Last season Minor League Baseball’s 160 affiliated clubs sponsored more than 5,530* events, promotions, giveaways, and appearances to attract more than 42 million guests.

The following data ranks those promotions that were most effective in increasing attendance over the participating teams’ average season attendance.

Promotion

Average Attendance Increase

% Increase Over Average

Frequency

2006 Rank

1.

Famous Chicken Appearance

1,829

26%

12

3

2.

Fireworks

1,780

38%

796

1

3.

Sleepover

1,407

13%

17

10

4.

Gym Bag Giveaway

1,352

25%

12

9

5.

Buyout

1,200

76%

27

-

6.

Used Car Giveaway

1,161

28%

11

-

7.

Reggy Appearance

1,108

25%

11

-

8.

Zooperstars! Appearance

1,054

24%

98

4

9.

Bobblehead Giveaway

1,016

8%

112

16

10.

Little League/Youth Baseball Day

847

7%

16

-

(Source Plan B Branding)

Really interesting data from Plan B Branding.  I have a little more data from them that I will post in future blogs as well.

chicken.jpgLooks like Minor League Baseball still has some tried and true promotions and entertainment that draw. Bobbleheads and Fireworks nights seem to be the most reliable draws year after year, and entertainment acts like the Chicken, Reggy and the ZooperStars! draw at the gate.

I am always a little hesitant to rely too much on these stats, since a majority of entertainment acts are used on weekend games, which draw higher than weekday averages (which would make that “season average” stat slightly skewed.)  Same for Fireworks Nights, which are traditionally Friday or Saturday nights.  Do they work…yes.  But are they really drawing 1700 more fans on average just due the post-game show….probably not.

–Cudo