PLAYMAKERS | UNION OMAHA
● CASE STUDY · USL LEAGUE ONE
How Union Omaha connected fan data, email and paid social
How Union Omaha connected fan data, email and paid social
From March 2026, Union Omaha rebuilt its working email audience, introduced recurring lifecycle activity and connected Match Burst campaigns to ticket-purchase tracking.
3,700+
named ticket holders available for lifecycle communication
51.2%
weighted average open rate across 75 campaigns
3.61x
reported return on ad spend from Match Burst campaigns
“The foundation is built. We can now scale our efforts across our marketing channels with far more confidence, because we know what our data is telling us.”
Nick Hall, President at Union Omaha
● THE OPPORTUNITY
Valuable fan signals were available, but they were not yet working as one recurring commercial system.
Valuable fan signals were available, but they were not yet working as one recurring commercial system.
Union Omaha was already generating fan interest, ticketing activity and digital traffic. Email performance had been affected by list quality and deliverability issues, while the working audience centred on purchasing accounts rather than the named ticket holders connected to those orders. Paid social generated traffic, but ticket-purchase tracking was not yet in place. The opportunity was to improve the usable audience and build a repeatable operating rhythm around each match.
The signals were already there. What was missing was the operating layer that turns them into recurring commercial activity.
● WHAT PLAYMAKERS CHANGED
What Playmakers implemented
What Playmakers implemented
Playmakers provided managed execution across email, lifecycle automation and paid social for Union Omaha’s defined ticket-revenue objectives. Union Omaha retained responsibility for strategy, products, pricing, data governance, the fan relationship and final commercial decisions.
01
A more useful fan audience
Playmakers rebuilt the working audience around the named ticket-holder information available on orders, subject to Union Omaha’s authorised data use and identity rules. Klaviyo migration and sender-reputation recovery ran alongside it.
02
Relevant audience segments
More than ten usable segments were created and maintained in Klaviyo, including season-ticket holders, single-game buyers and previous ticket holders who had not returned.
03
Lifecycle communication
Playmakers introduced website signup capture, an always-on welcome journey and a recurring matchday email cadence, with templates rebuilt in Union Omaha’s brand.
04
Conversion-led paid social
Match Burst campaigns were moved from traffic generation to ticket-purchase objectives, supported by conversion tracking and recurring optimisation.
● CONNECTED ACTIVITY
Four parts of the recurring operating rhythm
Four parts of the recurring operating rhythm
Each part used approved data, communication and measurement within Union Omaha’s defined ticket-revenue objectives.
01 · USABLE AUDIENCE
Reach the named ticket holder
The working audience was rebuilt around the named ticket-holder information available on orders, making more supporters available for relevant communication.
02 · WEBSITE SIGNUP
Capture new interest
Website signup capture passed new subscribers into an always-on welcome journey within minutes.
03 · MATCHDAY EMAIL
Build a recurring cadence
Matchday communication ran four days before, one day before and one day after each fixture, using rebuilt templates in the club’s brand.
04 · MATCH BURST
Optimise for ticket purchases
Paid-social campaigns were configured around ticket-purchase objectives and tracked through the club’s approved conversion setup.
● REPORTED RESULTS
Results reported across the source period
Results reported across the source period
EMAIL AND AUDIENCE PERFORMANCE
51.2%
weighted average open rate across 75 campaigns
Platform-reported. Open rates may be affected by mailbox privacy features.
3,700+
named ticket holders available for lifecycle communication
The detailed source reports 3,700+ available in total. The cover separately states +3,600, so no precise increase is claimed here.
280+
ticket purchases attributed to Match Burst campaigns
Platform-attributed through ticket-purchase objective campaigns. This does not establish incremental causation.
PAID CAMPAIGNS AND AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
3.61x
reported return on ad spend
Measured through a pixel configured against ticket purchases. Reported ROAS is not an independent incrementality test.
280+
merchandise orders attributed to matchday campaigns
Attributed through Shopify and Klaviyo reporting since March 2026.
20%+
email subscriber-base growth
Reported since March 2026. The source does not provide the starting and ending subscriber counts.
● HOW THE WORK WAS OPERATED
Acquisition, signup capture and email were managed as connected parts of one operating rhythm.
Acquisition, signup capture and email were managed as connected parts of one operating rhythm.
Playmakers improved the usable audience, defined relevant segments, built lifecycle communication and ran conversion-led campaigns. The operating logic was to match the next action to the fan’s known behaviour and then learn from the reported response. Union Omaha retained responsibility for strategy, products, pricing, data governance, the fan relationship and final commercial decisions.
Relevance. Timing.
Relevance. Timing.
Revenue.
Revenue.
Could your club connect fan data, email and paid social more consistently?
Could your club connect fan data, email and paid social more consistently?
Playmakers works with professional football clubs on managed execution across email, lifecycle automation and paid social for defined direct fan-revenue objectives.
Discuss your club’s fan-growth activity
Discuss your club’s fan-growth activity
ABOUT THE RESULTS
Results are based on Union Omaha’s Klaviyo, Shopify, ticketing and paid-social reporting. The source describes activity from March 2026 and an overall four-month period, but it does not state one exact reporting cutoff for every metric. Ticket purchases and merchandise orders are platform-attributed and do not prove that email or paid social alone caused the purchases. Reported return on ad spend was measured through a pixel configured against ticket purchases and is not an incrementality test. Open rates may be affected by mailbox privacy features. The detailed source reports 3,700+ named ticket holders available, while the cover separately states +3,600. This page therefore avoids claiming a precise increase.