I also liked how the Saints also clearly provided details about who gets the premium giveaway, which is vital whenever you are giving something away in numbers less than the total attendance. Here is what they said on their team website:
BOBBLEHEAD GIVEAWAY POLICY
June 27, 2006 - Bobbleheads will be given out to the first 2,500 fans in attendance of tonight’s game.
Bobbleheads will be given out one (1) per person in attendance, not per ticket. You must be present to receive a bobblehead
There are no exceptions so that we may accommodate the first 2,500 fans in attendance of tonight’s game.
Thank you for your support of Saints Baseball!
The giveaway was done at several of the minor league teams owned by the Goldklang Group, inlcuding the Hudson Valley Renegades. Murray did appear at the Hudson Valley game giveaway night.
Now (this is just a test at this point) we have video from YouTube, so you can really see it in action….worth much more than a thousand words, regardless of the author.
The Bulls get a great reaction out of this (and most of their on-court contests) by also giving the crowd a vested interest in the contest. As an example, each of these inflatables is racing for a section. If the middle inflatable (or Inflat-a-Bull) wins, then everyone in Section 201 wins. Prizes are then passed out in that section following the race. It’s a very savvy way to get a reaction out of any contest, and the Bulls do it really well.
As you can hear, it gets a great reaction from the fans and its pretty funny to watch.
Benny the Bull, mascot of the Chicago Bulls was in a incident in the last week, putting the performer and the character in news. The first paragraph is below or you can click here to see the full story.
“Benny the Bull” was arrested at the Taste of Chicago after taking a swing — in costume — at an off-duty police officer who was trying to get him to stop riding around on a mini-motorcyle.
There are a lot of angles to the story, but I want to focus on the topic of a mascot getting negative media. We can leave the details of the story aside, since I don’t know enough to comment on the story….and for the purposes of this they don’t matter.
The Bulls did the right thing by offering “no comments” on the story, and by not making a statement or acknowledging it on their web site (as of this writing). A Bulls comment would only further the story and give the media more to talk about and extend the story. The best thing for the Bulls, the character and the performer is to let this play out.
Mascots have to walk the line of being outrageous while not infringing on the rights or enjoyment of fans. There is nothing more boring than an overly tame mascot, but the flip side of the coin is the potential for negative media. Some times the best damage control with a media story is to just let it runs its course.
The July update is live and the email will go out on Wednesday morning, you can get a jump on the new content now.
I posted about a week ago that I still didn’t know what the content was going to be, which always makes me a little nervous…however the July update turns out to be very strong, a pleasant surprise. July is actually a pretty slow month, so I tend to save the big content for the fall, but I didn’t know this would come together like it did. I hope you agree.
We have our fourth installment of the Six from Six series. These are live game reviews that look at what teams around the country are doing well and how you can learn from them. This month we review the New York Rangers from a game last October. The Six from Six (i.e. 6 lessons from 6 teams) has been getting very good reviews, and it’s been great to hear feedback over the last few months from teams who have enjoyed the reviews. We are finalizing plans to visit 2 more teams this summer.
The promotion spotlight is exciting too. It’s a new product we have with a surprisingly cool twist. The Gameops.com Parachute Balls are giveaways that you throw up into the stands. With a time-released function, they pop open and float down into the crowd with a 2 foot parachute…no batteries and they are 100% reusable. Perfect for teams who can’t throw things off the catwalk and outdoor teams. The only downside is the higher minimum and cost. (but they are cool!)
The premium spotlight was one that I wasn’t too excited about until I researched some of the new trends in decorating. While decorating kids’ rooms in the color of their favorite sports teams isn’t new….it seems it’s gotten more sophisticated. This month’s premium item is the perfect finishing touch or a compliment to any sports themed room.
We continue to work on a couple navigation tweaks that should be launched in the next few weeks…you’d certainly notice that change when it happens.
Mascots present an interesting challenge. They can be interesting topics, but the media has to still protect the identity of your performer (unless that isn’t important to you).
I like this recent article on Tampa Bay (MLB) mascot Raymond. They did a nice job in balancing some insight about the character, as well as the performer while respecting the privacy.
I am collecting a few of these stories, since they can be helpful when you discuss a potential story with your local media by presenting some variations on how to dance around the privacy issue while still being interesting.
Like any new story on game operations, promotions, or mascots please feel free to email the links to us so we can post them on our main page.
BOBBLEHEAD GIVEAWAY POLICY
As you can hear, it gets a great reaction from the fans and its pretty funny to watch.
We have our 
Mascots present an interesting challenge. They can be interesting topics, but the media has to still protect the identity of your performer (unless that isn’t important to you).