From 0.05 to 20.98 Google Ads ROAS in 27 days for a major pro football franchise

Google Ads (Display → Search)

At a glance: ROAS rose from 0.05 to 20.98 in 27 days. Over the campaign, Search delivered 14.06 ROAS: $335K conversion value on $23.8K spend.

Empty floodlit football field at night seen from the end zone, goalposts centred near and far

20.98

peak Search ROAS in 27 days

The challenge

A major pro football franchise needed to sell more tickets and get more from its ad budget. The campaign started on Google Display. After 16 days it had 850K impressions, $2.65K in cost and just $300 in conversion value, a ROAS of 0.11x. By the end of the Display phase, ROAS had fallen to 0.05 on $5.62K in cost.

Our approach

Pivot to intent. We moved the budget from Display to high-intent Google Search.

Radius targeting. We started with a 125-mile radius around the stadium and widened it to 200 miles plus the surrounding states once demand was proven.
Keyword architecture. We built 89 keywords across broad, phrase and exact match, backed by negative keywords.
Deliberate scaling. The daily budget grew from $50 to about $300+, but only as returns held.
AI-assisted copy. We wrote and iterated the ad copy with ChatGPT, then optimized every week.

The results

Early check: Search ROAS 4.73x

Mid-September: Search ROAS 13.65x
Peak (27 days in): Search ROAS 20.98x
Early October: Search ROAS 19.33x
Campaign total (≈12 weeks): Search ROAS 14.06
ROAS went from 0.05 to 20.98, which is a 419x improvement.
Over the campaign: ROAS 14.06, $23.8K cost, $335K conversion value.

What it shows

Automation can’t fix the wrong channel. Matching budget to intent, then scaling deliberately, turned a losing campaign into a profitable one. This is the same discipline we bring to Google AI Max and event ticketing campaigns.

FAQ

Why switch from Display to Search? Display built reach but didn’t sell tickets (0.05 ROAS). Search reaches fans who are already looking for tickets.

How fast did results improve? Search reached 4.73x at the first check-in and peaked at 20.98x by day 27.

Was the budget increased? Gradually. Daily spend went from $50 to about $300+ only as ROAS held, in line with our Ad Account Management approach.

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