In 2009, CEA began marketing efforts for the St. Petersburg Bowl and has been teaming up ever since to ignite the newly formed Gasparilla Bowl. In 2017, CEA was tasked by ESPN Events to create an entirely new brand and new game; thus the Gasparilla Bowl was born. Working alongside ESPN Events into 2018, we moved the bowl game from its home at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg across the bay to Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Our challenge then became promoting this new event to gain support from the community and sponsors alike.
Promote a world-class event experience for the participating schools, players, and the Tampa Bay community. Showcase community partnerships including onbikes and Joy of Giving. Accelerate brand growth through social media promotion and video production. Match the intensity, fervor, and excitement of Tampa Bay’s Gasparilla culture.
Through a dynamic blend of targeted social media campaigns, innovative digital marketing strategies, and engaging community events, we managed to significantly boost the visibility and appeal of the Gasparilla Bowl.
After leading the renaming process of the long-standing St. Petersburg Bowl in 2017, a full rebrand was in order and #InvadeTheBay was born.
To take the Gasparilla Bowl to the next level and earn buy-in from Tampa partners, we worked alongside ESPN Events to move the game across the bridge to Tampa’s premier sports complex: Raymond James Stadium. #RaidingRayJay was officially off the ground. #RaidingRayJay was designed to bring fans on a journey from where the bowl was to where it is now: positioned as one of College Football’s most recognizable postseason experiences.
We revamped a vibrant Gasparilla Bowl brand through digital and print materials, in-game video screen animations, events such as a Tour of Tampa from the official Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla pirates, and a redesigned website to promote the move to Tampa.
we grew the page 16% over eight months to 29,063 total page likes (this surpassed our goal of 27,000 page likes). While the fan base increased, user engagement spiked as well. We recorded over 300,000 impressions and 25,000 engagements from fans in the same eight-month period.
Total sales for client: 35,000 tickets sold!
The ESPN Events Gasparilla Bowl worked with CEA Marketing for the better part of 9 years. They helped us brand and rebrand the bowl approximately four times. Their vision, professionalism and execution allowed us to serve college football fans as a destination bowl in Tampa Bay. I am extremely grateful that we found CEA Marketing and Kelly Bosetti as we couldn't have accomplished our goals with out them.
The Gasparilla Bowl campaign represents a landmark achievement in sports marketing, showcasing how targeted strategies can dramatically transform public engagement with college football events.