Whether you love it, loathe it or just love to make fun of it, you have to admit that Tinder has changed the dating game.
Now D.C. United’s ticket sales team appears to be hopping on the bandwagon.
United blog Black & Red United reported on Tuesday that the club’s sales reps have sought to connect with fans on the fast-growing social network, including offers of a special ticket discount code for users.
“At least one D.C. United fan has told B&RU that they received messages on Tinder, the dating and social networking app that in which users swipe right or left and make one-on-one connections, from a D.C. United rep offering a Tinder-specific discount code for tickets to an upcoming match,” writes Ben Bromley, who also notes that the rep in question had to ease the user’s fears that a spam bot was at work and not an actual person.
Amazingly enough, this news arrives hard on the heels of a Tinder-based pregame tifo by D.C. supporters' group District Ultras, though that's surely just a strange coincidence and not the source of inspiration for this new sales push ... right?
Some might raise their eyebrows at D.C.'s sales department utilizing a service that reduces the complex equation of love, attraction and chemistry to the simple choice of “swipe left” or “swipe right.” But for a club that’s currently leading the Eastern Conference with little in the way of major stars or marketing hype, it’s just one more way to reach out to potential fans.
“We’re actively exploring new and creative ways to grow our fan base, particularly emerging social channels that resonate directly with millennials,” United spokesman Craig Stouffer told Black & Red United. “We’ve had success with early adoption of Periscope, and we’re looking at ideas to improve the in-stadium experience as well.”
