2019-20 Team Business award winners announced

The San Diego Gulls won most unique ticket promotion or theme night for their 80s Night (Photo: Jon Hayt)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … As part of the month-long 2020 AHL Team Business Spring Series, the American Hockey League today announced the winners of several awards recognizing the business successes of team staffs in the past year.

The 2020 AHL Team Business Spring Series, running May 19 through June 19, is a program of online presentations and discussions being hosted by the league’s Team Business Services department. Team and league front-office personnel from throughout the American Hockey League meet each offseason to discuss best practices and innovative ideas in several areas, including ticket sales, corporate sales and marketing.

Allie Brown, senior director of marketing and creative services for the Iowa Wild, has been selected as the winner of the league’s Ken McKenzie Award for the 2019-20 season. Recognizing the important role played by team management in building a successful franchise, the Ken McKenzie Award is presented annually to an AHL team executive who most successfully promotes his or her own club.

Brown, who joined the Wild in 2013 as an office administrator, now oversees the organization’s digital marketing, traditional advertising, game operations, community relations, graphic design, video production and social media efforts, providing invaluable direction and contributing directly to many of the Wild’s successful initiatives. Her leadership in game operations and video production has made the fan experience at Wells Fargo Arena one of the best in the AHL, and her progressive approach to promotions and sponsorships has allowed the Wild to show revenue growth for seven consecutive seasons.

The AHL’s Ken McKenzie Award, first presented in 1978, honors Ken McKenzie, the founder and long-time publisher of The Hockey News and a 1997 media honoree by the Hockey Hall of Fame as the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award winner. Mr. McKenzie was also the NHL’s first publicity director and creator of its first media guide.

Other Team Business Awards announced today include:

• The Springfield Thunderbirds won the ticket sales department of the year
• The Cleveland Monsters won the corporate sales department of the year
• The Syracuse Crunch won the social media department of the year
• The San Diego Gulls won most unique ticket sales promotion or theme night for their “80’s Night”
• The Iowa Wild won most unique game operations promotion for their “Stranger Things Night”
• The Manitoba Moose won most unique community relations initiative for their “Follow Your Dreams” game in conjunction with the Winnipeg Aboriginal Sport Achievement Centre
• The Colorado Eagles won most unique social media promotion for their use of Tagboard
• The Bakersfield Condors won most unique sponsorship package or entitlement for their Colonel’s Caravan program
• The Laval Rocket won outstanding marketing campaign for their “Ici l’Avenir/Witness the Future” program

In operation since 1936, the AHL serves as the top development league for all 31 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers.