MLS just announced the biggest change to its calendar in the league's history. A whole new season, called the 2027 Sprint Season, to serve as a one-time bridge to a summer-to-spring future.
When the Sprint Season schedule dropped, the LA Galaxy turned the whole thing into a hub, right there in their club app, on the same day. The. Same. Day.
Not a link with "more details coming." Rather, a full-fledged digital takeover, answering the fans' gazillion questions. What is this new Sprint Season? How many games will the Galaxy play, who, when, where? What happens after? And, tell me, is the Los Angeles Derby, El Tráfico, on the schedule?
When the news broke, Galaxy fans opened their app and the answers were already there. That's the part that matters to me most as a fan, and also in serving our clients. I want our clubs to absolutely, emphatically, unreservedly (add all your good adverbs here) own the moment when it counts. That's why we built out our Digital Takeovers initiative (with upwards of 250 takeovers done in a year-and-change), and why we have a whole team of designers focused on ensuring our clubs own big moments like these.
The magic lies in three parts: a club willing to experiment with a just-in-time, just-for-this-moment redesign, a design team that knows how to redesign/flip the app over in record time, and, finally, our Graffiti CMS that allows for the rapid reskin without an app update, and without hesitation.
The instant a moment breaks, the app already owns that moment.
The instant that a fan has a question, the app is already holding the answer.
And, that's how it should be.
Thank you to Shawn Medow, John Spagnola, Connor Duffy, and Michael Beteag, MBA, for your collaboration with us on the LA Galaxy app. Shawn, thank you so much for the priceless opportunity of reskinning your app for some of the biggest moments and memories for the club. You're always coming up with new ideas for takeovers, and you're always game to do these with us. The Landon Donovan tribute. The Cobi Jones statue unveiling. The El Tráfico takeover. And, now, this latest one. I deeply appreciate the number of times you've collaborated with Aislinn Keenan and our takeovers team on these experiences. Keep them coming! We love working with you.
Image credit: Ana Baskinger