155 - Game Entertainment 101 - How Great Teams Design Crowd Energy

Most teams treat in-game promotions as filler between plays. The best teams use them to design the energy of the building.

In this episode, Jeremy breaks down what he observed during a Sacramento Kings game and shares five practical principles he calls Game Entertainment 101. These fundamentals show how smart teams engage thousands of fans at once, create better crowd energy, support sponsors, and even drive revenue during the game.

Whether you work in marketing, ticket sales, or game operations, these lessons can help you create a more intentional and more engaging game-day experience.

Game Entertainment 101 – The 5 Rules

1. Design promotions for thousands, not one person
Too many promotions involve one fan on the field while everyone else watches. The best promotions invite entire sections — or the whole building — to participate. At the Kings game, a themed “Lowrider Cam” had fans pretending to drive lowriders in their seats, turning thousands of fans into part of the entertainment.

2. Timing matters more than the promotion
Crowd prompts like “Make Noise” or decibel meters are most powerful when used strategically. The Kings used them before tip-off, coming out of halftime, and during key late-game moments — when the team needed crowd energy the most.

3. Let the game breathe
The video board shouldn’t demand attention every second. The best game presentations mix high-energy interactive moments with quieter stretches where fans can simply watch the game and take in the atmosphere.

4. Game entertainment should drive revenue
In-game moments are powerful opportunities to promote concessions, merchandise, and sponsors. The Kings tied promotions to specific game moments — like a discount triggered after the team hit its 10th three-pointer — creating excitement while driving sales.

5. Your PA announcer is a crowd conductor
A great PA voice does more than read scripts. They help guide the rhythm of the game — amplifying big moments, supporting promotions, and letting the game breathe when it needs to.

Key Topics Covered

• Why many in-game promotions fail to engage fans
• How to design promotions that involve entire sections
• The importance of timing for crowd prompts and giveaways
• Using game entertainment to drive concessions and sponsor activations
• The role of the PA announcer in shaping the fan experience

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Transcript

Jeremy Neisser (00:00.286)
Welcome to episode 155 of the Sports Marketing Machine podcast powered by Revelosity Sports. The show that helps you sell more tickets and grow your fan base. I'm your host, Jeremy Neiser. And today, I want to talk about something that every sports team does, but very few teams actually think strategically about it. And that's game entertainment.

And I know a lot of the listeners to this podcast are marketing directors or even ticket sales folks working for teams, external relations directors. So in some way you're connected to the game entertainment or you are actually the person that runs the game of show. I'm going to break down a lot of fun stuff and break down some things that I recently saw at a Sacramento Kings game. Now, if you follow the NBA, you know, the Kings aren't having a great season.

They're and 51. 51 losses. They're not a very good team. But despite their record, their game entertainment experience was off the charts. It was absolutely outstanding. And sitting there watching the game, I realized something. clicked in my mind. The Kings weren't just filling the time between stoppages. They were designing the energy of the arena. And if you combine what I saw, what I'm going to share,

at the game with you what i saw at the game that i'm going to share with you and some lessons that i learned throughout my career designing in-game promotions you start to see the fundamentals what i like to call game entertainment 101 let's dig in

Jeremy Neisser (01:54.584)
Okay, Game Entertainment 101, let's start with rule number one. The first rule of great game entertainment is this. Design promotions for thousands of people, not one person. Do not sell promotions that only have one person involved and one person wins the giveaway, the promotion, the prize, whatever it is. Too many teams run promotions where one person is doing something on the field.

or the ice. One kid runs the bases, one fan kicks the soccer ball, one kid does the putt-putt, and everyone else watches. You know what? Not everyone watches. It doesn't create the energy that you want to create from a game experience. The Sacramento Kings did a great job of making fans feel like they were part of the entertainment.

You saw things like dance cams and fan cams and of course crowd prompting on the video board. One of the fun things that they did on this specific game that I went to was the lowrider cam. Their group sales team decided to do a lowrider night so they went out and did all these car shows and sold group tickets to all these different car shows and they had vehicles parked on the concourse to show off some of the amazing lowriders that they have. Marvelous group sales opportunity

But how do you turn a group sales promotion into fun game day experience? They did the lowrider cam. Great example. So when the camera panned on to fans in the stands, they were pretending to drive lowriders. Everyone nearby was laughing and suddenly thousands of people were engaged in the moment. That's the key. The best promotions aren't just about entertaining one fan. They're about creating a moment where the whole

The feels involved. Another great example, baseball teams do this, but I'm asking you to add a little flavor to this. So some kid is running out from right field, he has to change to base, second base, and get the third base before the timer ends. So at the 10 second mark, the emcee or the PA announcer starts counting down to get the fans involved so they pay attention, so they care.

