Minor-league baseball teams live and die with their promotional schedules, which is why they’re such a preoccupation in so many front offices. Every team now has a promotion virtually every game of the season, whether it’s a Thirsty Thursday or a bobblehead giveaway. There were many great promotions during the 2009 season, but promotions from the Trenton Thunder, Lakewood BlueClaws and Quad Cities River Bandits stood out from the crowd and were named by Ballpark Digest editors as the best of the 2009 season. Specifically honored: the groundbreaking “Kids Eat Free” season-long promotion from Trenton and Lakewood and the Mega-Candy Drop in the Quad Cities.
Minor-league baseball teams live and die with their promotional schedules, which is why they’re such a preoccupation in so many front offices. Every team now has a promotion virtually every game of the season, whether it’s a Thirsty Thursday or a bobblehead giveaway. There were many great promotions during the 2009 season, but promotions from the Trenton Thunder, Lakewood BlueClaws and Quad Cities River Bandits stood out from the crowd and were named by Ballpark Digest editors as the best of the 2009 season. Specifically honored: the groundbreaking “Kids Eat Free” season-long promotion from Trenton and Lakewood and the Mega-Candy Drop in the Quad Cities.
“A great promotion should do more than just draw attention to the team; it should excite fans and give them something of value,” said Kevin Reichard, publisher of ballparkdigest.com, the Internet’s leading resource on the culture and business of baseball. “In the midst of a terrible economy Trenton and Lakewood enhanced the lives of thousands of kids with a bold promotion that went way beyond what anyone else in baseball was doing.”
The Thunder and BlueClaws launched a season-long promotion where kids ate free at the ballpark during every home game. Each child, aged 12 and under, received a voucher upon entering the ballpark good for a free hot dog, bag of potato chips and a 12-ounce fountain soda. That level of promotion was unmatched in all of baseball and led other team to launch their own Kids Eat Free promotions, though none did with the same commitment as the Thunder and BlueClaws.
“This past season was a rough one for many baseball teams — and for their fans as well,” Reichard said. “That Joe Finley and crew made a commitment to families on this levels says a lot about how they run their teams and treat their fans.”
“We were happy to offer Kids Eat Free to our fans in an economically challenging 2009,” said Trenton Thunder GM Will Smith. “Judging by the response, kids (and parents!) must have enjoyed the seven-plus miles worth of Dietz & Watson hot dogs we gave away this year. We thank Ballpark Digest for recognizing the value and creativity behind this promotion.”
“Going into the 2009 season, we felt that this was the right promotion at the right time, reaching out to area families in a tough year,” said Lakewood BlueClaws GM Geoff Brown. “We were ecstatic that it went over so well and we’re honored that Ballpark Digest chose to honor our two clubs.”
Trenton and Lakewood were cited for the best season-long promotion. For the best one-night promotion, the Quad Cities River Bandits were cited for the best one-game promotion: the Mega-Candy Drop, which attracted a crowd of more than 5,000 fans to Modern Woodmen Park — including more than 800 kids, who crammed the field to pick up candy dropped by a hovering helicopter.
“One measure of success for a promotion, to put it bluntly, is to put fannies in the seats,” Reichard said. “The River Bandits filled the ballpark on an otherwise slow Sunday night and managed to excite both parents and kids.”
“The Mega-Candy Drop was an event that people in our community talked about for weeks — before, during and after it happened,” said River Bandits’ owner Dave Heller. “To see the faces of the kids light up when the candy started falling from the sky, and then to hear the laughter and cheers that filled the park when the marshmallows fell on top of the kids was something all of us with the River Bandits will remember for years to come. We created a memory for a thousand Quad Cities kids that will last a lifetime, and we’re grateful to Ballparkdigest.com, the industry leader in our business, for this fantastic honor. ”
As noted, there were lots of noteworthy promotions this season in the baseball world. These teams (in alphabetical order) deserve an Honorable Mention for their efforts:
Asheville is a great beer town, and the Asheville Tourists (Low Class A; South Atlantic League) took advantage of that with “The Great Asheville Craft Beer Race,” with the Tourists teaming up with the five craft breweries in town (Green Man, French Broad, Asheville Pizza and Brewing and The Wedge) to form a “Beers of Asheville” stand on the concourse along with the “Great Asheville Craft Beer Race” that took place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday home game. The promotion will be expanded next season with the addition of three more breweries participating in the race and stand.
