Kansas City Chiefs Triple Watch Party in Mexico

MISSION

Mexico is a country that is predominantly football (soccer) crazed. Barring a few regions, the world’s most popular sport is also the preferred pastime and passion in the land of Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Hugo Sánchez. But what if we could turn parts of the country into the land of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Isaiah Pacheco, at least for a day? That ambition turned into reality when Samba Digital presented Chiefs Mexico –– the Mexico-oriented social media pages of the Kansas City Chiefs — with the opportunity to stage a simultaneous watch party in three different Mexican cities. 

In an ambitious concept, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey were chosen to host the watch parties for the highly anticipated rivalry game between the Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders. Mexico City had already been proven to be a successful host city for Chiefs Mexico events, as Samba had already organized the logistics and social media diffusion of the Chiefs’ 2023 Super Bowl run. But what about Guadalajara and Monterrey? Would the tapatío and regio Chiefs Kingdom flock to watch American football and enjoy themselves just like the chilangos did earlier this year?

MISSION

The idea to host the triple watch party was born when Samba started receiving organic requests from Chiefs fans to widen our watch party reach to our cities through our social media channels and in person. With the 100-person Super Bowl party held in February 2023 and the highly-successful 2023 kickoff event at the iconic Xochimilco Trajineras as proof, we pitched the idea to expand Chiefs Kingdom to the other two most important cities in Mexico. 

Our analytics indicated that Guadalajara and Monterrey were the second and third-biggest cities in terms of followers and interaction, which meant they were simple choices for this ambitious project. Also, as a client-oriented and community-focused organization, Samba took fan suggestions sent in via DM to heart, tripling the size of previous watch parties to accommodate more people. 

Approximately three weeks prior to when the multi-city event would be staged, Samba pitched the following idea: to organize a fully Chiefs-themed watch party for the Raiders game, including free meals, drinks, decoration, activities, gifts, NFL experiences and media coverage in international TV network Fox Sports MX– a premium experience, all at the same time albeit in three different cities. 

PLANNING

You can have a brilliant idea for an all-encompassing activation that includes a social media rollout plan, but you can’t make it a successful one without hardcore and passionate fans. Fortunately for all sides, Chiefs Kingdom and Samba have developed a positive relationship to the level where every single fan club invited to the triple watch party enthusiastically confirmed their assistance and blessing to do so in their own home turf– their preferred restaurant/bar to watch games at. 

The extreme passion and willingness to help from the fans was key to the success of the events themselves, but also key in our social plan, which included the following: 

-Highlights from past watch parties that would showcase the passion Chiefs Kingdom has for their team, including the type of event they could look forward to if fans were to attend. 

-Organization and diffusion of the event via social, highlighting it would be the first time Chiefs Mexico would host a simultaneous watch party in three different cities.

-Using global ticketing service company Eventbrite to keep track of how many fans to prepare for, despite not charging an entry fee. 

-Teasing what fans can expect if they attend the triple watch party, including video from past Chiefs Mexico events that shows we provide a fun, dynamic and multicultural experience.

– Elevating our product and appealing to FOMO by sending social messages that would make any true member of Chiefs Kingdom regret not attending the event. 

-Comprehensive social coverage during and after the triple watch party, including site tours and fan experience,  shining a spotlight on passion and unity, and showcasing how successful the multi-city event was.

ACTIVATION

With the game starting at 3:25 p.m., we made sure doors opened at 2:00 pm!

We carefully selected three hosts (one per city) to keep the party going and the members of Chiefs Kingdom engaged. They played a key role in maintaining an uplifting atmosphere since the Chiefs started the game off on the wrong foot, and were losing by the end of the first quarter. 

Our Mexico City host: 

TV personality, reporter and host Lalo Ruíz

Our Guadalajara host: 

TV personality, fitness and sports influencer Yazz Alfaro 

Our Monterrey host: 

TV presenter Carlos Martínez, widely known amongst the Chiefs fanbase in Monterrey due to his passion for the team. 

Hosts weren’t there just to provide an important social media boost, but were also in charge of making sure the 60 pieces of merchandise provided by the Chiefs would be given away to the winners of the following activities, among others: 

– NFL Field goal challenge (Mexico City)

– NFL passing challenge (Guadalajara)

– Vertical jump challenge (Monterrey)

– Live trivia questions

– Dance routine challenges

We made sure all our bases were covered by inviting Fox Sports MX to all individual watch parties and having them do live hits during the game, showcasing the triple watch party to their international audience. The presence of experienced reporters positively amplified the event’s reach. 

And despite the triple watch party being a Mexico-only event and catered towards a Mexican audience, we made sure the passion for Chiefs Kingdom crossed borders by highlighting this Mexican fan’s love for the team and Patrick Mahomes in a collaborative post with @nflmexico.

RESULTS

When the dust had settled, we received incredibly positive feedback from all sides; fans, client and broadcaster. Watching entire families leave the triple watch party with smiles on their faces and reading the positive comments via social is invaluable and immeasurable, but what we can measure is the direct impact the events had on the Chiefs Mexico socials:

Instagram growth during the week of the event (Nov. 26 – 30):

– Reached 108% more accounts compared to the previous week (167K). 

– Gained nearly 1,500 new followers.

– 205,500 video plays 

– 18,054 likes 

Newsletter growth: 

– 25.5% growth compared to the previous month

Back in January 2023, thinking that Samba and Chiefs Mexico would successfully conduct a simultaneous triple watch party would’ve seemed like a dream. But we like to make dreams a reality at Samba. We have nearly tripled our Instagram followers since the beginning of the year, increased accounts reached by 40% despite not being in the final part of the season (aka Playoffs), and climbed to #2 in the list of Spanish language NFL team pages.