One of Canada’s most historic and traditional sports wants to widen its audience with a cutting-edge, video-based website that will be financed solely by advertising.
The World Professional Chuckwagon Association has partnered with Calgary film and video company Zoom Communications to create HalfMileOfHell.com, expected to launch in early May. The site will include video replays of races plus standings, glimpses behind the scenes and a variety of multimedia components.
Kelly Carson, operations manager of the Alberta-based WPCA, which for the past two years has starred in the Half Mile of Hell reality show on the Outdoor Life Network, says the website offered the association an opportunity “to control our own destiny.” The website will expand the sport to an audience beyond those who attend the 11 shows the WPCA holds in Alberta each summer, says Carson.
Carson hopes to attract advertisers eager to target the WPCA’s fan base. In addition to existing tour sponsors like Dodge, WestJet, Encana and accounting firm Meyers Norris Penny, as well as marketers that sponsor individual chuckwagons each season, Carson says the website should be attractive to advertisers that target a rural audience. “We’re looking at the Wheat Pools, farm machinery dealers, fertilizer and seed companies.”
Zoom views the partnership as an opportunity to break new ground, says president and CEO Jeff Bradshaw. “If we can prove this model, we’ll be looking to partner with other content providers. We’re seeing more and more sports transitioning to this path. This is the next step for us.”
The new website will be introduced to potential advertisers via advertising on the existing WPCA website, e-mails and cold calls.
