New Jersey Devils’ Mission Control Reaching New Levels

This past February, Devils management took a big chance by selecting 25 lucky fans with the idea of connecting with Devils fans at a new level.  It was a bold move by the Devils organization, because it was something that had not been done before.  In fact, most sports teams would likely hesitate to let fans have any “access”, such as the Devils have.  The program’s headquarters was named “Mission Control,” which was settled in an unused storage closet in the executive offices of the Prudential Center.  Less than a year after the Devils Army Generals’ first blog post hit the web, the Devils and the entire sports world have seen the results of the experiment.  As the Sports Business Journal recently reported, Mission Control has helped the organization generate revenue in a unique way.

Mission Control serves as the social media hub for Devils Army.  It has revolutionized the organization’s position on social media.  Before the introduction of Mission Control, the Devils were not as active with their social media platforms, however, they’re now closing in on 50,000 Twitter followers and 250,000 Facebook fans.  That means that this past year has multiplied fans’ following of the Devils through the two social media platforms by five times.  This had led to more interaction between the team and the fans, which is the goal of Mission Control.

For me personally, as a fan of the Devils, it’s nice to know that the Devils are as passionate about their fans as the fans are passionate about Jersey’s Team.  It’s also nice that the rest of the sports world has noticed what the Devils are doing (no matter what other teams follow the Devils’ lead as far as involving fans, the Devils did it first!), such as ESPN.com’s write-up about Mission Control from May 2011 and more recently, the Devils’ nomination for a PRWeek award.  As social media becomes a greater part of the sports world, it has also become a bigger pat of the Devils Army.

So still shy of its official one-year anniversary, Mission Control has already brought the Devils a new identity.  They’ve found a unique way to connect with us, Devils fans, and interact with us on a different level than traditionally.  What started as a bold chance to take has now become a fixture in Devils marketing.  Of course, as with everything in sports marketing, the team keeps looking forward and trying to find new ways to make something good into something even better.  Even so, it is certainly worth acknowledging the remarkable milestones reached by the Devils organization this past year.