Redfin Just Listed Rocket Arena as Its Biggest Open House, and Everyone’s Invited

Redfin wants to remind people that home is more than a place; it’s a community. To do so, the real estate company is listing a unique open house: Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

While not actually for sale, the arena — home of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers — is a marketing activation within its campaign “Own the Dream,” which focuses on building community and strengthening neighborhoods. It includes its Super Bowl 60 ad, “America Needs Neighbors Like You,” which features an emotional rendition of Fred Rogers’ “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” sung by Lady Gaga.

The open house is meant to bring the Cleveland community together to walk the arena and explore Cavalier history. To give the activation a neighborly feel, there will also be a garage sale featuring memorabilia and autographed items. 

A humorous video playing on social will feature past Cavaliers Campy Russell, Daniel “Booby” Gibson, and Austin Carr, along with mascot Moondog, as they prepare for the sale.

 A thematic approach

This is Redfin’s first year under Rocket Companies, after being acquired in July 2025. According to CMO Jonathan Mildenhall, the acquisition organically led to the activation.

“It was one of those moments of complete creative innovation within my team, done in house, where we said, ‘We’ll take Redfin and its exclusive inventory, and we’ll take the iconic Rocket Arena, and we’ll put it on as this exclusive open house,’” Mildenhall told ADWEEK. “It’s a never-been-done-before marketing initiative.”

While the open house made sense for Redfin, the garage sale idea came from observing American neighborhoods themselves — specifically, where neighbors actually gather. Garage sales rose to the top of the list.

“We thought that’s going to be a fantastic community experience, that is emblematic of a neighborhood, that’s exclusive to Rocket Arena, and our fans will be able to turn up there, and buy exclusive merchandise, at really, really good garage sale prices,” Mildenhall said. “The whole thing is multi-faceted but absolutely core to the idea of ‘Own the Dream’ because it’s all about neighborhoods.”

Building emotional connection

By bringing strangers together under one roof for a shared experience, the Rocket Arena open house reflects Mildenhall’s longstanding belief in emotional marketing. The conviction that earnest authenticity outperforms comedy or celebrity is something he developed early in his career in the U.K.

“I don’t believe that you can build legacy through transactional marketing or humorous marketing,” he said. “I believe you build legacy through cultural marketing and stories that people will remember.”

He’s been fortunate, he acknowledged, to work with companies that share his values. As CMO of Airbnb from 2014 to 2018, he led “Never a Stranger,” a campaign that used emotional storytelling to show how renters connect with locals. 

At Rocket Companies, he’s applying the same approach to consumers chasing their own American dream.

“The most efficient way of growing Rocket and Redfin is to have human cultural stories that people remember,” he said. “Both these brands are such great sibling brands because Redfin helps you find the dream and Rocket helps you own the dream. And that beautiful symmetry around ‘Own the Dream’ means that we can tell stories that feel more human and more cultural and more memorable over time.”

Mildenhall has his own dream too: that the Rocket Arena open house is just the first of many.

“I would love to expand this to other cities,” he said. “I really want to build a reputation that the country’s most interesting properties are on Redfin.”