The Charleston RiverDogs (Low Class A, South Atlantic League) built several promotions around baseball’s lone ambidextrous pitcher, Pat Venditte, who was promoted from Charleston to the Advanced-A Florida State League’s Tampa Yankees at the end of June. When Venditte entered a home game, primarily as a closer, the PA announcer would encourage fans to switch their seats whenever Venditte would switch from right-handed to left-handed and vice-versa. Portions of the “Cha-Cha Slide” were played over the Riley Park loudspeakers to further involve the fans in this once-in-a-lifetime viewing experience. In the merchandise shop, the RiverDogs launched a Pat Venditte reversible T-shirt for our merchandise store, which was grey on one side, then when turned inside-out, the shirt became navy blue. Venditte’s name was placed on both sides of the shirt with his #27 and both RHP & LHP for respective sides of the shirt.
The Fresno Grizzlies continued their streak of strong promotions with As Seen on TV Night, where between-innings promotions and giveaways glorified the pitchmen of television. On the date of the event, the first 2,500 fans received their very own Grizzlies shammy cloth upon entrance to the park. The game featured headshots with all the Grizzlies players wearing Snuggies and the visiting team being transformed into Chia Pets. Between-inning entertainment included a tribute to Ron Popeil, the godfather of the informercial, and a salute to some failed As Seen On TV products (i.e. “Exercise in a Bottle” and the instant hair removal wonder “Epil Stop”). The highlight of the game may have been the Snuggie, Shamwow, Life Alert relay race that pitted two contestants together in a winner take all battle to complete the As Seen On TV trifecta.
The Grand Prairie AirHogs (independent; American Association) jumped on the whole Octomom phenomenon with an Octomon Night, complete with Octomom lookalikes dancing on the dugouts, a baby-food-eating contest, baby stroller race, a diaper derby, and a “Guess How Many Buns are in my EZ Bake Oven?” game. The organization also guaranteed that if the AirHogs scored eight or more runs, every fan would receive a free ticket to a future game.
The Lake County Captains (Low Class A; South Atlantic League) held a Cleveland Sports History Night featuring Nickel Beer. Let’s face it: To be a sports fan in Cleveland is a unique experience. As the team put it: “All life-long Clevelanders have come to accept the fact that no matter how close our teams get to winning a championship we always find a way to blow it and we wanted to take this and have some fun with it.” Besides offering nickel beer — which fueled a unique fan experience at the Muni in 1974 — and selling 2,000 cups, the team invited numerous well-known Cleveland sports personalities to sign autographs and meet fans, including former Browns Hanford Dixon and Don Cockroft, former Indians Jim “Mudcat” Grant and Len Barker. Several between-innings promotions re-created key moments in Cleveland sports history, such as when Browns lineman Orlando Pace was struck in the eye by a penalty flag thrown by an official.
The Reading Phillies (Class AA; Eastern League) held two Gluttony Nights, where all-you-can-eat was taken to a new level: During tgames on May 19 and August 26, the combined units of cheeseburgers, hot dogs, pizza, French fries, funnel cake, ice cream and soda consumed amounted to 39,239.
The St. Paul Saints (independent; American Association) issued Re-Count Bobbleheads, featuring rotating heads with U.S. Senate contenders Al Franken and Norm Coleman. The bobblehead was announced after the 2008 elections, but because the Senate recount took so long the Saints were able to present the bobbleheads during the season and before a winner was declared.
Ballpark Digest Awards are chosen by the editors of the website following nominations from teams and fans alike. Last year’s winners of Promotion of the Year were the Fresno Grizzlies and St. Paul Saints.
Subscribers to the weekly Ballpark Digest newsletter see features before they’re posted to the site. You can sign up for a free subscription at the Newsletter Signup Page.
Join Ballpark Digest on Facebook and on Twitter!