In an effort to make myself post more (don’t I lead a post with that phrase at least once every six months or so?), I bring you yet another reoccurring series: “And They Shall Lead Them With Jersey Gimmicks and Bobbleheads,” a look at interesting sports promotions. I’m always noising around the web for creative event promotions, especially when the office I work in full-time is asked to collaborate with Athletics in promoting soccer, basketball or hockey games. I’m not going to always bring you the funniest promotions – Deadspin and Puck Daddy do that far better than I ever could – but I will bring you promotions and teams that catch my eye for a number of reasons.
For those of you who follow my Twitter account, you will know that I have recently become obsessed with the ECHL. Sure, as a good hockey fan, I followed the minor league a little in the past. But this year, since my favorite Terrier of all time is playing in it, along with what seems like nearly every single college hockey player from the last two years, I’m following the league with much more gusto.
The ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors, located out in that Terrier-freshmen-class producing state of California, gets a lot of press for their inventive promotions. Already this season, they have held a Michael Jackson jersey night, which was featured all across the blogosphere. The Condors wore MJ styled jerseys with one white glove, and auctioned off the jerseys to benefit Children’s Miracle Network.
The promotion that caught my eye, however, isn’t as bold as the Condors’ tribute to America’s favorite petafile. The Condors announced this week their “Who Ya Bringing” program, where the encourage existing season ticket holders to bring friends by giving them a free ticket per every seat they own per month. For example, if you own two season tickets, you are eligible to claim two free tickets per month during the length of the promotion.
The hope of this promotion is to convert these guests of season ticket holders to ticket plan holders themselves. The Condors will offer $100 to any season ticket holder whose guest subsequently purchases season tickets, and $25 if a guest purchases a flex-plan.
How many guests are going to make the ticket plan investment? In this economy, especially near the holidays, not many. The Condors still stand to make out well with the deal. You may be giving away a free product, but you are standing to make money from concessions and memorabilia sales. The team also stands to sell more individual game tickets from those introduced to the team but can’t make the ticket plan outlay. Season ticket holders stand to benefit from being able to use free tickets as holiday presents. If you have a client or friend, give them your December or January allocation of tickets, and you have a low-to-no cost holiday present.
Other interesting upcoming Condor promotions include Make Over Night, where a lucky fan will win a package including “microderm face treatment, tightening and shaping, and laser hair removal”, and my personal fave, Toilet Plunger Night, where the first 2,000 fans will receive team branded toilet plungers. Yes, you read that correctly, toilet plungers. As my fiance said when I told him the topic of this post, “I have the perfect tagline for the promotion. ‘Our season is in the the toliet and this plunger can be too!” (The Condors currently lead the Pacific Division, however, making that tagline not valid.)
If toilet plungers and cosmetic laser procedures do not suit your fancy, the Condors will be holding David Carr Night in late February, where attendees can hear about Bakersfield native Carr’s path to an NFL backup quarterback job and get his autograph. I can’t make fun of that – I’m from a town that will line up overnight to shake the hand of Roland Williams. (What, you’ve never heard of him?)
teama0in 2011, Berube had hip surgery. That set him back a bit and his first few monhts with the Ontario Reign last fall were a little slow. His second-half numbers were impressive though and he looked more