbook
Together, we set out to understand how and why LA sports fans engage—with an end goal of increasing ticket sales for Angel City FC.
The project began with a workshop to identify business goals and key questions, then moved quickly to the design and deployment of a large-scale survey of approximately 3,000 Los Angeles County residents. The survey was designed to measure levels of engagement in the LA market fanbase—not just for Angel City FC but compared to other LA-based teams (and non-sporting activities)—and to identify drivers of loyalty and engagement by fan segment. The research centered on behaviors, motivations, and spending choices, including how fans weigh live sports against concerts, dining, and other entertainment options.
“We appreciated that Angel City FC was focused on understanding fans’ real motivations and behaviors—not just surface-level attributes—and was committed to including the fan perspective at every step,” says Amy Klein Da Costa, a Slalom lead researcher on the project. “That depth of understanding is crucial not only for building community, but also for identifying opportunities to increase revenue and strengthen the club’s future.”
The survey quickly revealed how the brand was perceived, where pricing expectations landed, and what emotional drivers pushed fans from interest to action. Slalom then segmented respondents into clear psychographic personas.
Focus drives results
Rather than marketing every game to everyone, Angel City FC made a deliberate shift. Together, we identified three priority audiences: parents and families, emerging Gen Z fans, and LA crossover superfans.
That clarity changed everything.
- Family-focused games emphasized giveaways and kid-friendly activities.
- Gen Z nights brought DJs, influencers, and social-first experiences.
- Crossover games leaned into LA culture and premium entertainment.
To accelerate insight and pressure-test strategies, Slalom deployed custom AI agents that analyzed survey data, refined personas, and simulated how different audiences might respond to new marketing approaches. Once validated, AI helped surface patterns that would have taken months to uncover manually.
The team also mapped Angel City FC’s engagement funnel against other major LA teams. The data made priorities unmistakable: which audiences to acquire, which to retain, and where growth potential was highest.
GAME-CHANGING INSIGHTS
Survey insights from 3,046 Los Angeles residents revealed a gap in engagement—not awareness.
Moving toward the goal
With fresh research and a better understanding of its audience, Angel City FC now has a practical roadmap for growth. The club is prioritizing outreach by persona, designing experiences fans want to repeat, removing barriers to attendance, and refining strategies as needed.
“This work is extremely valuable,” says Bona. “It’s really helped us redefine our whole brand and marketing plan for this season and the next few years.” In fact, the impact is already shaping business decisions. Angel City FC has nearly doubled its marketing investment and expects lifts in both ticket sales and net promoter scores (NPS).
As for the partnership, Bona and Uhrman agree that working with Slalom has been a true collaboration. “Slalom has been an incredible partner—detailed, knowledgeable, and true brand fans,” says Uhrman. “Slalom provides a level of strategic strength we don’t have internally.”
For Angel City FC fans, the shift shows up on game day—events that feel relevant, accessible, and worth coming back for. But this insights-driven approach does more than fill seats with supporters. It builds loyalty, strengthens community connection, and creates lasting value—on and off the pitch.
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