NFL teams change cities. That isn’t new. A storied NFL team coming to Las Vegas, however, was thought to be impossible.
Not only were we a pariah to the league because of sports gaming, but we also needed funding for a stadium. To get that funding, we needed two-thirds of the state legislators to call a special session. Then we needed the passage of two intertwined bills that would change room tax revenues and their allocations. It sounds daunting, and like something traditional agencies wouldn’t be a part of. But it was right in our wheelhouse.
We developed a full-scale, targeted campaign that flipped the pervasive negative sentiment about the project on its head. In merely three weeks, our team developed a tagline and accompanying logo, website, collateral, out-of-home and social media campaigns in addition to speeches, testimonials and videos. And, behind the scenes, we worked on getting votes.
The result was powerful: A new stadium that would house the NFL Las Vegas Raiders, provide 40,000 construction jobs, inject $1.4 billion into the local economy, and supply an additional $32 million in education dollars annually.
And, oh, we did a broadcast and outdoor campaign introducing the Raiders to the community and helped grow the fandom through public relations and community engagement initiatives. We even produced a half-time show with Las Vegas-based The Killers for the first home game. From impossible to Las Vegas, R&R was the vehicle.
