Southport Marketing
The Challenge
Over the years, Southport Marketing has been a trusted partner in the planning, management and execution of large-scale fan experiences that greet thousands of supporters before some of the biggest moments in Southern California sports. Fan Fest programs are massive event operations undertakings that include; site design and build-out, vendor and sponsor coordination, staffing, crowd control and flow, logistical planning, and risk management that all must come together in the narrow window between parking lots opening and game start, with no room for error.Southport has taken on this challenge across a wide variety of properties and formats, including recurring season-long Fan Fest operations for professional soccer clubs, one-off championship celebrations produced within days, and league-wide championship weekends drawing fans from across the country. Our work has spanned San Diego Wave FC, the NWSL Championship Weekend, LAFC (including their MLS Cup Championship Celebration), Angel City FC, the LA Rams, USC Athletics, San Diego State University (SDSU), and others.Each engagement carries its own operational demands: rotating host cities for the NWSL Championship, shared venue logistics for LAFC and Angel City FC at BMO Stadium, recurring gameday operations for the LA Rams, and season-long event production for WaveFC at Snapdragon Stadium. Across all of them, Southport’s role has been consistent: build the site, secure and manage each vendor and sponsor relationship, staff the event end to end, and run an operation that holds up under pressure on gameday.
Client Name
Event Date
- 15+ years, spanning recurring season-long partnerships and one-off events
Event Location
- Los Angeles, CA – Exposition Park (LAFC, Angel City FC, LA Rams, USC)
- San Diego, CA – Snapdragon Stadium (San Diego Wave FC, SDSU)
- NWSL Championship host cities, which have also included San Diego, Kansas City and San Jose
Services Provided
- Brand Activation
- Event Planning & Production
- Event Staffing
- Experiential Marketing
- Site Design
- Logistics and Crowd Flow Planning
- Risk Planning
- Vendor & Sponsor Management
Results
The success of Fan Fest programs are evaluated on consistent core metrics regardless of client: crowd size, engagement, and brand impact. Highlights across these programs include:
- NWSL Championship Weekend: Southport has produced and operated the Fan Fest for the NWSL Championship on a recurring annual basis since 2023, including the CarMax Skills Challenge, which has been featured during national CBS broadcast coverage of the Championship game. Every year, a new attendance record has been achieved.
- LAFC MLS Cup Championship Celebration: Southport planned and operated the fan celebration and parade at Exposition Park following LAFC’s first-ever MLS Cup title within only a few days’ notice.
Like This Project?
Contact us for your next experiential design project. Reach out today and see what we can do for you.
