Behind the scenes: Fan experience in Boston

Boston.com has a great look behind the curtain at TD Banknorth Garden. Some highlights:

Before the final buzzer, 300 crowd shots will be broadcast, along with 45 game-action replays on the high-definition Jumbotron. The Garden DJ will play 125 songs at rock concert volume. The Celtics cheerleaders will fire 40 T-shirts into the stands by air gun. On the court, four promotions will fill timeouts, along with three dance routines by a squad of young women wearing considerably less clothing than normal for a cold winter night. Halftime will feature a similarly-clad female unicyclist tossing bowls from the tip of her bright red shoe onto her head.

...And they do all this knowing that the latest in game presentation can be hard to take for fans whose loyalties are passed generation to generation, and who may be nostalgic for the days when Garden entertainment meant John Kiley at the organ and fans cheering without Jumbotron prompts.

...Kelly Higgins of North Attleborough doesn't understand the debate over fired-up game presentation. When the 20-year-old won tickets to a Celtics game last season, she tried to give them away. She found no takers and went to her first NBA contest.

"When I got back I couldn't tell you who played, but I could remember everything they did on the Jumbotron," said Higgins, who is now eager to use her boyfriend's season-ticket package. "The atmosphere was so much fun. Everyone was so excited. If it wasn't that way, it would be boring. It's not just about basketball. It's everything."

Even in Boston, where many fans place special value on history and tradition, stage-managing game presentation is a priority for all pro teams. From the Red Sox with their carefully choreographed pregame rituals to the Patriots with their booming music and musket blasts, teams increasingly view the orchestrated spectacle as very good -indeed, essential - for business.

"We're quite confident that if we did not make an effort to entertain fans, the building would not be full and we would not have won Banner 17," said Wyc Grousbeck, the Celtics principal owner. "We're about entertainment and winning banners. We think they go together and last year was the proof.

"If we dialed down the game entertainment, we wouldn't have the third-highest gate in the league. The fans kept coming even in years when we weren't particularly good. Game entertainment was part of that."

...While NBA guidelines keep all forms of entertainment from exceeding 95 decibels - about as loud as standing next to a jack hammer - the "noise meter" appears at crucial junctures and provokes high-pitched, lung-straining, ear-splitting screams. Some wonder if the tipping point between show and game has been reached, when young children appear on Jumbotrons looking delighted to be televised, but wearing earplugs to block out noise?

..."You're dealing with a different type of consumer today," said NHL director of events and entertainment Martin McCreary, who has presented everything from the Super Bowl to beach volleyball to the Bassmaster Classic. "People expect an entertainment experience. We're in the entertainment business. Whatever we can do to make contact with fans and give them more than they expected, that's our job. And what people expect from you, ramps up every year."

..."In terms of cost-benefit analysis, game presentation is a slam dunk," said Smith College sports economist Andrew Zimbalist. Noting the average NBA player makes $5 million per season, he called pay for dancers and programmers a "trivial expense." But it is those dancers, who make on average $100 per game, and programmers who help game presentation express team personality.

..."We've revived first pitch ceremonies with gusto," said Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino of productions that honor veterans, cancer survivors, and Olympic athletes. "They enable us to market the brand and celebrate certain values, reinforce messages we'd like to communicate to our fans.

"The Red Sox didn't always sell out and they may not always sell out in the future. We've got to stay vigilant, make sure we provide fans with a team worthy of their support and the experience they want. We think there is a key brand loyalty that exists right now and we want to perpetuate it for a long time to come."

The history-filled countdown videos played immediately before Celtics and Bruins games capture each team's essence. The Celtics' video clocks in at 15 minutes, nearly twice as long as any other in the NBA because there are 50-plus years of history, and 17 championships, to cover. The Bruins' video starts with a movie theater-style opening and runs five minutes.

...The real juggling acts take place behind the closed doors of conference rooms and control rooms. The day before a Celtics game, marketing executives and game presentation directors finalize a 75-page script. They plot out promotions. They review music selections for timeouts. They want well-organized chaos.

...NBA games typically last 2 1/2 hours, leaving 102 minutes of downtime to fill. Game presentation directors take each sport's natural rhythm and drama into consideration when making decisions about what music to play and what video to show.

