Fun post from a blog on DodgeCity.com about game presentation, Sharpie Markers, premium giveaways, Zippy Cool….and Gameops.com
Christopher Pyle, a former minor league basketball executive is now writing for the Dodge Daily Globe and had this (and more) to say in a recent blog.
All the extra showmanship around a sporting event, or game operations, (game ops as it’s said in the biz) is an industry unto itself. It takes a certain kind of genius to put a college-educated grown man into a suit designed to resemble something from a Timothy Leary hallucination.
Fort Wayne, IN – For the second consecutive season, the Fort Wayne Wizards and Memorial Stadium will be peanut-free for one game. For the Friday, July 13th game at 7:00 p.m. against the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the Wizards will team with FanFare, Inc. to eliminate all peanut items from the concession stands.
The peanut-free menu will allow peanut allergic children and other baseball fans, the chance to attend a Wizards game without having to worry about eating or being around an food item with peanuts in the ingredients or products.
A study by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, showed that more than four million Americans suffer from some type of peanut allergy and those people, by just being around a peanut or peanut shell, tasting, smelling or touching, can be life threatening.
Items included on the menu that will not be available are peanuts, M&M’s, Snickers, Cracker Jacks, Crunch Bars and Drumsticks. Any other item relating to peanuts and treenuts will also not be available for purchase before, during or after the game.
“Children and people who have this allergy, this is a new experience” Ely said. “The opportunity provided by the Wizards will allow people the chance to do something they have never done before because of all the exposure at a baseball stadium. This will help them enjoy America’s pastime and other events because a lot of people can’t attend. This is a chance to promote the peanut allergy awareness to many people.” (team web site)
While I have other questions (like why I never heard of peanut allegies when I was a kid) this is a really interesting promotion by the Wizards. As noted it gives people with the allergies a totally new experience (going to a game without facing a breakout). While the percentage of people effected is noted to be about 1.1% of the population (details) you might assume that’s too small a percentage to build a promotion around. However this promotion excludes no one (unless you refuse to watch baseball without Cracker Jacks) and is such a thoughtful connection to this targeted audience.
Add to the goodwill, this will certainly get local media attention and there are easy and powerful sponsorship opportunites (medical, health, whole foods, etc). The information you can provide would be very helpful to families and people afflicted. The community connection of a sports team can be very strong and being an outlet for health information is a good use of that connection. (Like the Toronto Blue Jay SARS night a few years ago (Best Promotion Honorable Mention)).
My final thought is that I really think they should invite Mr. Peanut to the game for the first pitch….then medivac him out before he causes a chaotic outbreak.
-Cudo
Note: This has been nominated for a Best of 2007 Award.
FORT MYERS, FL (June 13, 2007) - Attending a Fort Myers Miracle game is an easy decision. Your guaranteed fun, family, affordable entertainment in a beautiful ballpark watching exciting minor league baseball. The Miracle also understand that sometimes people have second thoughts about their choice of entertainment and want to flip-flop their decision. That’s why the Miracle will give fans an opportunity to have a change of heart, on “Billy Donovan Night” June 20th. (more)
A great promotion from the Fort Myers Miracle. While the game offers little in “value” to fans it undoubtedly will get some free media attention. It shows a sense of humor, while not being too mean-spirited.
I understand that Billy Donovan had committed to attend and throw out the first pitch, but changed his mind the next day.
-Cudo
Note: This promotion has been nominated for a 2007 Gameops.com Best of Award.
According to the Kansas City Royals, some Major League teams have adopted a certain sing-a-long song that they play after the classic “Take Me Out…” For example: the Houston Astros play “Deep In the Heart Of Texas,” the Milwaukee Brewers go with polka number “Roll Out The Barrell,” and the Boston Red Sox belt out “Sweet Caroline.” Now the Royals have asked their fans to select the special song that will be played at their ballpark. The fans’ choice will then be played during every 7th Inning Stretch following the All-Star break. (Read more)
Fans can pick from these songs, or suggest their own:
Last Dance, by Donna Summer
Son of a Preacher Man, by Dusty Springfield
Kansas City, by The Beatles
The Limbo
Cotton Eyed Joe, by Rednex
Ring of Fire, by Johnny Cash
Dancing Queen, by ABBA
Come on Eileen, by Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground), by Michael Jackson
Sweet Caroline, by Neil Diamond
Traditions are hard to start, but the Royals have a great way to helpf jump start this potential in-game tradition….that is, allow the fans to be involved in the selection. I really like the second round of voting, since they even more fans will have voiced their opinion for the eventual winner. And anytime you can connect your website with fans and your in-game product, you have a winner.
