How the Las Vegas Desert Dogs Lifted Premium Sales by 50%

"Our ticket window for single tickets is ten days or less. That’s where text messaging really outperforms email.”

At a Glance

The Challenge

A Short Season in a Crowded Market

Las Vegas is one of the most competitive entertainment markets in the world. The Desert Dogs aren’t just competing against other sports teams. They’re competing against every show, concert, restaurant, and experience on the Strip. And they have nine home games per season to make an impression.

Before Sakari, the team had tried two other SMS platforms. Neither solved the core problem. Dana’s marketing operation runs through HubSpot, which is deeply connected to their ticketing platform, AXS. The old SMS tools didn’t integrate with HubSpot in any meaningful way. That meant every campaign required a manual process. Create a list in HubSpot, export to Excel, import into the SMS tool, and hope nothing broke along the way.

The bigger issue was on the sales side. The team’s sales reps were texting prospects from their personal cell phones. There was no way to track those conversations, no integration back to HubSpot, and no ability to text 20 or 50 people at once with a targeted offer. If a rep wanted to push a flash sale to their book of clients, they were doing it one phone at a time.

The Solution

One Tool for Marketing and Sales

When Dana found Sakari on the HubSpot marketplace, the integration was the first thing that stood out. No more exporting and importing. Lists built in HubSpot flow directly into Sakari, which means every campaign can be segmented by fan behavior. Season ticket members, single-game buyers, group ticket leads, premium package prospects, merch customers. Each audience gets the message that’s relevant to them.

But the real unlock was giving the sales team the same tool. Reps can now pull a targeted list of 20 or 50 prospects directly in Sakari or HubSpot, send a personalized text about a specific deal, and manage the back-and-forth conversation from their desktop. No more personal phones. No more lost threads. Everything ties back to HubSpot, and the team also has the Slack integration set up so nothing falls through the cracks.

How the Desert Dogs Use Sakari

The team uses Sakari across both sides of their operation, and the use cases keep expanding.

1. Premium package promotions. MMS messages featuring limited-edition jersey and ticket bundles, sent to targeted fan segments. These create urgency and drive same-day purchases.
2. Flash sales within the 10-day ticket window. Single-game tickets for Desert Dogs games are typically purchased within 10 days of game day. SMS drives last-minute conversions that email can’t match.
3. One-to-one sales outreach. Sales reps text targeted groups of 20-50 prospects with personalized offers and manage conversations from their desktops.
4. Game-day reminders and tune-in alerts. Fans get texts about home games, away game watch parties, and broadcast information.
5. Season ticket member communications. Special events, exclusive announcements, and watch party invites go directly to members via text.
6. Group ticket coordination. First-time group buyers get game-day instructions and logistics via text so they know exactly where to go and what to expect.

The Results

Sold Out 7 of 9 Premium Packages

The most visible win was in premium package sales. The Desert Dogs offer limited-edition bundles that pair a special jersey with a game ticket. This season, they sold out 7 of their 9 packages, a significant jump from the prior year. Dana estimates at least a 50% lift in premium package sales, driven in part by MMS campaigns that put the product directly in fans’ hands (literally, on their phones) with urgency-driven messaging.

The sell-outs were actually a problem. The team didn’t buy enough inventory. They’re planning to nearly double their jersey orders for next season because the demand is clearly there.

92% Season Ticket Renewal Rate

The Desert Dogs also saw a strong season ticket renewal rate of approximately 92%, alongside an uptick in new season ticket sales. While Dana is careful not to attribute all of that to SMS alone, text messaging played a role in keeping season members engaged throughout the year with exclusive updates, event invitations, and watch party announcements that built loyalty beyond just the nine home games.

20%+ Lift in Sales Response Rates

write conversational, personalized texts are seeing noticeably higher response rates. Dana estimates at least a 20% lift, and likely more, in both the rate and speed of responses compared to email sequences alone.

The key, she notes, is the messaging itself. The reps who treat texts like a real conversation rather than a broadcast get the best results. A quick, personal text about a specific deal outperforms a polished email sequence almost every time.

Where SMS Beats Email

Dana has a clear mental model for when to use each channel. Email handles the weekly newsletter. The big picture stuff. What’s happening with the Desert Dogs, upcoming games, general news. SMS handles the urgent, time-sensitive moments. Flash sales. Last-minute tickets. Game-day energy. And since single-game tickets are typically purchased within a 10-day window before the event, that’s exactly where text messaging creates the most impact.

When a fan gets an MMS two days before a game showing a limited-edition jersey package with a line that says it ends today, they see it. They don’t have to dig through their inbox. It’s right there on their phone. And that immediacy drives action in a way email simply can’t match during that short buying window.

Looking Ahead

The Desert Dogs are heading into the off-season with plans to go deeper with Sakari. Dana wants to explore HubSpot workflows more fully, automate more of the fan communication journey, and expand into merch sales via SMS. Father’s Day promotions and off-season campaigns are next on the list. She also plans to have the sales team use Sakari more heavily for group ticket communication, sending first-time groups game-day logistics and instructions via text so the experience is seamless before they even walk through the door.

And after selling out 7 of 9 premium packages this season, the team is planning to nearly double their inventory next year. They know the demand is there. Now they just need to keep the channel that’s driving it.