DALLAS– Humor is part of the shared networking here at 110th annual Baseball Winter Meetings besides the bar-b-queue, cowboy boots and assorted ten-gallon hats. The well known Texas hospitality is evident throughout this baseball showcase.
They say everything is bigger in Texas but don’t say that very loud in Alaska. The joke goes, “We’ll just cut Alaska in half and Texas will drop to the third largest state in the Union. By the way, there is baseball in Alaska and now it seems almost everywhere else in the world.
Headquarters for this convention of baseball personnel is the Hilton Anotole Hotel and it is the sixth time the meetings have been held here. Over 3,000 have corralled themselves to learn and network the business side of baseball. Besides contingents of the 30 Major League Baseball organizations more than 160 Minor League Baseball teams have representatives. They are mingleling with vendors and associated baseball companies. You can observe the increase in groups from international baseball-playing countries as more foreign languages are being heard in the hotel lobby and trade show floor. Talk of getting baseball and softball back in the 2016 Olympics has been a focus.
Other hot topics besides what team slugger Albert Pujols will sign with are the business prospects of social media. The term BIRCO, was explained and stressed. It is an acronym for the ‘Baseball Internet Rights Company,’ a wholly owned subsidiary that manages digital media for MLB. Bob Bowman, one of the presenting speakers said, “There is no way of going back to the way things were.” This was in reference regarding new ways of reaching prospective customers. He added, “My two children are teenagers now. They’ve never bought a newspaper and never will. There won’t be a return to those days.”
Donny Baarns, also a presenting speaker, stressed using a team’s history to market the present day product. His title “How History Can Strengthen Your Club’s Brand” became a blueprint to market the history of a franchise while emphasizing a team’s long association with the community. He pointed out revisiting long ago program booklets, “Re-engaging with sponsors of time passed is good neighborhood business.”
Besides the gala reception at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, the Baseball Trade Show was a popular destination to mingle and learn what is new in terms of marketing ideas for the 2012 season.
Promoting ethnic nights in association with known vendor brands was highlighted as a new area to focus on. Two examples of successful marketing partnerships with community groups was the highlight of the long running Polish-American Night at Comerica Park presented annually by the Detroit Tigers. Also the Polish-American Heritage Night at U.S. Cellular Field (Sox Park) in Chicago as part of a White Sox promotion was emphasized. Other MLB organizations that have had Polish-American promotions have been the Cub’s, Mets, Pirates and Indian’s.