The challenge: turning the holiday season into a commercial lever
HC La Chaux-de-Fonds (HCC) is a historic Swiss ice hockey club founded in 1919, competing in the Swiss League. With two consecutive championship titles and a Swiss Cup win in recent seasons, HCC has firmly established itself as one of Switzerland’s most successful clubs on the ice. But off the ice, a key question remained: how to convert festive season momentum into structured, measurable ticket revenue for the critical January home games.
Rather than relying on a traditional holiday promotion, HCC and C’mon Sports set out to design a seasonal activation strategy that would increase bundled ticket sales, reward loyal season ticket holders, capture actionable behavioural data, and validate a repeatable commercial model for future campaigns.
The solution: a structured seasonal activation by C’mon Sports
C’mon Sports deployed a four-phase activation strategy, combining data-driven audience segmentation, CRM integration, and phased communication to maximize impact during the Christmas-to-January window.
Phase 1: Audit and strategy
The first phase focused on defining the overall Christmas activation strategy within HCC’s seasonal calendar. This included identifying key target segments, analysing fan habits during the holiday period, and determining how bundled offers could best support the promotion of the six January 2026 home games.
Phase 2: Platform configuration
A dedicated Christmas-themed offer was developed, built around a unique promotional code and a bundled ticket advantage valid across all six January home games. The offer was designed to be simple, flexible, and accessible — encouraging both personal use and gift purchases. This phase included the integration of CRM tracking and the configuration of email marketing workflows.
Phase 3: Fan engagement campaign
The campaign was launched in mid-December through newsletters and social media, following a phased approach. Season ticket holders were given exclusive early access to the offer as a way to reward loyalty and reinforce their role as key ambassadors of the club. The activation was then extended to the general public with festive messaging, leveraging the Christmas period to generate anticipation and drive engagement around the January fixtures.
Phase 4: Evaluation and reporting
Following the campaign, a post-activation analysis was conducted to evaluate overall performance. Key indicators such as bundled offer activations and fan feedback were reviewed to assess impact. These insights were used to better understand fan behaviour, validate the bundled offer strategy, and identify opportunities to optimise future ticketing and seasonal activations. The results: strong commercial impact and proven model
Explore the full Case Study for details on execution, KPIs, and the complete activation methodology.
FAQ
The case study details how C'mon Sports partnered with HC La Chaux-de-Fonds to design and execute a Christmas-to-January seasonal activation strategy. It covers the strategic approach, the bundled ticket offer mechanics, CRM integration, phased communication rollout, and the measurable results achieved in driving ticket sales and fan engagement.
Sports clubs can leverage seasonal moments — like Christmas, back-to-school, or end-of-season — by creating targeted bundled offers, rewarding loyal fans with early access, using CRM data for personalised communication, and running phased campaigns that build anticipation. The key is combining a compelling offer with structured data and strategic timing.
Clubs implementing structured seasonal activations typically see increased bundled ticket sales, higher email engagement rates, stronger social media performance, and improved fan loyalty. The HCC case study showed a 116% increase in package sales compared to the previous season, demonstrating the scalability and repeatability of this approach.
