Shakin’ It Up
The ballgame has ended, but the fans sit transfixed by fireworks bursting into brilliant colors beyond the outfield wall, as they do every Friday night.
On Sunday afternoons, Family Sunday, eager kids will have their chance to run around the bases on the infield.
And on Tuesday nights, kids and teens 18 and younger get into the ballpark for $3 each — the price for a bleacher seat at a big league ballpark once upon a time.
Promotions like these typically take place at minor league ballparks, but not anymore. Major league teams are taking a lesson from their counterparts in traditional diversions, treating fans to fireworks and letting kids run the bases just as their big league heroes do.
The scene is Angel Stadium, one of a number of increasingly fan-friendly ballparks, where the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, a consistent playoff contender, play their home games.
Ethnic nights, a staple in many minor league venues, are staged on a different scale in big league parks. And creative events like Elvis nights, retro ’70s nights and other themed nights are also played on a grand scale to pump up ticket sales.
BEYOND BOBBLEHEADS
Baseball is no longer the national pastime it once was, with the National Football League and the National Basketball Association clearly ascendant in the past two decades. Rising ticket prices, spurred by players’ skyrocketing salaries, have forced MLB teams to offer more ballpark amenities and ancillary events to keep fans coming back.
Angel Stadium and the newer stadiums, like the AT&T Park in San Francisco, have added kids’ recreation areas. Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia features a Phanatic Shoe Slide, playing off its popular mascot. And the Detroit Tigers’ Comerica Park features a Ferris wheel.
Baseball promotions have gone well beyond bobbleheads and other giveaways. But those bobblehead caricatures of popular ballplayers are still in the mix.
“The days of bobbleheads are still here, but that really ties in a corporate sponsor,” says Eric Smallwood, vice president of marketing for Front Row Marketing Services.
Dating back to the 1960s, bobbleheads began being rendered more creatively and carrying corporate names. The Philadelphia Phillies issued a “Flyin’ Hawaiian” Shane Victorino figure, playing off their centerfielder’s nickname and playing style, sponsored by local utility company PECO. Coca-Cola sponsored two companion bobbleheads of Houston Astros’ stars Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell.
Corporate sponsors clearly want a piece of all the ballpark action. Teams typically create events and giveaways and then get corporate sponsors to match.
Last year, sports sponsorship spending in the U.S. and Canada hit $9.94 billion, according to IEG — a 16.7% jump over the previous year. Major League Baseball and its 30 teams took an estimated $505 million of that lucrative business. IEG projects sports sponsorships will hit $11.7 billion this year, representing a whopping 69 percent of the $16.78 billion it expects North American companies to spend on all sponsorships.
Pro baseball figures to draw its proportionate piece of that growing revenue pie.
The frequency of ballpark promotions took off in the mid-’90s, as baseball teams sought to rekindle the interest of disaffected fans after the 1994 strikes. Teams building new ballparks added more amenities for fans — marketing more than a ballgame — and financed those facilities by selling naming rights to corporations.
Smallwood estimates between 80 percent and 90 percent of all ballpark promotions carry corporate sponsors, with stadium sponsors effectively extending their investments. “Most of the time, it’s the big sponsors of the stadium,” he says. “They’re big sponsors anyway. It’s just a tie-in.”
It would seem that the Angels hardly need to provide additional entertainment or breaks on ticket prices to bring fans to their ballpark. But the objective is to build a loyal fan base by cultivating a rapport in a market where the competition is the Los Angeles Dodgers and the year-round beach weather.
“We focus on continuity,” says Robert Alvarado, Angels vice president of marketing. “We do fireworks on Friday night. Whether we’re sold out or not, we’re doing it.”
The payoff for the playoff-bound Angels: a better than 90 percent renewal rate among season ticket holders and more than 3 million fans attending games in each of the last five seasons. There’s also a payoff in corporate partners: Wells Fargo sponsors the fireworks and McDonald’s is title sponsor for Family Sundays, featuring reduced ticket prices and a Family Picnic Zone where kids can play.
Like other teams, the Angels are making themselves a family brand and connecting with bilingual marketing to tap Latino fans.
“Your loyalties as a baseball fan actually lie in whatever emotional connection you make in the ballpark,” Alvarado says.
A NEW BALLPARK EXPERIENCE
The challenge for contemporary baseball marketers is to make the game part of a larger entertainment experience. So teams routinely stage eclectic themed nights. This season the Angels offer a ’70s night, with psychedelic tunes playing between innings and players portrayed with Afros on the scoreboard. And there’s takeaway: a retro Angels ballcap.
