ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have created Club Scarlet, a fan club for women designed to provide more information, events and networking opportunities for the team’s growing population of female fans. At the heart of Club Scarlet is ScarletCaps.com, a microsite dedicated to the female fan.
 
For the third straight year the Washington Capitals’ Hockey ’n Heels event sold out, this year in just 24 hours. The event’s popularity helped inspire the Capitals to create new ways to engage female fans.
 
“We have a large and passionate female fanbase, and like the rest of our audience, it is growing,” said senior manager of fan development Kim Frank “Women have been underserved in traditional sports experiences and coverage, and Club Scarlet will provide a customized outlet where our female fans can express their passion for the Caps year round.”
 
Club Scarlet, the first women’s fan club in the NHL, is free to join. Members will receive exclusive content on ScarletCaps.com, invitations to member-only events including cocktail parties and player meet and greets, special team and sponsor offers and more. Every female fan that signs up to join Club Scarlet on ScarletCaps.com will be eligible to enter into a drawing to win an autographed item by a Caps player.
 
ScarletCaps.com was designed by women with input from focus groups comprised of females conducted in the summer of 2008.  The focus groups consisted of a wide array of women including devoted Caps fans, women who recently became Caps fans and some who have never attended a hockey game. Throughout the focus groups, the women expressed how they would like to become more engaged with the team and what they would like to see from a website and from a club. As an ongoing part of Club Scarlet, a panel consisting of females in the media, bloggers and select Caps fans has been assembled to advise on content and upcoming events for the club to help maximize the member experience.
 
ScarletCaps.com will complement WashingtonCaps.com with content specifically created for Washington Capitals female fans. The site will include hockey instruction, behind-the-scenes videos of Caps players and an outlet for women to discuss the team and hockey on an exclusive message board.
 
ScarletCaps.com will also feature blogs from women such as Chilli Amar from Mix 107.3, Leslie Silvey from the Musings of a Hockey Mom blog and Chasta Piatakovas, a blogger who is also a member of the Capitals Fan Club. Other prominent female figures in the media and in the community with contribute as guest bloggers throughout the year.
 
The third-annual Hockey ’n Heels, which began Saturday at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, will conclude Wednesday at a cocktail party hosted by The Front Page in Arlington. The event featured instructional lessons and on-ice demonstrations targeted toward the Capitals’ female audience. The next Club Scarlet event is Thursday night, when winners selected on air and online by DC 101’s Elliot in the Morning will attend the Capitals game against Atlanta and attend a postgame meet and greet with Sergei Fedorov hosted by Diane from Elliot in the Morning. 

Go to ScarletCaps.com