Last year, Major League Baseball took advantage of one of New York City’s defining monuments, the Statue of Liberty, to promote the 2008 MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. By sprinkling 42 differently painted 8-foot replicas of Lady Liberty throught the city, MLB celebrated the 30 existing MLB teams, along with the Brooklyn Dodgers and various other New York City baseball related monuments. It was a success with baseball fans visiting New York City for the All-Star Game as they scoured the city looking for their hometown monument.

With St. Louis hosting the All-Star Game this year, the MLB attempted to replicate the success of New York City’s Statue of Liberty campaign with an All-Star “Arches on Parade” in St. Louis. To promote the game in St. Louis, MLB has installed fifteen, 10-foot tall All-Star themed arches at local landmarks. However, there are only 6 versions of the arches and only the Cardinals are featured in these designs.

While some may argue that the Gateway Arch in St. Louis doesn’t have the same national appeal as the Statue of Liberty and doesn’t warrant having a design for each team, as the “Gateway to the West,” it’s a symbol of unification of the eastern and western regions of the United States. If they were going to follow up on the sucess in New York, I wish they would have put a little more thought into it. Hopefully, they’ll have more than a few promotional posters and t-shirts to make it up to fans. Bring on the bobbleheads!!!

Posted: July 10th, 2009 under General.
Comments: 2

I generally write about the wonders and joy stadium giveaways bring to fans and me, but Observer Sport Monthly, a division of the UK publication, The Guardian, recently wrote Stadium giveaways: When freebies turn bad to highlight a few of the mishaps that have been caused by stadium giveaways. Some of the promotional products involved include scarves, seat cushions, and genuine leather commemorative baseballs.

The fans’ decisions to sell the Manchester United scarves commemorating the Munich air disaster on eBay was definitely not one of the more tastefully ways of using this touching giveaway, but the gesture and the product did not lose any of its meaning. The incidents with the seat cushions and baseballs could be considered a little bit on the hazardous side. While the threat of objects being hurled from the stand endangers the athletes and referees on the field, promotional products aren’t intended to be used to arm fans with potential projectiles.

I still love my team schwag. Maybe stadiums should just give away more valuable products that fans would be less willing to throw away.

Posted: July 8th, 2009 under General.
Comments: none

Another 4th of July. Another Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Another victory for Joey Chestnut.

For the third year in a row, Joey Chestnut earned first place in the annual Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest while breaking his own world record of 66 by eating 68 hot dogs and buns (HDBs) in 10 minutes. In second place, world-renowned competitive eater, Takeru Kobayashi, finished in second with 64.5 HDBs. As the winner, Chestnut received a $10,000 cash prize, two cases of Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, a trophy, and the famous Nathan’s Mustard Belt.

Nearly 7 hot dogs per minute is a bit out of my comfort zone. I hope those prizes and that belt was worth it.

Posted: July 6th, 2009 under General.
Comments: none

In the inaugural World Football Challenge, four elite international soccer clubs – Chelsea FC, AC Milan, Club America, and Inter Milan – will be touring and competing in cities across the United States, including Pasadena, Baltimore, and Atlanta. To celebrate and promote Chelsea’s participation in the World Football Challenge, EPL Talk, an English Premier League-related blog, has two grand prizes to give away courtesy of World Football Challenge. Each pack contains:

• A new Chelsea jersey,
• Chelsea hat,
• Chelsea mini-ball, and
• Chelsea scarf.

To enter the contest, you must correctly answer “How many matches will Chelsea FC play in the U.S. this summer, and who are they against?” and email your response to thegaffer@epltalk.com by July 10, 2009. The two lucky winners will be selected randomly and announced on EPL Talk on July 13, 2009.

Whether you’re a Chelsea fan or whether you’re even a fan of soccer, it doesn’t hurt to take 5 minutes to research how many matches Chelsea FC will be playing in the U.S. this summer. It’s a chance to win some awesome international sports schwag. A couple of minutes of research is definitely work a free jersey, promotional hat, custom soccer ball, and an imprinted scarf.

Posted: July 1st, 2009 under General.
Comments: none