05Pro sportsSports

Tampa Bay, at full volume.

Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Rowdies

Two home teams and two big moments: the Lightning’s 25th season, and the Rowdies’ bid to bring Major League Soccer to St. Petersburg.

Lightning 25th season key art: Steven Stamkos in front of a black and white arena crowd

Clients

Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rowdies

My role

Creative direction

Work

Building wrap, key art, video, application box and book, out of home, social

Lightning

Turn a 25th season into something the whole city could see from the street.

Rowdies

Make an MLS application impossible to leave in a pile.

The thread

Big, physical work that fans could stand next to.

From the arena to Times Square.

Five stops across two teams.

01 The arena
02 The film
03 The pitch
04 The book
05 Times Square

01 The arena

Twenty-five years, on the side of the building.

For the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 25th season, the players went up on the arena itself. Stamkos, Kucherov, Callahan and the rest were drawn in a rough, hand-worked style that feels like it was scraped out of the ice.

The same look carried the anniversary key art at the top of this page: the team in color, the crowd and the building in black and white behind them.

Building wrap and key art

Tampa Bay Lightning 25th season player artwork wrapped on the side of the arena, with Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Ryan Callahan

02 The film

The anniversary, in motion.

A film brings 25 years of Lightning hockey to the screen in the same gritty style.

Video

03 The pitch

We brought our pitch to you.

When the Tampa Bay Rowdies applied to join Major League Soccer, the application didn’t arrive in an envelope. It arrived in a gold box lined with real turf, with the line chalked on like a field.

Lift the lid and a stadium rises out of it: the pitch, the crowd and the St. Petersburg waterfront behind them. A small speaker hidden in the box goes off at the same moment, with the crowd roaring and the Rowdies fight song playing, so the league office hears the stadium before anyone turns a page.

MLS application box

A hand opens the gold Rowdies application box, lined with turf that reads We brought our pitch to you

The open box with #MLS2StPete chalked into the turf

A pop-up stadium rises from the lid of the box

04 The book

I believe that we will win.

Inside, a spiral-bound book makes the case. It opens on a fan’s creed, then shows the market, the city and the people behind the bid, with letters of support from local business owners.

Application book