Who Are the riverhounds?

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds Soccer Club is an American soccer team that plays in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team was founded in 1998 and currently plays in Highmark Stadium in Station Square.

The stadium, designed for soccer, holds approximately 5,000 fans. Compared to other Pittsburgh stadiums and arenas, Acrisure, formerly Heinz Field, holds around 70,000 fans and PPG Paints Arena holds around 20,000 fans. Highmark Stadium holds roughly 7% and 25% of its neighboring stadiums respectively.

The Riverhounds also don the iconic black and gold color way in their jerseys, which represents continuity among the four professional teams that reside in Pittsburgh.

Passionate Fanbase

The Steel Army is a group of passionate fans that support the Riverhounds. The group has grown to the point where they can sell merchandise, plan trips to away games and other large-scale endeavors. This is the avid group of fans that the Riverhounds must connect with more socially.

How to connect with fans

Soccer fans, in my opinion, have the same energy as college athletics fans. Because of this, I would market to them in the same way. Soccer games often feature chants, singing and other crowd-collective moments that are mores seen in college athletics than at professional sporting events. Learfield published a strong article about how to cater to college students and fanbases. In regard to ticket sales, which this Riverhounds campaign would lead to an increase of, Learfield claims that it should be a data-driven model.

Boosting ticket sales with data

Learfield’s article mentions how ticket sales are driven by data and excitement, but both of those stem from donors. Similar to college athletics, the Riverhounds teeter the line between fundraising and debt. In 2014, they filed for bankruptcy after building Highmark Stadium. To better boost ticket sales, the Riverhounds must first start with better fundraising. More money will lead to a better stadium/perks/players, which will lead to more excitement, which will lead to more ticket sales.

The digital marketing campaign that accompanies this is surveys. The Riverhounds must have a strong grasp on exactly what their fanbase wants and needs, so when the funds are available to spend, they can spend it on something that will boost the fan experience. This can be done in the form of post-game surveys, which ask fans what they liked and disliked about their experience. Campaigns like this can also feature sponsors, which will help to raise funds. For example, the Riverhounds could implement the Coca-Cola Post Game Survey or the Dunkin Donuts Post Game Survey. This tracks what fans want as well as raising funds for the Riverhounds.

Fans Within 50 miles

The exact demographic trying to be reached is fans within 50 miles that don’t currently attend games. The way to reach these fans is through short-form video content on social media. Currently, short-form is king in content. Everyone scrolls on their phone. Nobody has the attention span to stick around and watch a long-form video. Moreover, soccer is not accurately depicted through pictures. The fanbase, as previously established to be more passionate that other professional ones and similar to a college fanbase, is best represented in a video format. Short-form videos are also more likely to capture interest from someone who does not previously know your brand, according to the article linked above. For people within 50-miles of Pittsburgh, this is the best way to reach them.

Digital Media Audit

The Riverhounds compete in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship. To understand how they can better reach fans, they should take notes from other teams in the conference. Notably, teams in the conference all must have stadiums under 17,000 seats. This means that the fanbases are similar to the Riverhounds in size. This is also a unique perspective to gain because the teams they would audit are all similar to them. For example, if the Pittsburgh Pirates were to audit other MLB teams, they would be disadvantaged because of a lack of similarity. The Pirates could not learn much from the Yankees because the Yankees have an exponentially larger fanbase and social media following (4 million to 853k). By competing in such a small league, the Riverhounds can learn from teams in the same situation as them.

An overlook of the ~5,000 seats in Highmark Stadium based in Pittsburgh. Notably, a similar capacity to other USL Championship teams’ stadiums.

Marketing to Gen Z

Marketing to the Next Generation

Using TikTok to reach Gen z

Effectively enhancing your reach on TikTok

The Riverhounds should also make an exerted effort to market to the next generation of fans. These fans may not be driving ticket sales yet, but creating roots in younger kids will turn them into buying customers as they continue to grow up. Above are links to articles created by my classmates on ways to effectively reach Gen Z.

conclusion

Overall, the Riverhounds can use analytics and surveys to gain information and insight into what their fans want. After allocating more funds, the Riverhounds can implement these expansions, ideas and improvement into the stadium, which will drive ticket sales. They should also create short-form videos (TikTok and Instagram Reels) to instill roots in the next generation, which may not be able to buy tickets yet but will be the season ticket holders of the future.

works cited

(n.d.). Steel Army. https://steelarmy.com

(n.d.). Just a moment... https://www.learfield.com/2025/02/unlocking-the-power-of-fanbase-for-college-athletics-part-2/

| ABI. (n.d.). | ABI. https://www.abi.org/feed-item/pittsburgh-riverhounds-stumble-as-they-declare-chapter-11-bankruptcy

(n.d.) . The Psychology of Short-Form Content: Why We Love Bite-Sized Videos. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/short-form-video-psychology#:~:text=Short%2Dform%20videos%20appeal%20to,them%20and%20draw%20them%20in.

(n.d.). Instagram. https://instagram.com

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Digital Strategy