Read the entire article...

Jumbotron Wars, Episode XXVII: Florida Marlins

The Florida Marlins will be the latest MLB team to install a massive new video scoreboard. This one will be a Daktronics product, almost as big (but not quite) as the scoreboard at the new Yankee Stadium. Here's an article from Forbes. Highlights:

Whether it has been new Yankee Stadium’s 16 MM True HD LED display that measures 59 feet high by 101 feet wide, or the current granddaddy at the Royals’ Kauffman Stadium that measures a whopping 105 feet high by 84 feet wide, each year it seems MLB clubs have come up with a new case of “video display” envy.

The latest to jump into the fray is the Florida (soon to be Miami) Marlins.
...
To add to the mix, Daktronics Inc. , has reached a multi-million dollar contract with Hunt/Moss, A Joint Venture to provide a unique, asymmetrical high definition video display along with multiple digital ribbon boards, pitchers display, out-of-town game display, ticket window displays, digital clocks and control system ready for when the ballpark opens in 2012.

The high definition video display will measure approximately 101 feet wide (top of display) and 51 feet tall, but is wider at the top than it is at the bottom, adding one more architectural nod to the flavor of Miami.

In addition to the main display, two displays will be positioned within the left field wall, the largest of which will measure nearly 100 feet wide and will be used primarily to display stats and scores from out-of-town games in real time. The ballpark will also have two pitcher boards that will track home and away pitcher performance. Other full-color displays will be positioned behind left and right field, and another near the main ramp. Additional video related components will include numerous ticket window displays, backlit signage, and scrolling signage.

Read the entire article...

We win, or your money back

Here's an interesting article from Darren Rovell about "win insurance" a bit of a trend in sports to refund/credit fans if their team plays poorly. I've heard of "guaranteed win" nights in the minor leagues but this is a bit different. Some highlights:

Tough times have forced even the most creative to be even more creative. For the River City Rascals, an independent Frontier League team based in O’Fallon, Mo., that means selling win insurance for the upcoming season.

When sponsorship talks heated up with the Midwest Agency, a locally based insurance company, the talk focused on bringing more customers into the agency. So the team came up with the idea of selling win insurance.

The team will sell “Midwest Agency Winning Insurance” for $2 if purchased before the start of the eighth inning. The team will sell $5 win insurance in the middle of the eighth, even if the team is losing 10-0.

Ticket prices start at $6, but fans who buy the insurance will collect on the $11 box seats if the team loses. General manager Chris Franklin told CNBC said he can’t imagine the team losing much money, especially considering the fact that it brings repeat customers back to the 2,406-seat ballpark. More than 50 percent of fans last year only attended one of the team’s games and more bottoms in the seats also means being able to make more money at its concession stands.

...

No team has offered by the game insurance like this, but a few teams have made win guarantees to their season ticket holders. The most risky was the Arena Football League’s Arizona Rattlers, who said for the 2007-08 season they’d refund the entire season to season ticket holders if they didn’t make the playoffs. The Rattlers barely made the playoffs, saving roughly $2.2 million.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were likely the first team to offer a guarantee of sorts in 1987. They didn’t make the playoffs that year, resulting in a reported $500,000 in rebates to fans.

Read the entire article...


And here's another article from The Seattle Times about the MLS Seattle Sounders FC. They'll be giving season ticket holders a one-game credit next season, as a make-good for a poor on-field performance this year.

You can learn a lot from Wikipedia's NHL mascot page

Clearly, the decline of Encyclopedia Britannica is due to the fact that they didn't have comprehensive entries on topics such as this one: List of NHL mascots.

I thought I knew a lot about NHL mascots, but after reading this page I also learned that:

• Dallas, Edmonton, New York and Philadelphia* have never had mascots.
• The giant purple octopus the Red Wings use in the playoffs is called Al.
• Bailey, from the L.A. Kings, wears number 72 -- as in 72 degrees F, a nice sunny day in L.A.
  
