Bowie Baysox made the playoffs - if anyone noticed
September 5, 2008
If the Orioles somehow made the playoffs this year, you can bet that Camden Yards would be brimming with media, fans and vendors all trying to get a piece of the action. In the very least, they sure as heck wouldn’t have trouble filling up the seats, even on a weeknight.
Not so, however, for the team’s Double-A affiliate, which has made it to the post season for the first time in more than a decade. According to Tom Sedlacek, the Bowie Baysox’ communications manager, the team drew 2,000 people — about 20 percent of capacity — to Prince George’s County Stadium for Wednesday night’s playoff game.
“The kids are back in school and we’re more of a family entertainment venue, so there isn’t a lot of interest on a Wednesday night,” Sedlacek said.
The attendance and profitability of hosting a playoff game on a weeknight don’t compare to a summer weekend or even a weekday game, he said.
“The big thing is the kids because we don’t really get any kids out here this time of the year during the week,” said Sedlacek. “We do have some hardcore fans that follow us all the time, but without the families out here it makes a big difference.”
I guess that makes sense when you think about it — minor league baseball marketing across the board is more about the event or experience rather than promoting the on-the-field results. After all, how many readers out there knew Bowie was in the playoffs this year? Or remembers the score of the last minor league game they went to?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentRavens fans are the (17th) best
August 29, 2008
At Thursday’s preseason Ravens game against Atlanta, I was struck by the number of fans not only showing up, but tailgating and cheering like it was their job. After all, it was a game that didn’t count and — being the last game before the regular season starts — one that was unlikely to feature many starters.
I’ve been to a preseason Redskins game and the atmosphere wasn’t nearly as energetic. That stadium seemed to mostly be filled with people that couldn’t sell off their season ticket seats. And that game was even on a weekend, versus a weeknight.
I asked several fans what they thought made Ravens fans so die hard and many used the opportunity to take shots at ‘Skins fans, who some said were more of the “suit and tie” variety than the stuff real football fans are made of.
Friday, however, I was alerted to an article on ESPN.com that ranked all 32 NFL teams’ fans. If you’re a Ravens fan, the results aren’t pretty. Taking into account stadium and tailgating atmosphere, notoriety of fans, how they take a loss, loyalty, and home fans’ creativity, ESPN had Redskins fans ranked No. 6 and Ravens fans ranked 17th (right behind the Jets, Saints and Colts). Steelers fans were ranked No. 1.
Ouch. I can think of a few people I spoke to last night that would strongly disagree.
Check it out and let us know what you think. The article has Steelers, Packers and Browns fans ranked 1, 2, 3. Did the ESPN bloggers totally miss the boat? What didn’t they get about Baltimore?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentAttorneys with Olympian endurance
August 22, 2008
Above the Law points out that the Lithuanian silver and bronze medalists in the men’s pentathlon are both lawyers. I wonder: are there any Maryland lawyers who have won Olympic medals? What about attorneys who have accomplished some other notable athletic feat?
If you know someone who fits the bill, let me know. The athletic attorney might be featured in a future “Unbillable Hours” column, our semi-regular look at lawyers with unique outside-of-work interests.
CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentMerchandise at the minor leagues
August 15, 2008
After visiting most of Maryland’s minor league ballparks this month, meeting with team staff, taking in the atmosphere and “testing” — purely for research purposes — the stadium fare, I feel I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the team gift shops.
Many fans I talked to pointed to the affordability of minor league games versus at the major league level. For about $150, a family of four can get tickets behind the dugout, meal platters and sodas and still probably have some change left over. At Oriole Park, $150 will get you two tickets behind the dugout (unless it’s for a “prime” game — then you’ll need $10 more), with $40 left over for a couple of beers.
But a quick glance at merchandise prices — $24 for a hat, $20 for a shirt — and the words bargain don’t exactly spring to mind. According to some of the store employees I talked to, the minor league teams deal with the same types of apparel companies as the big leagues. Same production costs, same mark-up.
They said it’s sometime a surprise to fans walking in for the first time and expecting to see merchandise as cheap as their tickets were. You might think with the money most people feel they are saving on tickets, they wouldn’t mind spending what they probably consider a little extra on that tee-shirt or baseball cap their kid wants.
One sales clerk at a Bowie Baysox game said people have complained to her about the prices or just left items on the counter and walked out of the store.
Do you think the clubs should be charging less for their merchandise? Or are you happy to support show team pride?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentMultimedia: An evening at the ballpark
August 14, 2008
Although the O’s are struggling this season, their Double-A affiliate has a record to be proud of. The Bowie Baysox are one of the top teams in the Eastern League, and many of the players hope to don an Orioles uniform one day.
Photographer Max Franz and I spent an evening at the Baysox ballpark last week. We’ve recreated the experience of attending a game (as best we can) through the audio slideshow below. Enjoy.
RICHARD SIMON, Multimedia Reporter
Multimedia: The White Marlin Open
August 8, 2008
The 35th Annual White Marlin Open in Ocean City kicked off Monday and runs through the final weigh-in this afternoon.
High gas prices and the shaky economy nipped participation in the popular fishing tournament, with 300 boats registered for this year’s event compared to nearly 400 last year.
Registered boats paid either $950 or $1,050, depending on whether they registered early, for the chance to compete for the $2.2 million in cash prizes up for grabs.
