A partnership with toy manufacturer Funko is having implications beyond naming rights for the Everett AquaSox‘s (Short Season A; Northwest League) Funko Field, as it is also facilitating a successful weekly promotion.
In March, the AquaSox announced that they had come to terms with Funko on a naming-rights agreement for the newly minted Funko Field. The Everett-based company has developed a cult following with its unique products, and that has been leveraged into a weekly promotion for the AquaSox known as Funko Fridays.
At each Friday home game this season, the AquaSox will celebrate their naming-rights partner with Funko Fridays, a promotion that features Funko-related giveaways and other tie-ins with the brand. The first Funko Friday on June 21 drew a crowd of 4,395, while the most recent turn at the offering came last Friday, when 3,725 turned out for a Copa de la Diversion-themed Webbly Pop! (Shown above.) Momentum from the initial Funko Fridays could continue over the rest of the season, as Funko fans appear to be taking full advantage of the promotion. More from The Herald:
Meanwhile, friends Christina Odilao of Marysville and Steve Holloway of Shelton arrived at the north gate at about 3:15 p.m. to be first in line. Odilao and Holloway are not regular Sox fans, but they are Funko enthusiasts.
“The Funko Pop!, definitely,” was Odilao’s reason for staking out a spot. “We like baseball, too, but I personally hadn’t been to an AquaSox game until opening night, that was pretty cool, and we got our free Funko. We go to Funko a lot — we are adults, but we are Funko fans. So we’re trying to get the last of the little frogs.”
At the first Funko Friday, Sox general manager Danny Tetzlaff estimated that 1,000 fans lined up at both the south and north gates prior to the gates opening, giving the new batch of seasonal workers a baptism by fire.
“It was a little overwhelming, to be honest,” Tetzlaff said. “We knew it would be a big night, but we didn’t fathom how big a night it would be, or how big a factor the Funko giveaway would have on it.”
There are four remaining Funko Fridays this season, including July 26, August 2, August 16, and August 23.
Image courtesy Everett AquaSox.
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