Sporting Promotions.....Are they really worth it?



One of five bobble heads given out in 2010



In today's sports world teams and sporting clubs are trying different ideas and promotions to improve attendance and spike interests out of their fans.  Minor league baseball clubs are amongst the leaders in the field of promotional nights for the fans, if they attend the games.  Lets not sugar coat anything here, who really wants to go see the a bunch of reserve baseball players play each other?  This is what Minor league and other non-professional teams have to put up with, which is why they offer promotional nights.  It gives fans a reason to come to the games, besides to see the actual game itself.  This past year I had a chance to go to my first Toledo Mudhens game, and it just so happen to be a promotional night.  The club gave out mini paintings of the stadium that they just moved into this year.  I am not a fan of the Mudhens or their father club the Detroit Tigers, but the gift they gave out was really cool.  That night it turned out to be a record crowd that night because everyone wanted their own painting.  While the minor league baseball teams are great at promoting, some professional teams are as well.  When the Cincinnati Reds had their streak of eight losing seasons in a row, the attendance was dismal at most games, but not the bobble head giveaway nights.  For a couple seasons in a row the organization was having bobble head nights once a month, just to keep up their attendance for that month.  Some other promotional nights that I have personally been a part of here at Tiffin University is Chipotle Day.  This promotion consist of the Chipotle Restaurant sponsoring the game and they bring in free burritos and chips and salsa to give away.  This game is done once a year for during the basketball season and it is always the largest crowd of the year.

After discussing promotions for professional teams and amateur sports the question still remains, are promotional games really worth the time and effort?  Of course they are!  Without promotional games most sporting events would have minmal attendance numbers, especially the smaller sporting leagues.  With ticket prices rising for most sports fans need another reason to go see games.  Every sporting promotion that I have ever heard of has been some what successful, according to attendance and fan feedback.  Without the fans there would not be a game,  so the least teams and organizations could do is give back to their fans.  It may not be much but it is the little things that count.