USL Pro Iowa

USL Pro Iowa is the movement to bring a USL Championship professional soccer club to Des Moines. As part of the franchise agreement with the USL, the club must operate in a purpose-built soccer stadium, which will need to be built in Des Moines. To grow excitement about the coming team and support for a stadium project that will use some public funds, I managed social media for the USL Pro Iowa branch launch and during the first several months of the organization’s campaign for local support. USL Pro Iowa’s goal was to demonstrate widespread and visible support for the project to policymakers, so drumming up enthusiasm and overcoming objections on social media was paramount.

Overall, the social strategy for USL Pro Iowa was to use infographics on Facebook and semi-snarky, meme-style Tweets to engage with an already-rabid soccer community, grow our audiences among casual fans and persuade even sports-skeptic voters across central Iowa that the stadium project’s many benefits far outweigh its costs. Scarf giveaways and, as the pandemic came on, a children’s at-home activity book, were also social activities that I initiated.