It all exemplifies a trend that’s changing the nature of ballpark promotions and fans’ experiences at big league baseball games.
“It used to be, you went there and sat on your butt,” says Richard Laermer, sports marketing consultant. “Now they get people excited with fireworks and mascots.”
Laermer thinks down-to-earth features like kids’ recreation areas make fans more comfortable at the ballparks. And in an era when TV production values guarantee fans a great view from their couches, he says the ballpark experience has to be enhanced.
“It’s easier to watch a game at home in your underwear,” Laermer says. “So there’s no real reason to go unless there’s something extra.”
At U.S. Cellular Field, Elvis night is one of the most popular promotions the Chicago White Sox run. Bands featuring Elvis wannabes play outside the entrance gates. Flying Elvises parachute into the stadium. A faux Elvis croons the national anthem, and fans are treated to a concert on the field, all sponsored by Jewel-Osco, a regional supermarket and drugstore chain. And they get to see a ballgame, too.
On Mullet Night, fans wearing mullet (a comically awful hair style) wigs can parade around the ballpark. Mullet hairdos are imposed on players’ scoreboard images to the accompaniment of mullet music. And last year, event sponsor Great Cuts gave fans mullet haircuts, with the price of the odd ‘do raising $25,000 for charity.
“The goal of promotions would not be to just pop the attendance that night,” says Brooks Boyer, White Sox vice president of marketing. “Hopefully, it makes them comfortable coming to the ballpark, and it will make them come out more than they would otherwise.”
This season, the White Sox added a Polish Heritage Night to their schedule, which already included Italian, Greek, Hispanic and Asian American Heritage Nights, all with appropriate musical and culinary accompaniment.
In competition for fans with the iconic Wrigley Field and the cross-town rival Chicago Cubs, the White Sox do something every night of their home schedule. But Boyer says the Sox aren’t just in competition with the Cubs: “We’re in competition with anything that takes the entertainment dollar,” he says. “So this better be a pretty entertaining experience.”
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
The Cubs and the Boston Red Sox represent marketing anomalies because their historic ballparks provide fans unique experiences that need little embellishment to consistently draw crowds.
The Red Sox have sold out 440 consecutive games since May 2003. Rather than spend money on giveaways, the Red Sox have invested in their infrastructure, dressing up the ballpark, offering tours and installing seats atop their legendary 37-foot “Green Monster” left field wall at Cadillac prices.
“We’ve taken something of a radical approach to marketing Fenway,” says Sam Kennedy, Red Sox chief marketing officer.
Sometime in September, the Red Sox even plan to sell pieces of Fenway in a garage sale, hawking old ballpark bricks, signs and seats on the field. “It’s a way to allow fans to take a piece of history with them,” Kennedy says.
Recent history has been a roller coaster ride for the Houston Astros, who’ve lost their biggest stars of the past decade, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, to retirement. But the Astros brought them back in separate promotion nights as bobbleheads high-fiving each other.
The Astros’ losing record puts additional pressure on the team to create drawing cards.
“When the team isn’t going good, you have to have that additional hook to bring the fans in,” says Jennifer Randall, Astros senior marketing director. “And you want to keep it a fun atmosphere for people who are here.”
The Astros stage fireworks after each Friday night game. Marathon Oil provides the sponsorship spark.
The team also ties a headphone giveaway with a Bayou Night, featuring Cajun music, gumbo and crawfish.
Many teams, including the Astros and Philadelphia Phillies, regularly consult with their minor league franchises for ideas they can adapt.
At this year’s second home game — usually a low attendance night — the Phillies doubled their ticket sales to 40,000 over last season with a College Night T-shirt giveaway that also featured $1 hot dogs.
From giveaways at their former Veterans’ Park, the Phillies got creative in their new locale, staging a Hawaiian-themed night to accompany the Victorino bobblehead, with hula dancers at the entrance gates.
Fans got traditional leis, and players wore Hawaiian shirts in their scoreboard photos that go up on the screen when a player comes to bat.
“Whether it’s a giveaway or not, we’re trying to make that night different, with our scoreboard and music and characters we bring into the ballpark on that theme,” says Scott Brandreth, Phillies director of merchandise.
It’s a whole new ballgame, and to keep MLB attendance at new highs each season, every team is playing.