Jeremy Neisser (04:14.21)
the PA and the MC when they're talking about things it has to become a big deal otherwise number one sponsors feel like it's just a throw in there it's not a huge high value opportunity during the game secondly the more fans are involved the better experience they have for the game and they walk away feeling like

This was awesome. We want to come back because the game day atmosphere, everyone was involved when we're so fired up about it. All right. Rule number two, timing. This was something that the Kings do extremely well. The video board had prompts, make noise, get loud, decibel meters, measuring the loud noise, right? We've all seen these, but they didn't just flash it up all throughout the game. They were used strategically.

For example, they did it right before tip-off, coming out of half-time, late in the game when things were close. One of the biggest moments came during the last TV timeout of this tight game. That was when the dance team went out there and they started getting everyone's attention and they were tossing the foam squishy balls into the stands. That was very strategic of it said, hey, we want to get the fans loud out of their seats. This is a pivotal moment in the game.

I want to be able to just get fans fired up and excited. They got everyone's attention and they started launching those mini basketballs into the stands. Hundreds of them, right? It felt like 200 of them were flying in the air. It was absolutely chaotic as they were flying. People were reaching and yelling and having a great time. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know that t-shirt tosses and ball tosses are great to get fans moving and what have you. My point with this is when do you use them?

Are you using them in key moments of the game? Are you using them in the third inning when it's your team is scoreless? Or are you using it in the eighth inning when you need your team to score some runs? Are you using this late in your hockey game? Are you using this late in your soccer game? When are you using it? Because you know it will elicit a response from the fans to get them out of their feet, get them on their feet screaming and yelling and having a blast. So,

Jeremy Neisser (06:40.034)
This point for the Kings game that happened right before the stretch of the game where the team needed the home team crowd energy the most. It was intentional. Because if you tell fans to get loud all night long, eventually it stops meaning anything. But what happens when you save those moments for specific points in the game? They matter. So you really have to be strategic on when you are choosing to use your

proud prompters, make noise get loud, scream when you are choosing to throw things into the stands to get people excited. Those points you really have to be intentional. The best game day entertainers are intentional about when they put things on the video board and when they're doing things to get fans excited. Rule number three. Another thing that kind of stood out was how the video board helped

Conduct the game day experience. Of course, we saw things like the crowd prompters and fan cams, right? But the board wasn't constantly screaming for attention There were also stretches in the game where they simply allowed it to breathe. They put stats on the video board They played music fans watched the game because that had the games game on there, right? It was such a great balance between making those interactive moments stronger and

and letting the game breathe. If it felt like chaos on the video board all the time, like you're looking up and you're looking down and you're doing all kinds of things, like you're gonna lose your fans when there's creating so much stuff happening and it's chaos, right? A great, well-run show has those moments of inflection when fans are fired up and excited and other moments where you're just letting the game breathe. All right, rule number four.

Game entertainment should drive revenue or drive leads or both. So another subtle thing that I noticed was how the game entertainment moments connected to revenue. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the arena was I actually smelled food. I smelled hot dogs and hamburgers and popcorn. You smell that as you're walking in. And that's likely a smell that you and me

Jeremy Neisser (09:03.866)
I've gotten used to so much because we're at the arena and the ballpark so much. But I strongly encourage you, if you're the game entertainment person, take a moment to walk around early in the game and just take in the smells, take in the sights, take in how the flow of your arena or your ballpark is. You're going to get so much valuable information of how fans interact with things that are taking place.

Things that you think are big deal but a lot of fans don't even pay attention to. But those moments of you walking in and you're smelling the popcorn or the smells of the hot dog, like that is the first experience fans have when they enter your arena or ballpark. So during the game, in this case, the Kings promoted food at specific moments. They promoted it in the last TV timeout before halftime.

such a great spot to talk about in their case it was some sort of dessert that they have at specific sections so now i know that section 101 has an ice cream the size of my head marvelous like that is such a great time for me to go there and get a snack or section 121 has 13 ounce beers for three dollars for the next 10 minutes whatever it may be but that's such a great point for you to be able to promote food

So if you're in baseball, most people when they get there to the game, they're going to get something to eat early. So maybe at the middle of the fourth inning or top of the fourth, bottom third, you're promoting some sort of food that you have because you know you have a late arriving crowd. Maybe in the sixth inning, you're promoting desserts, thinking about how fans are eating during your games. Same thing with hockey, same thing with soccer. Think about when the busiest times are.

