New Viking Stadium Build Flies High With EarthCam.com Ratings
EarthCam has thousands of cameras around the world some moving and many stationary, focused on one building, road, bridge, or such. When the Vikings decided to replace their old Metrodome with the new U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota, they wanted to make sure people could watch as it took shape. The broadcasting began before January 18, 2014, with the first day of demolition on the Metrodome – their biggest viewership happened with that event. The new stadium will seat double the people, and its architecture features giant steel girders.
The new stadium is 80% complete, and people can see a time-lapse view of the old one coming down and the new one to its current status at vikings-stadium. It’s also easy to see live feed at the Vikings website showing various camera angles and options. So far the construction project has received nearly 11 million views. EarthCam.com and earthcam.net show the construction as being among the top 25 most viewed of all the places they carry live feeds, and in the top five of all construction projects, they carry live feed. It is also the top of any stadiums they’ve had cameras during construction including the new 49s stadium.
The PR value in each camera may prove to be the best investment the Vikings could imagine. With so many people watching the building go up, from inside and outside – cameras and people driving by each day, one has to wonder how many of those people watching plan to buy their season tickets. The new stadium will have its first play happening in the summer 2016, and it seems likely those games will see record numbers attending, maybe even sell-outs from the very first games.
According to the same article, “EarthCam regularly puts together time-lapse video of the progress on U.S. Bank Stadium using the best shots, a popular feature. The sites also allow viewers to take a still picture of what they’re seeing to e-mail or post to social media.” Another genius PR move.
Lisa Kelly, EarthCam’s strategic sales director, reported the Vikings actively promote the new stadium. The team has played time-lapsed videos of the progress at every home game to keep it all fresh in the minds of fans. And the fans are keeping track, the Vikings receive almost immediate queries if one of the cameras suddenly goes black. That’s just how much great PR has happened with just the simple installation of a few cameras and allowing the public to get and stay involved in the process. What a huge win for the Vikings and their PR team – without having to play a game.
