There is nothing quite like a little national media attention to help bring fans to the ballpark.
Just ask the Richmond Flying Squirrels, whose Salute to Scandal promotion went viral earlier this week after the Eastern League franchise announced that it would include a hot-dog themed tribute to Anthony Weiner, the former congressman and current New York City mayoral candidate with an ill-advised penchant for sending salacious text messages. The promotion had been on the team’s calendar all season but didn’t take off until Richmond announced its plan to offer $1 hot dogs and reward fans with prizes for tweeting photos of themselves eating those hot dogs.
Sports-talk radio, national morning shows and the Associated Press picked up the story, and the attention helped Richmond draw 6,094 fans to The Diamond last night—a tick below its season average of 6,532 but a strong showing for a rainy Thursday evening. That figure would have been bigger with better weather, says Richmond chief operating officer Todd Parnell, but walk-up sales all but disappeared when a steady rain began falling roughly one hour before first pitch, leading to two-hour rain delay—the team’s longest of the season.
The delay did gave fans time to take to Twitter and post a variety of photos.
Danger dog. It was in my mouth. #salutetoscandal #weiner .@gosquirrels pic.twitter.com/8MbBFjVz1T
— caitlynmayers (@caitlynmayers) August 1, 2013
“For whatever reason, there was a special buzz before the game,” said Parnell, noting that two of the three local television stations led their evening newscasts with a report from the ballpark. “It almost felt like an Opening Night or Fourth of July buzz.”
Though the Weiner wieners were the headliners of the night, the Flying Squirrels offered a few between-innings, scandal-themed acts as well. These included a Milli Vanilli singing contest, a Mike Tyson ear of corn eating contest and an Ohio State let’s make a deal contest (where all the prizes were temporary tattoos).
Richmond is hardly the first team to draw attention by poking fun at public figures, or addressing current events, at the ballpark. The Fort Myers Miracle (Florida State League) passed out water bottles in honor of Marco Rubio following the Florida senator’s dramatic pause during a GOP response to President Obama’s State of the Union address in February. The Huntsville Stars, which annually rank near the bottom of the Southern League in attendance, backed off its plan to auction off a rifle during its celebration of the Second Amendment.
Parnell said that the impact of these kinds of promotions isn’t necessarily seen in that game’s attendance, but the national attention does boost the team’s standing in the community.
“A lot of people in the stands came out because they were proud of the national attention we received,” Parnell said.
Taco Truck Throwdown
The Fresno Grizzlies’ signature event of the season has little to do with baseball. For fans of the Pacific Coast League franchise, it’s all about tacos.
The Grizzlies drew 13,394 fans to Chukchansi Park last night to celebrate the team’s third-annual Taco Truck Throwdown. The crowd was the 14th-largest in team history and the second-biggest of the season (the Grizzlies drew 13,899 when they gave away World Series replica rings in April).
Fresno welcomed 13 taco trucks to an open courtyard within the ballpark grounds for a friendly, eat-off competition to determine which local vendor offers the best Mexican fare. More than 20,000 tacos were sold—a 33 percent increase from last year—and the Golden Truck award for the best taco went to Dusty Buns for its duck taco.
Courtesy of Mike Oz
Taco trucks are a staple of the Fresno community—“Here in the valley, taco trucks have always been a big thing,” says Fresno native and Grizzlies coordinator of media relations Chris Kutz—and the team views the event as an opportunity to celebrate this passion. Fans arrived at the ballpark two hours before first pitch to cue for tacos and stayed well after the final out was recorded.
“We do this to bring different communities together,” Kutz said. “A minor league baseball stadium is like a melting pot and it was great to have trucks competing against each other and fans of those come to a game and supporting their favorite trucks. It’s always great to see downtown buzzing like that.”
Fresno sees even more room for growth in the event and the team is mulling whether to host more than one per season. The first Taco Truck Throwdown, which former Fresno Bee sportswriter and current Yahoo Sports scribe Mike Oz helped organize, attracted seven trucks and sold nearly 8,000 tacos. That number grew to 13 trucks and more than 14,000 tacos last season.
“We’re picky on how far to expand this,” Kutz said. “We don’t want to dilute the product. If you hold three of these, do you get the same kind of atmosphere at each one? This one was such a packed house, such a success, that we don’t want to take away from the success of it too much, but at the same time we want it to keep growing.”
