There may be better ways to spend a summer vacation, although I can’t think of any. For two months this summer, I traveled around the country watching Minor League Baseball games, thanks to a Teacher Creativity Grant from the Eli Lilly Foundation.

A large crowd looks on at Smokies Park in Kodak, TN

Officially, the idea was to study the marketing methods used by Minor League Baseball teams, which happen to be so good that they’ve helped some Minor League franchises across the country to record attendance, recession be damned.

Unofficially, I am never at a loss for an excuse to go watch baseball.

In the course of my travels, I was also hoping to get some ideas to bring back to the classroom.

Ah, the classroom – where I teach Business to high schoolers who are sometimes (most of the time) more interested in shooting arrows at balloons with a cartoon monkey (God bless internet games) than learning business fundamentals.

And while I did come up with the inspiration for a handful of great lesson plans, I realized that nearly everything I was seeing at the ballparks – the wacky promotions, the entertaining mascots, and the carnival-like atmospheres – could easily be applied to high school athletics.

It may sound outlandish, marketing high school sports in the same manner that a professional sports league markets its product, but, the reality is that Minor League Baseball and high school sports already have a lot in common.

I’ll give you a few examples in friendly, bullet point format:

• Due to athlete turnover, both the Minor Leagues and high school athletics typically promote teams as a whole as opposed to individual players
• In most markets, fans will attend Minor League games regardless of how well the team is playing. In other words, it doesn’t matter much if the team wins. Fans attend the games to have fun and see young talent develop. Is high school that much different?
• Minor League teams, especially in the lower levels where the teams play in smaller towns, are a big part of their communities.  As a result, the fan mix at most MiLB games is a cross-section of hardcore fans, casual observers, uninterested socialites, and hyper-active youngsters. In a lot of ways it is the same type of crowd found at a high school sporting event.

Any high school athletics program, regardless of size, can adopt a Minor League mindset to help boost community interest, fan support, school spirit, and attendance – all of which lead to more money for the school.

A group of mascots discuss their gameplan.

So, as a back to school gift for Athletic Directors everywhere, I will be offering a four part blog series on the tenets of the Minor League Mindset and how they can be applied to high school athletics.

Part I: Focus on the Fan

It is hard to create a caricature of the “typical” Minor League Baseball fan, because the crowds that attend the games are so diverse. All age groups and levels of interest are represented at the ballpark. Yet, for all their differences, fans at Minor League games seem to have one thing in common: they all have fun.

So, how do these franchises go about entertaining fans ranging in age from infants to octogenarians? Most minor league front office people readily admit that it’s not always about the team on the field.

Sure, some of the fans are there to watch baseball. But, even big baseball fans would have a hard time mustering up enough excitement to go see a lineup like this:

Means – RF
Sappelt – CF
Puckett – 2B
Mendez, C – 3B
Brown, T – LF
Coddington – DH
Day – 1B
Wideman – C
Rojas – SS
Janke – P

Not exactly household names. Nevertheless, 8,584 people piled into Fifth Third Field in Dayton, Ohio to watch these Dayton Dragons take on the Fort Wayne Tincaps on July 2nd.

If it’s not the game itself, what’s drawing 8,000+ fans a night to Dayton, and other ballparks across the country?

Minor League baseball teams have an unrelenting focus on the fan. Everything they do is designed to entertain, and most of the entertainment is interactive. Downtime between innings is filled with contests, with the participants being plucked right from the crowd. Fans may race one another around the bases, sumo wrestle, dance on dugouts, sing karaoke, and play “Let’s Make a Deal” – all before the seventh inning stretch.

As one front office executive put it to me, “baseball is just a backdrop we use to perform our shtick.”

Fans not participating in the “shtick” are treated to what basically amounts to a live-action reality show. What nine-year old will be able to put on a Dragons uniform and race around the bases the quickest? Tune in between the fourth and fifth innings to find out!

All of these contests provide family fun and help turn spectators into participators and casual fans into season ticket holders. In addition, they provide a unique opportunity for your sponsors – an issue we’ll discuss next time.

A fan participates in a dice rolling game at Bowling Green Ballpark

Focusing on the fan also means providing a comfortable atmosphere. I visited over 20 Minor League stadiums this summer, and I don’t recall seeing a single scrap of paper laying on the ground in any of the concourses or men’s rooms. All of the stadiums were clean, all had good food (some obviously better than others) and regardless of where I was at, it was always easy to spot an usher if I needed something.

Adopting a Minor League mindset requires more from an Athletic Director than scheduling officials, chalking the field, and turning on the lights. It’s about creating an environment where people are always wondering “what are they going to do next?”

