June 26, 2006
Clubs change face of freebies
Clubs embrace themed events
By Pete Williams
Correspondent
“From a purely promotional standpoint, I have one rule I think is vitally important. If you are going to give something away, only give away the best.”
- Bill Veeck, from Veeck is in Wreck
More than a half century has passed since Bill Veeck helped create the promotional giveaway in sports, handing out 6,000 baseball bats to children accompanied by adults at a St. Louis Browns game.
Since then, fans have received countless T-shirts, hats, keychains, beach towels, retail coupons, calendars, Beanie Babies, bobbleheads, magnet schedules and other knickknacks, with sponsors usually covering the cost, if not plastering their logo upon the product.
The NFL, with its shorter schedule and packed stadiums, offers few freebies. Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL still dish out giveaways at the turnstiles, though in the era of the $75 ticket, teams have been forced to raise the bar. No longer does a 50-cent keychain seem sufficient.
“The era of the mass distribution item as an incentive is at a crossroads,” said John McDonough, senior vice president of marketing for the Chicago Cubs. “Fans are more sophisticated and expect more, so we all have to provide a higher value-perceived item.”
McDonough accepts some of the blame, having created the ballpark Beanie Baby frenzy in the late 1990s with the help of manufacturer Ty Inc. of nearby Oakbrook, Ill. In 1998, at the height of the craze, a dozen major league clubs gave out the plush toys, realizing an average gain of 37.4 percent at the gate. Some of the Beanie Babies fetched hundreds of dollars on eBay.
These days, the Cubs focus their efforts on more traditional baseball freebies, albeit premium items such as official Rawlings baseballs, Wilson mitts or Majestic jerseys signed by current stars such as Greg Maddux and Mark Prior, or past Cubs greats such as Ernie Banks and Billy Williams.
“These aren’t your normal lesser-brand giveaway items,” said Jim Oboikowitch, the Cubs’ coordinator of special events. Catcher Michael Barrett “was signing gloves and at one point he stopped, tried one on, and said he could use it in a game if he needed to.”
The Cubs distribute scratch-off tickets to the first 20,000 fans, with a few hundred receiving winning cards. Even the losing tickets, emblazoned with team logos and player images, become collector’s items. Sponsor costs for premium items are higher, but so is the benefit; sponsors typically get a dozen of each giveaway for charitable or internal use.
For the Cubs, who pack Wrigley Field each game, giveaways aren’t so much an incentive to attend as they are a value-add. Other teams, such as the Minnesota Twins, use popular bronze figurines of past greats such as Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew to “move tickets on days that need some help,” said Patrick Klinger, the team’s vice president of marketing.
In the NBA and NHL, where attendance is more closely tied to the opponent, teams often will trot out the most attractive giveaways for the most desirable games. Last season, the NHL’s Florida Panthers held their top dozen giveaways to coincide with the 12 most attractive games on the schedule, many on weekends. The Panthers also guarantee giveaway items to season-ticket holders, even those who don’t attend.
The NBA’s Atlanta Hawks classify their games internally as A, B and C, with the A contests the most desirable. The best giveaway items are assigned to the better B games.
“There’s more upside to taking a strong game and making it a sellout,” said Lou DePaoli, who as executive vice president for Atlanta Spirit LLC oversees the marketing for the Hawks and NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers. “If you have a soft opponent on a Tuesday in November, you’re not going to do much other than maybe a sponsor-driven ticket promotion.”
Unlike giveaways from years ago, which often featured obtrusive sponsor logos on a bag or T-shirt, the value to sponsors now comes from associating with the big-event night itself, said Carrie Rubin, the Panthers’ vice president of client services. Oftentimes the sponsor logo appears nowhere on the item, as was the case last season with the Panthers’ most popular giveaway, a hockey-themed Mr. Potato Head doll.
“The bigger the event, the more value is added to the sponsor,” Rubin said.
Sponsors, on the high end, can pay $75,000 to $100,000 for a promotion in the pro leagues. Their participation in a giveaway usually is part of a broader, multiyear package.
