Driving Growth for King of the Hammers

What is King of the Hammers?

King of the Hammers (KOH) started in 2007 as a single race among a dozen teams across the extremely rugged Hammer Trails of Johnson Valley, California. What originated as a grassroots event with racers competing for bragging rights and a case of beer has transformed into one of the largest and most complex motorsports events in the world. Now, over 80,000 fans and hundreds of racers show up to participate in multiple races spread over two weeks of competition, creating a city called “Hammertown” in what was once an empty dry lake. Even more tune in to watch the livestreams of the races on YouTube and other platforms. Capping off what has become an iconic event is the equally legendary Race of Kings, where the top drivers in the ever-evolving sport battle to be named King.

The Challenge

Hammerking Productions, the team behind KOH, built significant momentum for the event over its almost two decades of existence. The challenge was not only to maintain that momentum but to expand upon it. It was time to take all aspects of KOH to the next level and forge an even brighter future for it. Doing that would require us to hit the ground running and quickly integrate with the Hammerking Productions team.

The Strategy

Our strategy was to support KOH and Hammerking Productions with a wide range of our services. Multiple members of our events, creative, public relations, social media and other teams operated on-site in Hammertown for the duration of the two-week event. While there, they handled daily operations of the media center, including press safety briefings, registering journalists and answering any inquiries. Our creative team worked directly with our social media specialists to provide content for real-time updates on KOH’s social media channels and app. We also guided our invited content creators and media to the right spots for optimum coverage. After the racing is over, our work continues year-round, managing KOH’s social media, crafting press releases, vetting media for the next event and maximizing ticket sales.

Key Steps Taken

• Relocated key Kahn Media members to Hammertown to be onsite for the two-week duration of KOH.
• Ran and streamlined all aspects of the media center, including handling accreditation of all journalists, media inquiries and safety briefings.
• Captured engaging photos and videos daily for real-time updates on KOH’s social media channels.
• Invited and provided a curated experience for key journalists and content creators during KOH.
• Ran all of KOH’s social media channels during the event, along with the rest of the year.
• Assisted with developing the KOH app to spread coverage to a larger audience.
• Created race summaries immediately after the conclusion of major competitions for prompt distribution to media unable to attend.
• Conceptualized and executed the inaugural KOH Media Experience with a total of 13 media guests that yielded 115 pieces of unique content and over 16M impressions.

The Results

Our cohesive and multi-team approach with KOH has already produced significant results in less than two years. We organically grew KOH’s social media following by over 70K on Facebook and Instagram, with a further 20K contacts added to its newsletter. Revamping and overseeing KOH’s multi-million-dollar sponsorship program led to a 100% fulfillment of deliverables and a 95% sponsorship renewal rate in 2025. The 2025 KOH also saw the highest attendance ever, with over 100,000 in-person spectators and nearly 3 million viewers online. Our work continues with KOH and Hammerking Productions to elevate this epic event further.