And, the beautiful thing is, adopting a fan-friendly focus doesn’t take a lot of extra money or staff. Work with students to develop theme nights and contests. Leverage your school’s existing website to advertise your programs (a topic which we’ll cover in part three). Partner with the booster club to find volunteers to serve as ushers/fan assistants.

In the end, fans that have fun at a sporting event will continue to come back. The Minor Leagues have proven that. There’s no reason why the same wouldn’t hold true at the high school level.

Next Time – Part II: Get Creative and Get Fans

What do these eyes have to do with drawing fans and providing value for sponsors? Find out next time.

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Related posts:

1. Lessons from the Bush Leagues: Applying the Minor League Mindset to High School Athletics (Part II)
2. Micro-market Beloit Tries to Snap up Fans by Sticking to Basics
3. Kane County Cougars Thriving in Crowded Market

Beloit Snappers - Class A Affiliate of the Twins

In professional sports you have big market teams and small market teams. And then you have the Beloit Snappers, a Class A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, who play in a market so small, it almost warrants classification as a micro-market.

Indeed, if there were a baseball franchise version of life-support, the Snappers would be on it.

What exactly has the Snappers gasping for air?

For starters, the Snappers play in a stadium that was built in 1982, long before owners and stadium architects realized they could print money by constructing luxury boxes and club seating.  Aside from the addition of patio areas down the left and right field lines, Pohlman Field is largely the same as it was when it was constructed nearly thirty years ago.

And while many baseball fans find Pohlman Field to be a charming throwback to a less-commercialized era of Minor League Baseball, the stadium’s lack of modern amenities was largely responsible for ending Beloit’s twenty-three year affiliation with the nearby Milwaukee Brewers, who dropped the city and moved to a newer ballpark in Charleston, West Virginia following the 2004 season.

Beloit's Pohlman Field Remains Largely Unchanged Since Constructed in 1982

Then there’s the city itself.  Beloit, a town of 37,000 just beyond the Illinois border in South Central Wisconsin, has no radio or television outlets. With no local media available, coverage of Snapper baseball must come from the neighboring cities of Rockford and Madison, which each have their own teams – the Madison Mallards participate in the Northwoods League, a summer collegiate baseball league, while the Rockford RiverHawks play in the independent Frontier League.

No media coverage. An outdated stadium. A small fan base. To say that Beloit is a challenging market would be putting it lightly.

Good thing Beloit General Manager Jeff Vohs enjoys challenges.

Vohs began his baseball career in 1999 when he served as a Scouting and Baseball Operations Intern for the Milwaukee Brewers. His hopes for a career with the Brewers were dashed after a front office shuffle saw many of his bosses leave the organization after the 99’ season. Undeterred, Vohs found his way to Beloit, where he worked his way from up from intern to General Manager over the course of five seasons.

Like many Minor League GM’s, Vohs wears a number of different hats. When I caught up with him at his ballpark office on a sunny Friday afternoon in late June, he was wearing his groundskeeper’s hat, watching the weather radar on his computer for rainstorms that might threaten that evening’s game against the Quad Cities River Bandits.

Rain is a familiar enemy in the Midwest League, where teams schedule 140 games a season, but usually only end up playing around 135 due to inclement weather. “In an environment like this, where a lot of fans are local, rain definitely hurts,” Vohs said, “if people think the weather is going to be bad, they’ll just stay at home.”

On this day, rain not only threatened the game, but also the cancellation of one of the team’s most popular promotions – a postgame fireworks show.

“We try to stick with what works,” Vohs said, explaining his back-to-basics promotional philosophy, “in this market, fireworks and beer promotions work. We could do like Kane County and schedule Myron Noodleman or Zooperstars, and those things might do well after two or three years, but as a non-profit team, I can’t justify spending $3,000 to $4,000 a night on those performers and not have it make an immediate impact at the gate.”

In addition to overseeing the club’s marketing efforts, Vohs is also heavily involved in baseball operations, communicating with the Twins front office regarding baseball matters on a regular basis.

His acumen as a baseball guy has not gone unnoticed. In 2006, the Twins arranged for Vohs to attend Major League Baseball’s Scout School, an intensive ten day camp designed to teach the intricacies of scouting major league talent.

Someday Vohs may trade in his job behind the desk for a job behind the radar gun, but for now, he is content with the Snappers. “It’s never dull,” Vohs said, “you’re always working on something different. Everyone here has a title, but everyone also helps take care of whatever needs to be done, whether it’s selling tickets, serving food, or cleaning the stadium.”

Despite the best efforts of Vohs and his grounds crew, baseball and fireworks were not meant to be on the day I visited, as a rain storm drenched the area about an hour before game time.

It’s not all dark clouds for Beloit, though. According to Vohs, the team is “in the process of finishing up a site plan and engineering study on some land in the Gateway area at the intersection of I-43 and I-90.”

