Islanders Fan & Gameday Experience

Bridgeport Islanders – Fan and Gameday Experience 
Position: Vice President of Marketing
Location: Bridgeport, CT
Duration: 2020 - 2024

Through my time as Vice President of Marketing for the Islanders, one of my primary areas of emphasis was a strategic overhaul of the team's Fan and Gameday Experience. This focused on transforming home games into immersive, high-energy events that consistently delivered exceptional entertainment and emotional connection for fans of all ages.

A key component of this transformation was the revitalization of our mascot, Storm. We repositioned Storm as a central figure in the in-arena experience by integrating him into all fan engagement touchpoints—from concourse entertainment and in-game skits to school appearances and community events. We developed custom mascot content, improved costume functionality, and gave Storm a playful voice and personality that quickly became a fan favorite, especially among young families.

Behind the scenes, we established new processes for game presentation staffing, training, and scripting, bringing clarity and consistency to every gameday. I developed detailed rundowns, cue sheets, and a new pre-game rehearsal structure to ensure flawless execution across video board elements, promotional activations, and partner obligations. We also built a small but highly effective in-arena entertainment team, including MCs, camera operators, and promo crew, and provided them with formal onboarding, gameday standards, and role-specific goals that elevated professionalism and energy.

Most notably, the improvements were validated by measurable success. We launched an end-of-game Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey to capture real-time fan sentiment and consistently earned scores in the high 90s, placing us at the top of the league in fan satisfaction. These insights fueled further refinements and empowered the organization to double down on what fans loved most.

This project was a turning point for the Islanders' brand experience, creating a gameday product that was not only exciting but also operationally sound, scalable, and deeply rooted in fan-first thinking.