Daily Record Photographer Rich Dennison spent the week on the water aboard boats competing for the big prize. Watch in a larger window by clicking here.
Getting ready for the Ravens
August 4, 2008
This year’s Ravens gear officially became available online this month, but if you’re planning on going to the team’s training camp in Westminster, you won’t have to wait for your gear to arrive in the mail — a good variety of clothing and gadgets is on sale at the team store just outside the fan viewing stands.
Saleswoman Gloria Makoy says Ray Lewis gear is and has always been the first to sell out in her five years of working at the camp. Other popular items are white hats, shirts and footballs (better for getting autographed) and 8 x 10 player photos.
Makoy also said she often sees dads buying souvenirs like bottles for the baby back home or earrings for the wife who couldn’t make it.
Makoy, a Pittsburgh native, said Ravens training camp is more accessible than others she’s seen.
“At Steelers training camp, you couldn’t even get close to the players,” she said. “Here, if you want an autograph you can definitely get it.”
(The camp’s Ravens store also sells Sharpies.)
Many of the other vendors at Ravenstown, an area at training camp with games and tents offering product promotions for kids and other visitors, said they recognize families who come back every year.
“It so cute, I begin to recognize the kids and parents and I watch them grow up,” Makoy said.
Does anybody here make training camp a family tradition?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentKubatko leaving Sun, joining MASN
July 30, 2008
It’s the end of an era — for the last three years, veteran Sun sportswriter Roch Kubatko has been entertaining Baltimoreans with his “Roch Around the Clock” blog and running commentary on Baltimore sports. Drawing more than 100,000 page views every week, Kubatko’s blog quickly became one of the most visited blogs at the Baltimore Sun and was often the most visited sports blog within its parent Tribune Co.’s newspapers.
But with The Sun’s recent overhaul of staff and content (dictated by the Tribune) and the second round of buyouts and layoffs since January, it appears as though Kubatko, who has been at the paper for 21 years, has had enough.
After taking the buyout offered companywide, Kubatko said “goodbye” in his last Sun blog posting today. Just hours later, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network announced Kubatko will be joining its team officially on Friday and bringing his popular blog to MASNsports.com. It begs the question, how difficult was it to get Sun management to let him keep his blog, title and all, to a competing news medium?
Kubatko will also appear on MASN’s O’s Xtra and Ravens Xtra, the Orioles Hot Stove Show and the Anita Marks show. During baseball season, he will also co-host several pre- and post-game shows for the Orioles Radio network.
Kubatko is just one of the more visible examples of the longtime writers who will be soon leaving The Sun due to its staff cuts and paper redesign. How big of a loss is this for The Sun and how big of a gain is this for MASN?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Can the city support an NBA or NHL team?
July 24, 2008
After today’s announcement that Baltimore officials want a downtown arena big enough accommodate a professional franchise, the next obvious question is: Who could fill that order, and can Baltimore really support an NBA or NHL team?
It’s been 35 years since the Bullets headed down I-95 to play in the Washington area (where they became the Wizards in 1997) and Baltimore hasn’t even had a whiff of getting a pro basketball team since. Sure, the Seattle Sonics were available earlier this year, but Baltimore was never a legitimate contender to get them. (The Sonics’ new home, Oklahoma City, was announced this month).
And the idea of Baltimore supporting a professional hockey team, especially when the area’s handful of hockey fans can go to D.C. or Philadelphia to watch a game, seems even more unrealistic (see comments here).
Even the city’s professional baseball team has been struggling to draw crowds for the past few years as excitement over the new ballpark has faded and the reality of a mediocre ball club has set in. The Orioles are a perfect case in point: when teams do well, more people come to their games. A few weeks before the All-Star break, the team was playing above-.500 ball and Camden Yards was attracting more people than it had in recent years.
Today the team is 10.5 games out of first place in the American League East, sits three games below .500 and is 7-11 in the month of July. In the last four weeks, attendance at Oriole Park has dropped by an average of 2,000 per night.
So while a new franchise might draw sellout crowds the first few years, after the excitement wears off where will Baltimore stand? If the team isn’t any good, evidence so far points to all but the hardcore fans in this city being pretty indifferent about watching a lousy team in person. (The Ravens, of course, are the grand exception to that — despite a 5-11 season last year M&T Bank Stadium was packed for every game.)
And while it should be noted that an 18,500-seat arena might be easier to fill up than a ballpark that seats more than 48,000, do you think Baltimore could really support a professional hockey or basketball team?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentPromotions can’t cure O’s losing streak
July 22, 2008
If the Orioles lose this Sunday when they are scheduled to host the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim, there will be nothing “sweet” about a 16th Sunday loss in a row for the O’s.
A few weeks ago I was chuckling when the team’s marketers came out with the “We win, you win” promotion where fans at Oriole Park would get free tickets to a future game if the Orioles snapped their Sunday losing streak — then at 12 games.
And last week I smiled when the team came out with a similar promotion (“We win, you win 2”) for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Tigers and thought, “well if at first you don’t succeed…”
But now in the wake of yet another Sunday loss, the team’s streak stands at 15 and they haven’t won a game on a Sunday since their first try in the season. Should the team’s marketers even bother this weekend with a Sunday promotion or is now the time to start looking away and start ignoring this latest curse to hit the American League East?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
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