In November, ahead of the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs, Sporting Kansas City teamed up with a group of local artists and makers to launch the latest iteration of the club’s traditional ‘Paint The Wall’ marketing campaign which amplifies attention around the postseason as the club seeks a third MLS championship.
Based around a web hub at SportingKC.com/PaintTheWall and physical, real world site, ‘Paint The Wall’ is Sporting KC’s longstanding tradition of commemorating championship victories on the wall in the northwest corner of the team’s Children’s Mercy Park stadium.
The wall has previously celebrating the club’s MLS Cup triumphs and it acts as a rallying cry for the wider Kansas City region to get behind the team as the 2021 season moved towards a climax with Manager Peter Vermes leading the club into the playoffs with the ultimate goal of club captain Johnny Russell painting the wall with the year 2021 after MLS Cup on 11 December.
This season saw Sporting KC collaborate with Sike Style Industries – a local design company that specializes in custom murals – for the campaign’s branding; including the graffiti art for the signature Paint The Wall element.
Plus this year’s campaign also saw Sporting KC collaborate with Strange Music artist Tech N9ne for use of his recently released track ‘Face Off’ (featuring Dwayne Johnson, Joey Cool and King Iso) on social media and in-stadium at Children’s Mercy Park on matchdays.
Sporting also released ‘Paint The Wall’ captain’s pennants made in Kansas City by local supplier Sandlot Goods. And the limited-edition pennants were made available for fans to purchase for $15 while supplies last at SportingStyle retail locations at Children’s Mercy Park on matchdays and online online orders can be placed at SandlotGoods.com.
A portion of proceeds from all Paint The Wall captain’s pennant sales will go directly to The Victory Project – Sporting Kansas City’s philanthropic foundation – as part of the club’s season-long “A Force For Good” campaign.
“One of our club’s goals has always been to further entrench ourselves in the Kansas City community,” explained Sporting KC Creative Director Chad Reynolds. “Painting the wall is our most honoured tradition, the postseason is the most important time of the year, and nothing matters more than bringing championships to Kansas City. So as we developed the 2021 playoff campaign around that idea, we knew from the jump that we wanted to involve the people – the artists and makers – that make our city so special.”
“As a muralist and fan of KC sports, I was ‘sike’d’ to be asked to lend my talents to the Paint The Wall campaign for the playoffs,” said Phil “Sike Style” Shafer (Owner and lead artist at Sike Style Industries). “With a theme that represents what Sike Style Industries does, the concept brings art, design and sports together to rally the fans in support of the team.”
“Sporting KC will continue to paint the wall as victory will, indeed, be theirs! Giving all the smell of blue hell! Tech N9ne!” added Kansas City hip-hop pioneer TechN9ne.
“It really says something about Sporting KC as an organization that they put such an emphasis on bringing in a local manufacturer for this project,” said Chad Hickman, owner of Sandlot Goods. “We are just so incredibly proud to be involved in the making of the Paint The Wall banners and that the proceeds benefit such an important cause.”
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Sporting Kansas City kickd off the team’s 10th playoff appearance in the past 11 seasons at home on 20 November against Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Round One of the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs.
In the buildup to this postseason, the club also hosted two fan events at Children’s Mercy Park ahead of the playoffs: ‘a Playoff Rally in the Budweiser Brew House’ and ‘SportingStyle hosting a Friends and Family Pre-Sale’ n the Wise Power Shield Club.
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