Not only would a new stadium be a boon for the Snappers, it would also ensure the future of baseball in Beloit for decades to come.

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Related posts:

1. Kane County Cougars Thriving in Crowded Market
2. At Elfstrom Stadium, Kane County Cougars Fans Make the Difference (Ballpark Review)
3. Lessons from the Bush Leagues: Applying the Minor League Mindset to High School Athletics (Part I)

Kane County Cougars Class A Affiliate of the Oakland A's

Elfstrom Stadium – Geneva, IL

Opened: 1991 with renovations completed in 2009

Capacity: 7,100

Ticket Prices: Kane County has a tiered ticket pricing system with regular, prime, and premium dates ranging from $8 to $14 depending on the type of seat and date.

Parking: Free and ample parking next to stadium on a beautiful brick paved lot

Dates Visited:
June 18 vs. Wisconsin Timber Rattlers – Box Score & Summary

Overview
As any baseball fan can tell you, when you attend a game, the stadium itself is only a small part of the ballpark experience. It’s the fans that give a park personality and make it an enjoyable place to see a game.

With this in mind, I stepped into Elfstrom Stadium with a certain degree of trepidation. Elfstrom Stadium, home to the Class ‘A’ Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League, is just a short car ride from Wrigley Field.

View of Centerfield at Elfstrom Stadium

Having spent many summer evenings at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati watching the Cubs beat up on the Redlegs, I have, to put it politely, developed a dislike for the boys in blue – and their fans.

Although Kane County is an affiliate of the Oakland A’s, I fully expected to spend my time at The Elf surrounded by Cubs fans.

And I was.

But, something weird happen. Take the actual Cubs team out of the equation, and people wearing Cubs jerseys, hats, and shirts magically become a fun group of people to watch a game with.

Ballpark Features

Elfstrom Stadium received a $10.5 million face-lift in 2009 that added a covered concourse, skybox suites, and a second-level seating area to the 18 year old ballpark. Not that a lack of these amenities were keeping fans away. For the past 10 seasons, the Cougars have averaged more than 7,000 fans a game, making them one of the best draws in Minor League Baseball.

Elfstrom Park Prior to Renovations in 2009

Elfstrom Field Following 2009 Renovations

The eight million plus fans that have made their way through the gates at Elfstrom Stadium over the years have seen an impressive array of future big leaguers including Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Dontrelle Willis, Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Gonzalez, and most recently, Oakland rookie Trevor Cahill. The Cougars have paid homage to these stars by placing their likeness up on the front gates and on various signs throughout the park.

The park itself is your typical Minor League yard. The outfield wall is a symmetrical fence plastered with advertisements. Behind the wall are three covered picnic areas, each of which has a rusting façade, giving fans sitting underneath the new multi-million dollar grandstand the impression that more work is left to be done.

There are three scoreboards located in left-centerfield. All are small, and one –the board displaying the line score – wasn’t functioning at all during my visit. The two remaining boards display prerecorded video/graphics and game totals (R, H, E), respectively.

Scoreboards at Elfstrom Stadium

Trees line the area beyond the outfield wall and picnic areas, providing a backdrop that is common among Midwest League stadiums.

Fans at The Elf have three seating options in the lower-level of the stadium. Box seats make up roughly the first ten rows of every seating section at ground level. Directly behind each section of box seats are another 12-15 rows of reserved seating in the form of metal bleachers.  The box/reserved seating area is flanked on either side by a grassy berm area.

Thanks to the renovations, the ballpark also contains fifteen new luxury suites, which, according to the Kane County Cougars’ website feature “indoor and outdoor seating, climate control, satellite television, stadium audio and a top notch menu.”

Concourses at The Elf are clean and wide enough not to feel crowded, even when 7,000 people are at the park.

Stadium Atmosphere

The atmosphere at the Elf can best be described as a cross between the county fair and a baseball game. Throughout the stadium the smell of two of the Cougars’ signature concession items, Elephant Ears and Roasted Corn-on-the-Cob, fills the air.

General Manager Jeff Sedivy makes sure there are plenty of things going on to keep fans entertained. On the night I was in town, Myron Noodleman – a modern day Max Patkin – was performing his shtick at the stadium. And in true county fair fashion, the Cougars and Noodleman were followed by a fireworks show.

Another unique aspect of Elfstrom Stadium is the amount of interaction the Cougar players have with fans. While it is

Members of the Cougar Bullpen Clown Around with Myron Noodleman Between Innings

not uncommon to see Minor Leaguers signing autographs, Kane County seems to take the fan-player experience one step further. Prior to the start of the game Kane County players gather up armfuls of Cougar Logo Baseballs and toss them into the stands at eager fans. And get this: they actually looked like they enjoyed doing it!

