Today marks the end of the ambitious blogging schedule to celebrate the anniversary month. I will be off for Labor Day, so the next blog entry will be Thursday Sept 6th.

In my final blog for the month I wanted to highlight an interview from a couple years ago. Normally I did a big interview for the August Anniversary update and one of my favorites was with Jon Spoelstra in 2003. Spoelstra is legend in sports marketing and he shared a lot of time and insight during this interview….it’s three parts, making it one of the longest ever on Gameops.com.

I hope you enjoyed the daily dose of the Gameops.com Editor’s blog….I am officially burned out.

–Cudo

Minor-league baseball searching for crowds
By Dirk Facer (web link)Perhaps new lyrics should be crafted for the seventh-inning stretch at professional baseball games.

“Take me out to the ball game” just doesn’t cut it anymore. In Utah, where three minor league franchises operate, “Take me out for some fun,” might be more appropriate.

“We’re not in the business of wins and losses,” says Ogden Raptors president Dave Baggott. “We’re in the business of entertainment.”

Whether its postgame fireworks, Fat Elvis Night or Christmas in July, Baggott is a believer in the concept of putting on a show. IOC Bribery Night was a big hit last year and hopes are high that this summer’s proposed French Judge’s Night (where fans get up and switch sides of the stadium midway through the game) will be as well.

“It’s just about having fun,” says Baggott. “When people come and leave with a smile on their faces that makes me happy even if we lose 10-1.”

In other words, he explains, it’s entertainment and then, “by the way, we’re playing a baseball game as well.”

Putting the fans first, says Baggott, is why the Raptors are bucking a recent trend of declining attendance at the major and minor league levels. Ogden drew 109,360 people to home games last season — tops in the eight-team Pioneer League. Over 36 openings, the Raptors drew an average of 3,037 per game.

There’s no secret to their success, insists Baggott.

“We put the fans first, that’s why,” says the 13-year baseball executive, who gained notoriety for making the old Salt Lake Trappers a box office success. “Come to one game, and if you don’t come back, it’s our fault.”  (read the rest of the story here)

Obviously if you read Gameops.com this philosophy isn’t anything out of the ordinary to you, but I really appreciated Dave Baggott’s honestly and willingness to take the responsibility of putting on a good show and keeping the fans happy.

I know a lot of teams who rely on winning.  They explain every dip in attendance to wins and losses.  The reality is, you are selling entertainment…which isn’t mutually exclusive to wins or losses.  If you are only selling “a baseball team that wins“, your market will be pretty small and there would really be no need for a marketing department.
When you look across at the great teams and the successful franchises that draw fans and make money…they are the ones that understand they are selling fan experience.  Ask Saint Paul Saints fans, ask Chicago Cub fans, and ask Dave Baggott.

Or you can ask me….but I’d probably just tell you to read my blog.

–Cudo

Clean Out the Storeroom Night
There is no greater thrill than that of the unknown, especially when it comes to Minor League Baseball promotions. The walk from the parking lot to the turnstiles often instills a sense of giddy anticipation in fans, as they contemplate the wacky and wondrous things that lurk just inside the stadium. This feeling will be even greater than usual on Thursday in Princeton, as it’s “Clean Out the Storeroom Night.” On this magical evening, fans will be able to choose from a wide array of leftover promotional items, and your guess is as good as mine when it comes to what may be available. A 1993 schedule magnet? A broken Carl Crawford bobblehead doll? Expired Taco Bell coupons? The possibilities are endless. (from Benjamin Hill, Minor League Baseball.com)

A simple, cheap, and fantastic promotion from the Princeton Devil Rays. And for every intern who has ever spent a day in the “cage” or “dungeon” (or whatever you affectionately call your storage closet) you know the goodies are endless.

While it might make sense to quietly offer your 239 left-over sponsor t-shirts to the Salvation Army, this promotion is the cure for the storage room that is over-flowing with old stuff. I think the mystery and comedy of what fans might get makes this a fun media hit as well.

Get ideas like this and hundreds more on the Gameops.com Promotion Database.

This promotion has been nominated for a 2007 Gameops.com Best Game Promotion Award.

-Cudo

Every journey begins with one step, and along the way you invariably hit some landmarks. Step 1, step 100 and so one. The journey here has been enjoyable (at least for me) and today marks another landmark….this blog entry is number 200.

As is the tradition, when I hit landmarks on the blog (100th entry, year anniversaries, etc.) I take the opportunity to throw a barb at Ed Lepis. Ed gets the blame for encouraging me to start the blog and despite how much I enjoy writing, the blog has become another time-consuming job. So now whenever I am short of the free time I so richly deserve I look at my frequent blog writing duties ….and curse Ed (and post a goofy photo of him that he hates).

After nine years on the web we have many landmarks and probably should count the landmark of forgotten landmarks. By my rough estimates Gameops.com has these marks dotting the virtual horizon:

• 500 indexed videos on our game entertainment and operations-related videos on our YouTube page.
• 100 Acts listed in the Act White Pages
• 100 Vendors listed in the Vendor White Pages
• 800 promotions in the Promotion Database
• 100 consecutive monthly updates
• 500,000 imprinted products available

Perhaps the best part of landmarks is you can present them as news….and get away with it. (hopefully)

Thanks for your on-going support through all the landmarks (and their subsequent blog entries trumpeting the landmarks).

-Cudo

We are in the final week of the anniversary celebration, along with another week of specials.

Last week we featured five discounted mascot items and we thank everyone who took advantage of lowest pricing ever.

This week we discount the parachutes in the Gameops.com Store.  This year we added a new CORE products section giving special attention to some products we just do better than anyone.  Parachutes are a good example.  Since parachutes have burst on the scene about 5 years ago we have found the best prices and options for this eye-popping visual drop.  We now have custom colors, custom imprinting, two sizes, and blanks available in smaller quantities.

We offer custom parachutes and blank parachutes.  For custom orders (minimums apply) you can see the options and get pricing from our TEAMmate Sales Staff from the Parachute CORE Product page.

We also have discounted the blank chutes in the store by 25% this week, click for Jumbo Parachutes or Prize Parachutes.

-Cudo

ISOTOPES COOKBOOK - CHANCE TO WIN A DIAMOND COURTESY ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOLD AND SILVER AND ED KARLER, GEMOLOGIST
Celebrate Mother’s Day with the ‘Topes

Isotopes Cookbooks go to the first 3,000 women and the chance to win a One-Carat Diamond goes to the first 1,000 ladies, courtesy of Unique Print Solutions and Rocky Mountain Gold and Silver Exchange and Ed Karler, respectively. The first 1,000 women receive a box upon entry. They can take it to Rocky Mountain Gold and Silver Exchange to have it appraised, and if it’s the diamond, the lucky lady gets the stone and a free setting.

This promotion is a great example of connecting your sponsor with your fans.  Fans actually have to go to the sponsor’s place of business to see if they have won.  The twenty-first century version is having fans visit (and register) a web site to see if they have won.  Those sponsor connections are very strong and hold great value to your partners and sponsors.

I also like that the 1000 fans were not left with a worthless box if they were not the winners, they also would have received the cookbook.

Overall a great promotion for Mother’s Day with strong sponsor activation.

–Cudo