Promote food after those in specific spots to see if you can drive more business to your concession stand, right? So in this case the Kings did it right before halftime right before the end of the third quarter moments when fans were Already thinking about getting up they tied promotions to specific game moments to drive more lead jet at one point the Kings hit their 10th three-pointer and they immediately showed up on the video board

Jeremy Neisser (11:27.584)
Jamba juice drinks were now three dollars through the app great fan engagement great interact in Activation during the game for Jamba juice. It was perfect. It was smart. It was fun It tied those in-game moments to promotions and I see this every now and then that if specific during an inning if a goal is scored or a Double is hit you could win a double-double or whatever it may be like triggered promotions

are things that we talk about and we know all the time, right? But being specific when it happens and getting fans excited and putting on the video board for them to scan in to win or head to a specific concession stand to win whatever it may be, those triggered moments really drive promotions sale, promotions for sponsors and drive concession sales as well. You could also do this

As like enter the wins earlier in the game and you do the giveaway later in the game, right? Those types of things are huge to be able to capture information about your fans and really engage and activate a sponsor. Really great ideas, driving lots of concession sales and game entertainment, helping sell things at the arena or the ballpark. Does during the game.

Do you have your in-game entertainment talk about new items inside of your team store? Such a great opportunity to be able to promote that in the third inning or early in the game. Hey, we've got these brand new sweatshirts or we have these blankets as it's getting colder in the evening. If you're in baseball, great thing to be able to push early in the game because some games early in the baseball season, they're simply cold. For hockey, what are some things that you could promote?

New jerseys, new hats, whatever it may be. But using your in-game entertainment to not just sell stuff for the sponsors, but sell concessions, push people to your merchandise, actually sell things inside of your arena. All right, rule number five. I would argue that Scott Moke, the PA announcer for the Sacramento Kings is hands down the best in the business. I've had the honor to work with Scott in the past.

Jeremy Neisser (13:45.346)
for the Rivercats when I was running the in-game entertainment for them more than 10 years ago. Scott is fantastic, but he just gets it. Your PA announcer isn't just designed to, is just not paid to just sit there and read reads. He is part or she is part of the game entertainment, right? The interesting role of this experiences, game day experience, isn't just on the shoulders of the MC. It is a great balance.

for the emcee he wasn't overly dramatic he wasn't yelling like the sports highlight her per believe that we've seen other announcers do when a big player made a big play he emphasized it he made you feel like hey that's exactly how I felt when that guy dunked the ball to get the lead or he hit that three pointer to and the fans went wild like he leaned into it

He really made the fans feel like he was the voice for how they were feeling I'm gonna say that again Scott moke does such a great job He is the voice of the fans of how they are feeling when a big moment happens It's not hyperbole. It's not over-the-top Not ESPN style. He just simply did his job

but he knew when to amp it up to really emphasize things and when to scale it back when it really was like moments in the game. He let the game breathe. Scott is phenomenal. He's actually like a dear friend, but more importantly, he is really, really good at his job. I hope the point that I'm driving home here is your PA announcer is not just sit there and read reads all game long.

He or she is part of the game day entertainment It feels like a great balance between a game narrator a crowd conductor a Sponsor storyteller and it created a really smooth flow throughout the game moments of excitement moments of promotions and moments where the game simply took center stage so a great takeaway here is You're really wanting your PA announcer

Jeremy Neisser (16:06.744)
to be a part of the game and to tell a story. Boy, I have given you a lot of information related to game entertainment. So watching that King's game really reminded me of something that I think every sports team should remember. Game entertainment isn't just about the filler things or sponsor things that we need to do, right? When it's done right, it creates crowd energy.

makes the fans feel super involved, supports sponsors, drives revenue and really enhances the overall fan experience. So fans walk away going, boy, that was awesome. The best teams don't just run promotions. They design the energy of the building or the ballpark. So whether you're in the NBA, the G league, Meyer league baseball, summer collegiate league, college,

Hockey, whatever it may be right these fundamentals that I talked about in this episode. They apply everywhere That's game entertainment 101 So if you found value in this episode and you feel like gosh, I'm now thinking about things differently like I Hope you leave a rating or review or shares episode with someone who's just like you trying to sell more tickets and grow their fan base until next time