Just before the home half of the fourth inning, the bullpen for the Cougars assembled in right field to join Myron Noodleman as he danced to the tune “Shout.” The level of energy, not to mention the smiles, displayed by the Cougars gave me the impression that they were having just as much fun on the field as the fans were in the stands.

And what about those Cubs fans that I was sure would wreck my entire Elfstrom experience? They ended up being the icing on the cake (or in this case the powdered sugar on a piping hot Elephant Ear). By the time I left the stadium I had met nearly everyone with three seats of my own. All were huge baseball fans (not just Cubs), and all were the kind of Midwestern friendly that you don’t find anywhere else. It only took about three innings before I felt like I was in a baseball version of the show Cheers, sitting in the section where “everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came.”

Thanks to my time at The Elf, the next time I am at the GABP in Cincy and the Cubs are in town, I may just reach over and shake the hands of those Cubs fans sitting next to me.

Especially if the Reds are winning.

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This negative image was flushed away over the course of one doubleheader on June 17 as the South Bend Silver Hawks, a Class ‘A’ affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, celebrated Plumber Appreciation Night at Coveleski Field.

Plumber Appreciation Night at the Cove, as Announced on the Display Leading into the Ballpark

The stadium wide “thank you” to plumbers included a toilet paper giveaway (above and beyond the free tp fans have access to in the ballpark lavatories) and a number of on-field contests that gave fans the chance to become acquainted with the tool of choice for amateur plumbers everywhere – the plunger.

Silver Hawk Mascot, "Swoop," Waves a Plunger in Salute to Plumbers Everywhere

For Marketing Director Amy Hill and her staff, the ode to plumbers is just another promotion in a string of creative gems that are bringing fans out to the Cove.

Earlier in the season, the Silver Hawks generated buzz with memorable themes like “Ugly Sweater Night” (fans wearing ugly sweaters received free admission), “Halfway to Halloween Night” (fans wearing Halloween costumes received free admission), and the recession-themed “Name Your Ticket Price Night” (no costume or sweater necessary, just name your price, man).

And people are still talking about one of last year’s Silver Hawk promotional masterpieces, “Mustache Awareness Night,” an event inspired by pitcher Josh Collmenter’s circa-1970 pushbroom stache’ that garnered an endorsement from the esteemed American Mustache Institute.

“A good promotion is one that is fun and that fans are going to be able to interact with,” Hill explains, which in turn, explains why on any given night fans at the Cove are likely to be found participating in off-the wall stunts like tossing rings at a plunger, dancing atop the dugout in a ridiculous sweater, or wearing a fake mustache.

Swoop Celebrates with the Winners of the "Big Underwear" Race

So, what’s next in South Bend? Having had a Plumber Appreciation night and a Mustache Awareness Night, one can only think that it will be a matter of time before the Silver Hawks combine the two and honor the most famous Mustachioed Plumber of all time: Mario.

Regardless of what Hill and company dream up next, Silver Hawk fans can be sure of one thing: it will be fun.

Swoop Leads the South Bend Diamond Girls in a Toilet Paper Race

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One mislocated fastball. That’s all that stood between a trio of Bowling Green pitchers and a no-hitter on Monday as the Hot Rods opened up a five game homestand with a 6-1 victory over the Greenville Drive.

Newly minted South Atlantic League All-Star Chris Andujar dealt six innings of one-hit, one-run baseball to improve to 7-2 on the year. Andujar’s lone mistake came in the second inning when Greenville’s Kade Keowen deposited a one-out smash over the wall in right.

Offensively, Kyeong Kang and Mike Sheridian did a little yard work of their own for the Hot Rods.

Kang opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with his first homer of the year, a no-doubter of the three-run variety that sailed over the right field wall.  The score would remain 3-0 until the bottom of the third when former #1 draft pick Tim Beckham reached on a one-out walk, stole second, and scored on a Jake Jefferies’ single. Mike Sheridan delivered his team-leading seventh homer in the third with a two-run shot to give the Rods their 6-1 cushion.

The Hot Rods, winners of four straight, remain five games back of the division leading Charleston RiverDogs at 29-28.

GAME NOTES:

• Attendance – 2,925
• Tim Beckham was also voted to the SAL All-Star team. He leads the Hot Rods in BA (.297) and is tied for lead in RBIs (31).
• A label on the back of Tim Beckham’s batting helmet reads: “Dat Dude Shawty” (One of the beauties of Minor League Baseball is that you can actually sit close enough to the players to observe this kind of thing).

SS Tim Beckham and OF Justin Reynolds preparing to lead off the top of the third

Beckham surveys the action from the video board in right-center

Baseball Annies: Alive and Well in the Sally League?

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1. Preview: Bowling Green Hot Rods
2. Lessons from the Bush Leagues: Applying the Minor League Mindset to High School Athletics (Part I)
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