• The Colorado Avalanche have had two mascots in their relatively short history. A St. Bernard and a Yeti.
• Harvey the Hound (Calgary) was the NHL's first mascot*, introduced in 1983.
• In Phoenix, Howler wears #96 on his jersey, they year the Jets moved to Phoenix. (Take that, Winnipeg.)
• The Ducks mascot, Wildwing, has a last name: Flashblade.
• The former Quebec Nordiques mascot was Badaboum, who looks a bit like a walrus.
• The former Winnipeg Jets mascot was Bennie, who looks like what happens when the Philly Phanatic mates with Grimace.

"The Flyers debuted a short-lived skating mascot named Slapshot in 1976. It remains the only mascot in Flyers' team history."

VIDEO: Rocky's Fantasy Factory "Nuggest Feet"

Guess we have a bit of a NBA mascot theme going on this week. I don't know why but I really like this dance video from the Denver Nuggets featuring their mascot, Rocky.

Promotions gone wrong: "A TV for Everyone"

From the Utah Jazz: "A TV For Everyone", starring The Bear.
Enjoy.

Law & Order: Mascots

Here's a recent article from the Sports & Entertainment Law Report: "Kansas City Royals Mascot Faces Lawsuit":

According to court papers filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, during a Royals game last September Sluggerrr, the mascot, hopped upon the Royals dugout, stuffed one or more hot dogs or sausages into an air canon, and blasted the crowd. Then, not happy with his feat of daring do, Sluggerrr allegedly dropped the booming bazooka and began throwing the meats into the crowds by hand — and threw a sausage directly into the waiting face of Royals fan John Coomer, who was sitting only a few feet away, about six rows from the dugout. Although at first it sounds like an amusing mishap, according to Coomer the misaimed dog struck him in the eye, detached his retina caused cataracts and has lead to at least two surgeries and permanent vision loss. More importantly, if the case is not settled its result could impact professional sports venues’ and teams liability in a variety of ways.

Read the entire article...

Baseball's Hall of Fame honours "Centerfield" song

Here's a report from the Rolling Stone about the upcoming induction of John Fogerty's "Centerfield" into the Baseball Hall of Fame. It's the first song to be inducted. (I'm surprised "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" hasn't been honoured.)

For over a decade, "Centerfield" has been a staple anthem at baseball games and every Hall of Fame induction... Fogerty is set to perform the song at the induction ceremony, held in Cooperstown, New York on July 25th. To celebrate the event, Fogerty is also releasing a remastered version of the album Centerfield, featuring a pair of rare B-sides from the era ("My Toot Toot," "I Confess"), on June 29th.

...When Fogerty wrote "Centerfield" in the ‘80s, he says he was inspired by the self-created lore of the position. "When I was eight or nine, I decided that it was the most hallowed turf in the universe was centerfield in Yankee Stadium," he says. "Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle — I mean, those two had such remarkable careers. It seemed like only the greatest had to be in centerfield." When he finally released the song in '85, he was nervous that he'd be criticized for attempting to combine his two passions (baseball and rock & roll) into one track. "I really kind of braced myself for flack as it was getting ready to be released," he recalls. "I thought, 'Wow. It has never worked out in history.' But I thought to myself that I really liked this song!"

Read the entire article...

Crazy crowd chant in Poland

I came across this while searching for Joe Satriani's Crowd Chant. Definitely not what I was looking for but a great crowd chant nonetheless:

Get Your Preak On: All-you-can-drink beer promo

Cleveland tried something like this at a baseball game back in 1974 with legendary results. Now a jockey club is trying a similar promo. From NESN.com:

Having unlimited beer for a day for only $20 sounds like a good deal to a lot of people, but for some, the deal that the Maryland Jockey Club is offering at Saturday's Preakness Stakes is not a good idea.

For $20 dollars, patrons to the Pimlico Race Course will receive a 16-ounce beer mug that entitles them to unlimited free refills for the entire course of the Preakness Stakes, The Washington Post reports. The promotion is part of a new advertisement campaign for the event headlined by the catchphrase "Get Your Preak On."

Some people feel the catchphrase bemoans the storied event and the free-flowing booze is asking for trouble.

"[It is] reducing a great, historic thoroughbred horse race to an event with sleazy overtones," New York Post racing columnist Ray Kerrison told the Washington Post.

The promotion campaign follows a stark drop in attendance to the Preakness Stakes -- from 112,222 in 2008 to 77,850 last year, according to The Washington Post. It was the biggest single-year drop in the event's history.

Read more...