Sport-Fan Connect » Merchandise Vendors

Watch for @SportFanConnect on redsox.com/fanfotos

Mike Olaski — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:04:27 +0000

UPDATE: Here’s the photos:

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=fanfoto&gallery_id=1777748&image_id=36&pos=37

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=fanfoto&gallery_id=1777735&image_id=132&pos=133

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=fanfoto&gallery_id=1777744&image_id=34&pos=35

Similar to what we experienced at Yankee Stadium, the Boston RedSox also have the “Fan Photo” promotion.

As you can see on the attached photos of our ticket stubs, fans can go online to view the photos at http://redsox.com/fanfotos. They then have the opportunity to purchase those prints thru the site.

Again, this is a great example of using offline (GameDay) marketing to drive traffic to their online marketing (website).

One of the things I noticed tho was that only one of the stubs displayed a sponsor logo (Nikon). Strange that they wouldn’t all have the sponsor advertising included.

We spoke with a number of fans in the stands with smartphones at the game and all of them loved the idea of having fan generated photos displayed on the website. Many of them even said they’d be willing to buy their own photos if they were branded with the RedSox logo on the website.

Again, I’ll have to check and see how the sponsorship is tied into the promotion online. But, hopefully there is better exposure for Nikon on the Redsox site than there was for Canon & Mastercard on the Yankees site.

Watch for SportFanConnect on http://yankees.com/photoprogram

Mike Olaski — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:25:44 +0000

UPDATE: Here’s the link to the photo: http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=yankeestruefans&gallery_id=1773193&image_id=26&pos=27

Upon walking into Yankee stadium tonight, we were asked if we wanted our photo taken to be included on Yankees.com. I’ve included a photo of the ticket stub she gave us that told us where to look online.

This is a great example of using offline (GameDay) marketing to drive traffic to their online marketing (website).

As you can see on the photo attached, they have tied in sponsorship w Canon & Mastercard.

I can’t say for certain until I check the site later, but I’m sure the page is filled w the sponsors ads. Wonder as well whether they are monetizing their efforts by allowing those fans w photos to purchase it thru the website?

Suprisingly enough, many people turned down the opportunity to have their photo taken and put on the website. Now, if they would incorporate fan generated photos in this promo…imagine how many more people they’d have visiting the site…..and how much more value there would be for the sponsors.

Washington Nationals Experience

Mike Olaski — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:57:22 +0000

After a few days of running around, battling traffic and trying to get organized, we have finally settled into Washington for a few days. We rolled into town just in time to catch the Washington Nationals vs LA Dodgers game at Nationals Stadium last night. As I mentioned in a previous post, the game experience at Nationals Park was great. Unfortunately for the Nats though, a good chunk of the fans were wearing the Dodgers Blue & White. Regardless, you could tell that, even though the Nats have only been in Washington for a few years, they have a loyal fan base that is itching for a winning team.

Nationals Fan Experience

As you may have noticed on the website, we uploaded a number of photos and tried to tweet regularly to share our experience with everyone. I wanted to write a bit about the In-Game experience and promotions we noticed between eatin peanuts!

Racing Presidents

One of the In-Game promotions that most people would be familiar with is the “Racing Presidents” sponsored by Geico. This promotion has received alot of attention due to the fact that one of the famous presidents (Teddy Roosevelt) has never won a race. Rumor has it that the reason he has never won is more “political” than one might think…..but I’m not going to start any rumors or political scandals Unfortunately, Teddy did not run in the race during this game – apparently due to a pulled hamstring. You can follow Teddy Roosevelt’s struggles for that elusive first win Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/Teddy.Nats and on Twitter – http://twitter.com/Teddy26Nats.

Big Screen Promos

As in every major sports stadium, the majority of the fan engagement is focused around the Big Screen located in center field. There were a few promotions that we noticed that were promoted on the Big Screen including the following:

Random Acts of Red (DC Lottery) – The branded “Red” theme seems to be common in Washington sports. Throughout the game, the Nationals gave away prizes including a Lucky Seat Upgrade
Free t-shirt giveaway – the first 10,000 fans into the stadium received free “Screech” t-shirts (Screech is the Nationals patriotic mascot)
Pizza giveaway (Papa John’s) – we were in the right section, but unfortunately, were on the wrong side of the isle, so we never didn’t get a shot at the free pizza.

I guess in summary, there were a number of In-Game promotions that were displayed up on the Big Screen in Nationals Stadium. However, considering that we are advocating that teams should start to incorporate their online marketing (website, social sites, etc) with their offline marketing (Big Screen, give-aways, etc), it was quite obvious that none of their offline marketing tied in social media in any way. There was no mention of their Facebook accounts or Twitter account and from what we noticed, there was no interaction with the thousands of fans in the stands that had mobile phones in their hands. I think there is a huge opportunity being missed here.