The year Little Caesars became the Official Pizza of the NHL for the 2020/21 season was a little different.
With no Canadian fans in the stands, we needed to move beyond the expected rink board and connect with pizza-loving hockey fans authentically.

We decided to bring the thrill of being at an arena to their homes every Wednesday in an engaging way born of fan culture and the Little Caesars brand. If we could turn Wednesday night into the best night of the week for hockey (and pizza) fans and boost our delivery service while we did it, the program would be a success.

Introducing Pizza Night Hockey: all the excitement of the arena experience - brought to your home every Wednesday.

Our first campaign element, “Naming Rights”, invited consumers to sell the rights to their living room, basement, or wherever they enjoy the game by signing a not-legally-binding contract on pizzanighthockey.ca. Once signed, Canadians gained access to exclusive deals for every remaining Pizza Night Hockey of the 2020/21 season.

Then, we expanded our presence in Little Caesars Hockey Rooms across the country. Through social, the brand gave fans the opportunity to ‘renegotiate’ their contracts. These real-time digital auctions allowed fans to name their price – in pizza – to add absurd Little Caesars branding in their home.

Finally, every box sold on Wednesday came with a “seat number” that let you enter to win the grand prize announced live on the broadcast of the game, just like when you’re there live.

Little Caesars saw a 21% increase in Wednesday store traffic, a 15% increase in sales, and a 10% increase in delivery. On social media, we saw an astronomical increase of 8.6x in follower growth and an incredible 17.7% of overall engagement on our platforms.