Pittsburgh Riverhounds Social Media Strategy
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds brand has continued to struggle to gain traction among the Pittsburgh faithful. In order to increase ticket sales over the long term, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds need to be targeting younger generations, in the hopes of having lifetime fans. Lifetime fans not only are loyal supporters but can raise generations of fandom. To do this, the brand needs to have a social media strategy that will reach younger audiences without alienating their current fan base.
The Strategy
I am proposing for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds to create a new Instagram page and TikTok for their mascot, AMO. AMO’s brand is targeted towards younger generations; for instance, the Riverhounds named their kids club after their beloved mascot. Creating a new page would allow AMO to have an identity separate from the Riverhounds brand, and tailored to younger generations, most specifically Gen Alpha and the younger side of Gen Z. As covered by Noah Fries, social media marketing is essential when trying to reach audiences like Gen Z and below.
Currently, the Riverhounds social media pages are aimed at more mature markets, keeping a professional look on their Instagram and only occasionally mixing in a dance for AMO on their TikTok. Over their last ten posts on TikTok, three of which included AMO, seven didn’t, AMO outperformed their usual content by over 700 views. There is clear potential for the mascot to grow its brand parallel to the Riverhounds. The Riverhounds’ current strategies have been built on targeting the ticket buyers, not the prospective young fans. For instance, the Riverhounds host four separate $1 beer nights, according to their 2025 promotional schedule. Many could see this as an unwelcoming environment for younger fans and not want to bring their children to a sports event with such a heavy promotion of alcohol consumption.
Often times brand pages, like the Riverhounds, attempt to keep a professional look, which is often aimed at older audiences, since they are the ones paying for tickets. An approach like this can be disparaging for younger generations, as the content does not appeal to them. The only way for the organization to hold onto its loyal fans while entering new markets would be to branch out and create a separate account for AMO.
The Content
For the content itself, it would be focused on trends, trending audio, sounds, you name it. The page will have AMO doing dance challenges or day-in-the-life skits. As discussed by Dresden Bouman, Gen Z craves creative, fun video content. Additionally, the page will be short-form content-driven, with reels that can be posted to TikTok and vice versa. In addition to following trends, the account can have the opportunity to collaborate with local creators, something the current Riverhounds account does not utilize. Partnering with local creators allows not only AMO’s account to reach new markets but can bring in new audiences to Riverhounds games.
On top of all these reasons, having the mascot account allows fans to tag AMO individually in posts. As covered by Austin Hansen, how brands interact with their fans is crucial to how fans will engage with a team. The separate account allows fans to be able to consistently interact with not just a brand but a personality. A character who is attending Pittsburgh events and interacting directly with the fanbase. Separate accounts allow the Riverhounds to market what they’d like, sometimes collaborating internally with the AMO account, and other times letting AMO post on his own. By keeping the accounts separate, the organization opens up more doors for engagement across generations.
The Goal
The goal of the page is not to be different than the Riverhounds’ main account, but to think differently from their current marketing strategies. This page would be to build a brand personality for the mascot, separate from the Riverhounds brand, through locally targeted strategies. This is covered by Dylan Fister, engaging locally and consistently is incredibly important when building a strong online presence. The account should be humorous and jokey and target similar trends that Gen Alpha and Gen Z are already seeing on their feed.
The role of the AMO accounts would be to further the AMO brand, which in turn would further the Riverhounds brand. Mascots with followings tend to draw in fans on their own. Take the Duolingo owl as an example, once looked at as a fun-loving mascot for the brand, is now recognized as one of their main reasons for success. According to AdWeek, the revised social media strategy for the brand has led to an increase in monthly active users from 40.5 million in 2021 to 116.7 million today. This shows how effectively mascot marketing can be used to improve brand recognition and drive sales.
Conclusion
In order for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds to engage with younger audiences and drive ticket sales, they need to meet their consumers where they are. The social media strategy proposed would reach younger generations without diluting or altering the image built up by the current Riverhounds accounts. Having Amo exist as a standalone account gives young fans the opportunity to engage with the personality early in their fandom, allowing them the opportunity to become lifelong fans of the sport. As proven by other mascot personalities, mascots can become powerful brand ambassadors and drive sales for their organizations.