For example, when Delta Air Lines sponsored a floppy “bucket hat” giveaway for the Atlanta Hawks last season, the promotion cost Delta roughly $80,000 for 19,000 hats. The reversible hats cost between $4 and $5 per unit. The money Delta spent is applied to its overall sponsorship package, which includes tickets, suite costs, print signage, arena signage, etc.
“You’ll typically have language in the contract for a certain number of promotional nights with a total value of X,” DePaoli said. “From there, we can show the sponsor potential giveaway items at $2 or $3 or $4. That way we’re working hand in hand; it’s not just the team picking the item.”
DePaoli, who previously worked for the Florida Marlins, has discovered that hockey and basketball fans, who pay more expensive ticket prices than in baseball, don’t want to hear about the giveaways being only for kids. “You have to hit all target segments,” he said.
Not that teams and manufacturers have given up on discovering the next Beanie Baby or bobblehead that kids will embrace. Andy Strasberg, a former San Diego Padres marketing executive, recently launched “Pro Puppets,” a line of puppets in the likeness of big league players, broadcasters and mascots. The Cleveland Indians gave away 8,000 C.C. Sabathia puppets before a game June 4.
Strasberg’s San Diego-based All-Star Corporate Marketing Enterprises studied the success of Beanies, bobblers and other popular giveaway trends. “You have to have the combination of desirability and collectibility,” Strasberg said.
Some team operators believe there’s just as much, if not more, value to sponsors and fans in themed promotions. Even in the world of minor league baseball, where fan expectations for giveaways are lower, teams have moved toward themed promotions.
“It’s tough to find that cool new giveaway that everyone is going to flock to,” said Dave Oster, president and general manager of the Lake Elsinore (Calif.) Storm, a Class A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. “It used to be you could pass out a bobblehead and ensure that thousands of people would show up, but that’s not the case anymore.”
Mike Veeck, who has followed his father’s lead with his gonzo promotional antics, has generated national publicity with stunts such as “Nobody Night” in 2002, when he locked the gates at the home of his minor league Charleston RiverDogs to set the all-time lowest attendance.
Bill Veeck, creator of postgame fireworks, would have appreciated the move back toward themed promotions. After all, his most famous stunt — sending midget Eddie Gaedel to the plate — was part of a Falstaff Brewery promotion that included the distribution of midget beer bottles.
“The switch back toward themed promotions has been remarkable,” said Mike Veeck, author of the infamous “Disco Demolition” promotion at Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1979. “A glove or bat in the hands of kids will always work. But keychains, magnets and bottle openers — they’ve seen better days.”
One of Veeck’s teams, the independent St. Paul Saints of the American Association, staged a 30th anniversary tribute over Memorial Day to “The Love Boat,” the former ABC television series.
The Minnesota Twins, hoping to appeal to women who are casual fans, are staging a series of “Wine, Women and Baseball” promotions this season. Before six Thursday night games, women can purchase a $35 package that includes wine tastings, desserts, manicures and massages inside a tented area in the Metrodome’s plaza. The Twins have sold out the first two 250-ticket affairs.
Klinger, the Twins’ marketing VP, said the team has fielded no complaints about the gender-specific event. Like other team executives, he’s monitoring the recent lawsuits filed by attorney Alfred Rava against the Angels, A’s and Padres challenging the legality of gender-specific giveaways, such as a Mother’s Day tote bag giveaway by the Angels last season for women 18 and older.
Such litigation has prompted some teams to eliminate gender-specific distinctions. However, the Angels incident has inspired at least one promotion. On July 2, the Altoona (Pa.) Curve are scheduled to hold “Salute to Frivolous Lawsuit Night.” The first 137 men in attendance were set to receive pink tote bags and the first 137 women were to get lukewarm coffee so they would not burn themselves.
“We realize that these giveaways are fairly stupid and serve no real purpose,” Todd Parnell, the team’s GM, announced in a release. “But if our fans don’t like them, then they can sue us!”
© Copyright 2006 Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal
