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Star Wars Night at Verizon Center

The Star Wars saga may have taken place “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” but the latest galactic adventure took place much more recently here in the nation’s capital.

From the moment fans entered Verizon Center until the final buzzer sounded, Saturday’s Washington Mystics game was an immersive experience throughout as the team celebrated its first ever Star Wars Night.

For months, the sales, marketing and public relations departments at Monumental Sports and Entertainment worked together to brainstorm, plan and execute ways to bring the world of Star Wars to Verizon Center.

“The idea came from one of our Mystics sales reps, Danielle White,” said Dana Campbell, Marketing Manager for Monumental Sports and Entertainment, who oversaw the project. “She saw a few other teams executing it, particularly on the baseball side, and she thought it would be a cool idea if we introduced it to our WNBA audience.”

The team introduced a social media campaign a few weeks prior to the actual theme night, which incorporated Mystics players into the Star Wars world and depicted Star Wars characters with a Washington, D.C. backdrop.

 

 

Then on the actual Star Wars night, the Mystics’ usual game intro video was replaced by a special lightsaber-filled one. Normal game time music was replaced by the triumphant trumpeting of John Williams’ famous theme song and trivia on the Jumbotron quizzed fans on their knowledge of the saga.

Attendees were also given light-up thunder sticks reminiscent of lightsabers— some red and others blue “to balance out the force,” as Campbell put it.

At halftime, they watched as the Mystics’ home court was transformed into a galactic battleground where good and evil dueled.

“I liked the Jedi costumes and when they were battling each other,” said Oren Egnal, 7, who dressed up as a Wookiee. He stood at half court to take part in a fan costume contest, though he said his favorite part of the night was watching the game.

Though the force may not have been with the Mystics that night— the now 10-0 Minnesota Lynx won 83-76— the spirit of Star Wars radiated throughout Verizon Center.

“I liked seeing the younger kids get involved,” said Sarah Rushing of Front Royal, Va., who dressed up as Padmé Amidala and attended the game with Horace Brooks, who won the fan costume contest as Chewbacca. “That’s probably the best thing. We love D.C. sports, but once we found out about the Star Wars event, it made it ten times more interesting.”