For a breakdown of last night’s promotions and complete attendance figures, see the promotions tracker below:
INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE
Team
Opponent
Promotion
Attendance
Season Average
Lehigh Valley
Rochester
Team Card Set Giveaway
8,845
8,832
Louisville
Syracuse
$1 Budweiser Beer “Happy Hour”
8,679
8,076
Columbus
Buffalo
Thirsty Thursday
8,621
8,879
Toledo
Durham
Three Day Baseball Camp, Pub 315 Beer Tasting Event
8,562
7,464
Indianapolis
Scranton/WB
Thursday Value Night
7,332
8,610
Pawtucket
Norfolk
Governors’ Cup Champions Team Poster/On-Field Autograph Night
6,113
7,445
Gwinnett
Charlotte
$3 Thursday
3,764
4,646
PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE
Team
Opponent
Promotion
Attendance
Season Average
Fresno
Round Rock
Taco Truck Throwdown, Tecate Thursday, Post-Game Wrestling
13,394
6,660
Memphis
Tucson
Eat Fresh Thursday, Thursday Night Out
9,279
6,770
Sacramento
Albuquerque
Miller Lite Thirsty Thursdays
8,021
8,090
Salt Lake
Iowa
Principal Financial Dreams Tour
6,829
7,067
Nashville
Las Vegas
Throwback Thursday
6,441
4,957
Okla City
Reno
$1 Beer Night
5,203
5,846
New Orleans
Colo. Springs
Thirsty Thursday
4,535
4,872
Tacoma
Omaha
Thirsty Thursday
3,971
4,178
EASTERN LEAGUE
Team
Opponent
Promotion
Attendance
Season Average
New Britain
Akron
Park and Rec. Day
6,616
4,546
Richmond
Portland
Fireworks, Salute to Scandal Night
6,094
6,532
Reading
Erie
Fireworks, Wrestling Legend Kevin Nash Appearance, Post-Game Wrestling
5,977
6,204
Trenton
Harrisburg
Fireworks, Jewish Heritage Night, Thirsty Thursday
4,886
5,286
Bowie
New Hampshire
Youth Camp Day
3,492
3,579
Altoona
Binghamton
Curve Party Pack Series: Koozies, German Heritage Night, Thirsty Thursday
2,926
3,838
SOUTHERN LEAGUE
Team
Opponent
Promotion
Attendance
Season Average
Pensacola
Mobile
Thirsty Thursday
5,038
4,617
Mississippi
Montgomery
Sanofi Play4Health, Thirsty Thursday
3,782
2,700
Jacksonville
Chattanooga
Jiffy Lube Ticket Offer, Thursday Night Throw Down,
3,371
4,240
Tennessee
Birmingham
Day Care Day, Kids Eat Free, Knox County Night, Pilot Prize Night, Super Splash Day
2,609
3,807
Jackson
Huntsville
Dollar Thursday, Chase Skelton Band Post-Game Concert
2,385
1,937
TEXAS LEAGUE
Team
Opponent
Promotion
Attendance
Season Average
Corpus Christi
Midland
Thirsty Thursday
5,274
5,471
Frisco
San Antonio
$1 Dr Pepper Thursdays, RoughRiders Horse Race
4,823
7,120
N-west Arkansas
Tulsa
Thirsty Thursday and Buck Night
4,087
4,743
Arkansas
Springfield
$3 Discount Ticket Coupon
3,336
4,465
CALIFORNIA LEAGUE
Team
Opponent
Promotion
Attendance
Season Average
San Jose
Visalia
OSH Merchant Day
2,533
2,796
Inland Empire
Lake Elsinore
Bacon Bonanza, Thirsty Thursday Summer Concert Series
2,111
2,707
Lancaster
Inland Empire
Hawktoberfest
1,553
2,266
High Desert
Stockton
Thirsty Thursday
1,249
1,353
CAROLINA LEAGUE
Team
Opponent
Promotion
Attendance
Season Average
Carolina
Frederick
Thirsty Thursday
5,516
3,220
Winston-Salem
Wilmington
Thirsty Thursday
4,477
4,303
Lynchburg
Salem
Theme Thursday-Pirates & Mermaids Night, Thursday Cheers, West Virginia University Night
1,524
2,360
Potomac
Myrtle Beach
Thursday Cheers
1,497
3,484
FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE
Team
Opponent
Promotion
Attendance
Season Average
Tampa
Charlotte
Thirsty Thursday
1,230
1,975
Brevard County
Bradenton
Thirsty Thursday
931
1,354
Fort Myers
Clearwater
Odd Pet Day, Thirsty Thursday
905
1,989
Palm Beach
Daytona
Theme Night Thursday
459
1,011
Dunedin
Jupiter
Thirsty Thursday
417
792
Lakeland
St. Lucie
$1 Sodas, 2-for-1 Beers
380
1,090
MIDWEST LEAGUE
Team
Opponent
Promotion
Attendance
Season Average
Kane County
Wisconsin
FIREWORKS, Quick Change, Run The Bases, Travel Mugs
5,798
5,708
Great Lakes
West Michigan
$1 Family Feast Night
5,571
3,252
South Bend
Lansing
Big Jackpot Toss, Thirsty Thursday
5,011
3,500
Quad Cities
Peoria
Reynolds Ford Used Car Giveaway, Legends of Rock Night, Thirst-Day Thursday $2 Drink Specials
4,395
3,346
Bowling Green
Dayton
Red, White & Blue Night, Thrifty Thursday
3,813
3,139
Lake County
Fort Wayne
Date Night, Salute to Technology, Thirsty Thursday
2,819
3,281
Clinton
Beloit
Downtown Clinton Night, Thirsty Thursday
2,683
1,607
Burlington
Cedar Rapids
Thirsty Thursday
868
933
SOUTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE
Team
Opponent
Promotion
Attendance
Season Average
Greenville
Savannah
$1 Drink Night
4,843
4,698
Augusta
Charleston
Thirsty Thursday
3,267
2,837
West Virginia
Lakewood
Thirsty Thursday, BIG 12: NFL Night
2,750
2,248
Hickory
Asheville
Thirsty Thursday, ’80s Night
2,532
2,084
Rome
Lexington
$1 Drink Night
2,009
2,688
Hagerstown
Kannapolis
Thirsty Thursday!
1,165
1,065
Delmarva
Greensboro
Thirsty Thursday
ppd
3,306
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