VIENNA, VA Oct. 2 (TLC News) — A Northern Virginia law fi rm specializing in divorce law has hit the rink – the Women’s Roller Derby Rink, to be precise – and scored big with a unique promotional sponsorship.
Masterman, Krogmann & Diño, well known in Virginia
divorce-law circles, decided in 2011 to break through the legal
marketing din with a sponsorship of DC Roller Girls, the metro
area’s fl at-track women’s roller derby league.
“We knew it was a little different for a law firm,” says
David Masterman, founding partner of Vienna-based
Masterman, Krogmann & Diño and a member of The Ten Leaders Cooperative. “But no one ever described our firm as dowdy or
stuffy – we were looking for something with energy and good
people. And that’s what we got.”
In fact, according to Masterman, the firm received
case referrals from league players in late 2011, the first year
of the firm’s sponsorship.
Other sponsors are “a mile away” from legal services,
Masterman says. They include a Capitol Hill yoga spa, a DC
family-owned hardware store, and a Tupperware-style business
that sells adult novelties. “I know old-line firms who would never
consider sponsoring a women’s roller derby league,” says
Masterman, himself a one-time punk-rock musician. “But that’s
fine with me. The sponsorship makes us part of a fun and
original community.”
Masterman said the “very reasonable” league sponsorship
gives his firm a banner presence at all games and audio plugs
during timeouts. “It’s not the Nationals or the Redskins,”
Masterman added, but he said players and league organizers
have “personally made a real effort making sure the
sponsorship works for us.”
DC Roller Girls league (Motto: “With Liberty and
Justice to Brawl”) was founded in 2006, with its fi rst tryouts
in a Rosslyn, Va., parking lot.
Today, games take place at the Dulles SportsPlex in Sterling, Va.
Games typically attract several hundred spectators.
The Roller Derby league includes nearly 80 participants,
who according to the league’s website (dcrollergirls.com) come
from “all walks of life: teachers, nurses, writers, artists, librarians
and work-at-home moms.”
Teams include The Cherry Blossom Bombshells and The
DC Demoncats, as well as an All-Star team that travels around
the country. One team comes from as far as Salisbury, Md., to
compete in the league.
“At the end of the day our work is about helping people
from all walks of life, too,” says Masterman. And, he says, “my
kids love going to the games.”