–Cudo
PS: Don’t let it effect your ballot, but I voted for “Come on Eileen”
Where Do Hecklers Come From?
The origins of booing.
By Sonia Smith
Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson was razzed on his home turf on Tuesday night as the team fumbled toward an embarrassing 14-3 loss to the Red Sox. The Yankee Stadium crowd booed Johnson as he left the game in the fourth inning. Where does booing come from?
The first written record comes from ancient Greece. At the annual Festival of Dionysia in Athens, playwrights competed to determine whose tragedy was the best. When the democratic reformer Cleisthenes came to power in the sixth century B.C., audience participation came to be regarded as a civic duty. The audience applauded to show its approval and shouted and whistled to show displeasure.
In ancient Rome, jeering was common at the gladiatorial games, where audience participation often determined whether a competitor lived or died. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Latin verb explodere means “to drive out by clapping, hiss (a player) off the stage.”
While people have expressed displeasure publicly since ancient times, the English word boo was first used in the early 19th century to describe the lowing sound that cattle make. Later in the 1800s, the word came to be used to describe the disapproving cry of crowds. Hoot, another onomatopoeic English word, was used as early as 1225 to describe the same phenomenon. (Ancient Greek and Latin both contain words resembling boo that mean “to cry or shout aloud,” though there is no known etymological connection to the modern English word.)
If baseball had European origins, the crowd might have whistled at Randy Johnson. Whistling has long signified disapproval in Europe, as well as in South America.
Robin Ficker, arguably the most famous heckler even penned a “Hecklers Code“, something you may want to consider before you voice your opinion at the next game.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have a phenomenal hip-hop dance team, the Scream Team. Recently the Cav’s video group created a video to highlight the team. It’s used in game on the scoreboard.
Not only does the video highlight the teams skills, but it generates a fresh way to present them. Any dance team can start to look and feel the same after 40+ games, videos like this feature the talents of your team while presenting those talents in a unique and fresh way.
We have over 400 videos indexed into easy to view categories on Gameops.com YouTube section. There you can see how other teams are creating great elements and inspire your staff with ideas from all around sports. The Hip Hop Team is featured in the Entertainment Teams section (also featuring fat guy dancers, senior dance teams and kids teams), and this video could just also have been posted on the Video and Scoreboard section.
Fun post from a blog on DodgeCity.com about game presentation, Sharpie Markers, premium giveaways, Zippy Cool….and Gameops.com
Second Annual Peanut-Free Night
sports team can be very strong and being an outlet for health information is a good use of that connection. (Like the 
A great promotion from the Fort Myers Miracle. While the game offers little in “value” to fans it undoubtedly will get some free media attention. It shows a sense of humor, while not being too mean-spirited.
According to the Kansas City Royals, some Major League teams have adopted a certain sing-a-long song that they play after the classic “Take Me Out…” For example: the Houston Astros play “Deep In the Heart Of Texas,” the Milwaukee Brewers go with polka number “Roll Out The Barrell,” and the Boston Red Sox belt out “Sweet Caroline.” Now the Royals have asked their fans to select the special song that will be played at their ballpark. The fans’ choice will then be played during every 7th Inning Stretch following the All-Star break. (
While people have expressed displeasure publicly since ancient times, the English word boo was first used in the early 19th century to describe the lowing sound that cattle make. Later in the 1800s, the word came to be used to describe the disapproving cry of crowds. Hoot, another onomatopoeic English word, was used as early as 1225 to describe the same phenomenon. (Ancient Greek and Latin both contain words resembling boo that mean “to cry or shout aloud,” though there is no known etymological connection to the modern English word.)
The Cleveland Cavaliers have a phenomenal hip-hop dance team, the Scream Team. Recently the Cav’s video group created a video to highlight the team. It’s used in game on the scoreboard.