Fantasy meets football — er, soccer — in Union’s latest ticket promo
The popular "romantasy" book that's part of the "Empyrean" series seemingly has attracted a new audience, according to Greg Imming, the Union's head of ticket sales.
Philadelphia soccer fans may want to brush up on their dragon lore.
The Union are hosting a Fourth Wing theme night on Wednesday at Subaru Park, based on the popular romantasy (fantasy romance) book by Rebecca Yarros that’s part of the Empyrean series.
The “Wing Leader” package costs $90.51 and comes with a ticket to Wednesday night’s game against FC Cincinnati (7:30 p.m., FS1, Apple TV), scarf, tote bag, book, and a Yarros-autographed bookplate. A “Dragon Rider” package that includes a ticket and scarf already is sold out.
“It’s an opportunity to attract a new audience and maybe get some people out to a Union soccer match that have never been before,” said Greg Imming, the club’s vice president of group and inside ticket sales. “A lot of these people, north of 70%, are new to our database. So that tells me a lot of these people have probably never been to a Union match before.”
A portion of the proceeds from each ticket will go toward supporting the Trevor Project, which works to prevent suicide and provide crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ youth around the country.
Though Yarros will not attend Wednesday’s game, it’s one of several Fourth Wing nights taking place across professional sports this year, after the series took the adult fiction genre by storm.
The dedication of Yarros’ fan base has certainly been felt by the Union.
“If you read Fourth Wing, you are really into Fourth Wing, for sure,” Imming said with a laugh. “Once Yarros puts out a tweet or an Instagram post, we definitely saw an uptick in sales coming through, which is great.”
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Other teams hosting Fourth Wing or Empyrean nights includes MLB’s Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, and Texas Rangers; the NWSL’s Orlando Pride, Washington Spirit, and Seattle Reign; MLS’s Colorado Rapids; and the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
The series, which features a dragon riding school and, of course, a tumultuous love triangle, isn’t the first to branch out into the sports market to connect to fans. The Phillies are hosting Harry Potter night on Sept. 24 vs. the Milwaukee Brewers, and the first 3,000 fans to buy a ticket will receive a Phillies-themed Harry Potter house banner.
The Fourth Wing partnership is the first of its kind for the Union, according to Imming, who’s been with the club since its inception.
“We’ve definitely never done any type of book deal, but obviously with ‘BookTok,’ the romantasy genre is really popular, I’ve come to learn,” Imming said.
“We’ve been working on this for many, many months, and it’s hard to believe that [Wednesday is] the night where it all comes together.”
