Field of fun and games

Published 8:53 am Monday, June 18, 2007

EVERETT – Free fleece blankets, baseball caps and bobbleheads, as well as fireworks aplenty, are among the added attractions the Everett AquaSox will offer its ticket-buying fans this season.

Each year, the AquaSox and other minor league baseball teams around the country load their schedules with theme nights and promotions designed to give fans just one more enticement to fill up the stadium seats. They also give sponsors an opportunity for more exposure.

In the Everett AquaSox organization, general manager Brian Sloan oversees promotional and sponsorship efforts. That includes everything from the giveaways at the ticket gates to the sponsors’ signs in the outfield and the between-inning promotional contests.

“There are some ideas people really enjoy and we do year after year,” Sloan said.

Which is why every year the AquaSox players don tie-dyed uniforms for “FrogStock,” when fans are encouraged to bring out their 1960s garb as well. Or why dogs are allowed annually to attend a game dubbed “Bark in the Park.” Both of those popular events have survived a couple ownership changes with the team.

Actually, all 38 home games on this summer’s schedule are listed with at least one promotion or theme. Eight of those games feature post-game fireworks.

“It’s a guaranteed draw,” Sloan said of fireworks. “You don’t even have to come early to the park to enjoy those.”

Bob Bavasi, whose family brought the Everett Giants (later the AquaSox) to Everett in 1984 and sold the team in 1998, said he thinks promotions and theme nights are especially important to teams in a market such as this. Everett is unlike cities such as Spokane or the Tri-Cities, where minor-league baseball is broadcast on TV, and there’s slimmer competition for a sports fan’s dollar.

Plus, the free stuff and theme nights are something that minor league fans expect, Bavasi added.

“It’s really sort of a staple in minor league baseball,” he said.

“It’s our way of giving back to fans. Someone goes home with a piece of the ballpark,” Sloan added of the giveaways.

Over the years, the AquaSox have offered fairly straight-forward promotions and theme nights. Hawaiian Day or Mascot Mania Day are about as wild as the team gets.

That’s in contrast to outlandish theme nights and giveaways offered by other minor league teams. One Florida team has scheduled Billy Donovan Night this week, making fun of the University of Florida basketball coach who accepted a job with the NBA’s Orlando Magic and then quickly changed his mind.

Other teams have had infamous figure skater Tanya Harding sign bats or offered Richard Nixon bobbleheads.

“There’s some clubs that really go for stuff on the edge, and that’s the market they’re in,” Bavasi said.

But anything that clashes with the AquaSox family-friendly experience and the basic bounds of taste won’t make the cut here, Sloan said.

“It’s fun to talk about (the other promotions) but that’s not who we are. We’re all about family and community,” he said.

That doesn’t mean being out of date, however. On July 19, the club will give out Tony Gwynn bobbleheads, commemorating the famed player’s time as a minor leaguer in Walla Walla, before the team moved to Everett. The AquaSox have timed the giveaway to be just days before Gwynn enters the Hall of Fame.

Sloan said the club always considers new ideas for promotions each season. Some are brainstormed with sponsors, others come from ideas tried by other clubs. There’s even an annual trade guide that lists ideas other teams have tried recently.

Whether it’s the promotions or something else, the AquaSox have kept bringing in fans since 1984. Last year, the team averaged 2,883 fans per home game. That put the team’s average attendance in about the middle of the Class A Northwest League, outdrawing rivals such as Boise, the Tri-Cities and Yakima.

Sponsors noticed that and the team’s profile in the community. Sloan said about 90 percent of the club’s sponsors renew their agreements with the team each year. There are no empty spots for sponsors who want to add their message to the outfield walls.

“There are people waiting in line to get in the ballpark and have that opportunity,” Sloan said. “It’s a really good situation.”

Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.