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16 Hartford Business Journal • March 20, 2017 www.HartfordBusiness.com their brands and products to thousands of consumers on game days. It will be obvious from the time fans arrive at the stadium's main entrance, with its two-story tall "Dunkin' Donuts Park'' sign towering over- head. If they miss that, fans most likely will lay eyes on the dozens of outfield ad billboards and signs paid for by team sponsors. Nearly 12 months behind its original opening-day goal last April, the 6,000-seat (8,000 with standing room), $71 million stadium in Hartford's Downtown North, or DoNo quadrant, will be one of eight new minor-league ballparks built or extensively renovated in the last five years, according to Ballpark Digest. The others include in Biloxi, Miss.; Birmingham, Ala.; Charlotte, N.C.; Pensacola, Fla.; and El Paso, Texas. America is home to 159 minor-league ballparks used by 160 teams. Each market aspired, as does Hartford, to leverage their ballparks to spur economic development in the vicinity and surrounding region. Several have had some success, said Ballpark Digest Publisher Kevin Reichard. Development in downtown Fort Wayne, Ind., has thrived in the decade since its down- town minor-league park opened, Reichard said. Charlotte opened its downtown ball- park in 2013, and Nashville, Tenn., built its stadium on former state parking lots. Big-league stadiums have also been major economic triggers. San Diego has got- ten about $1 billion in development since the Padres' big-league stadium, Petco Park, opened in 2004, Reichard said. Few stadiums, however, have undergone the kind of construction delays and acrimony as has Hartford's venue, he said. "It is pretty unusual,'' Reichard said. "But the fact that it's a ballpark is almost immate- rial to this. Anytime you have a city-led devel- opment, you could get [issues] like this." Despite the delay, Yard Goats officials say that hasn't dampened enthusiasm — or finan- cial support — from its corporate sponsors like Aetna, The Hartford and Dunkin' Donuts who signed on early and remained with the team through the construction dustup. The ballclub has already sold all of its inventory of outfield signage for the stadium's inaugural season. No sponsors defected amid the turmoil arising from the stadium cost overruns and subsequent acrimonious relationship between the city and the former stadium developer, Centerplan, said Yard Goats Assistant General Manager Mike Abramson. "We'll probably end up having over 250 sponsors — big and small,'' said Abramson, who has spent the last four of his 12 years in baseball with Yard Goats owner Josh Solo- mon's organization. "The way the corporate community has enveloped us has been what we thought, and then some.'' When they were in New Britain, the for- mer Rock Cats had only a handful of corpora- tions as sponsors despite Hartford being only 13 miles away, and home to several Fortune 500 companies, said Abramson, describing such sponsorships as the "bread and butter of minor-league baseball.'' "The corporate-hospitality opportunities are far greater than they were'' in New Brit- ain, he said. Opening Day is already sold out. The Yard Goats sold sponsors, he said, not just on the opportunity to leverage their brands via the team, but provide them a vehi- cle onto which those sponsors could initiate or deepen their community ties. For instance, Dunkin' Donuts will distrib- ute 33 tickets each game for seats along the dugouts to members of the Hartford region who work with or for community-service organizations, team officials said. The Yard Goats' roster of corporate spon- sors benefit the team in another important way: They stretch the team's meager marketing-pro- motions budget. Bartering typically is how the Yard Goats and other minor-league ballclubs get many of their products and services. CTfastrak, for instance, will soon begin pro- moting its suburban-route schedule to the down- town stadium. Another sponsor, NBC-CT Chan- nel 30, has affixed a camera in the stadium that, on game days, will provide screen shots during the station's live weather and traffic reports. Media blitz The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. was one of the Yard Goats' "founding spon- sors'' when the team announced its intent to relocate in 2015. For The Hartford, which recently saw a statue replica of its "stag'' logo mounted in the stadium, aligning with the team was more about community support than hawking its property-casualty products, said Michael Dunn, assistant vice president for brand strategy and management. "This is really more about our commitment to the city and the area we call home,'' Dunn said, declining to reveal the dollar-value of its sponsorship. It was also a reason The Hartford didn't abandon the team during the stadium deba- cle, he said. "We were committed at that point and we remain committed," Dunn said. "It's about enhancing the vitality of the city.'' Beginning April 3, the Yard Goats will launch an expansive media campaign, pro- moting its upcoming 140-game season via television, radio, print and online, Abramson said. The team is the Double-A affiliate of the major-league Colorado Rock- ies ballclub. Despite the Yard Goats' aggressive out- reach to sponsors, the team still bills itself as "family entertainment.'' Ticket prices, ranging from $6 to $16 for advance tickets to game-day prices from $8 to $18, are the same as when the team was the Rock Cats. Concession prices have yet to be set, but Abramson vows there "won't be any $20 beers'' like in many big- league ballparks. Each of the team's 70 home games this season are pocked with promotions. Fire- works will be a staple most night games. Other fan-appreciation events on deck include foam-finger, baseball cap and mas- cot Chompers bobble-head giveaways, and "baseball bingo.'' During the July 14-16 home series, there will be a "Whalers Alumni Week- end,'' in which ex-players from the former Hartford NHL team will be in attendance. UConn Health signed on as "presenting spon- sor'' for that event. "Carnival" atmosphere Stadium novelties, like the giant, centerfield Dunkin' Donuts coffee cup that will emit steam for each home run, each have a role in enhanc- ing the park's fun atmosphere, team officials say. The coffee cup is an extension of Dunkin's sta- dium-branding, courtesy of the huge "Dunkin' Donuts Park'' sign at the main entryway. "It's part carnival, part ballpark,'' Abramson said. "When you walk into the main gate and see the size of that sign, it tells you you're not walking into a ballpark, you're walking into a carnival midway.'' With names like "Dark Blues Diner," "The Grazin' Goat," and "Huck's Hot Corner," the stadium's food-bev- erage concessions will contribute to the loose, fun atmosphere Yard Goats games intend to evoke, Abramson said. Centerfield also houses the "Travel- ers Fun Zone,'' where kids play on "bounce- houses'' and other playscapes while their guardians enjoy the game. Unlike the old play zone in New Brit- ain, Hartford's has a view of — and can be seen from — the ball- field, Abramson said. In addition, the Yard Goats have signed several region- al and national acts to entertain fans dur- ing down times. No matter that it will be a new stadium in a new venue, team officials say fans still expect the entertainment "schtick'' that is rou- tine in most minor- league ballparks. "We have to sat- isfy their expecta- tions,'' Abramson said. "Whether it sells tickets or not is less the point of it than making sure people have a full experience.'' Proof that minor- league teams' promotions connect with fans, he said, is that Major League Baseball teams have begun copying some of the smaller league's more popular fan attractions. Reaching a diverse audience The Yard Goats say they are working with four local/regional advertising-marketing agencies to promote the team to a wide base of the Hartford and New England region. Maria Lino, principal of The Latino Way, a downtown Hartford advertising-marketing house, says her firm is helping the Yard Goats "build a bridge between the team with our local neighborhoods.'' Many in Hartford's Puerto Rican and Dominican communities grew up with base- ball, and some still play in various recreation leagues, Lino said. It's into that audience, as well as the African-American market, the Yard Goats want to penetrate more deeply. All Yard Goats games will be broadcast in English (WPOP AM 1410) and in Spanish (WPRX AM 1120), and will be available on the iHeartRadio app. All home games will also be videostreamed on MiLb.com. Aug. 18 will be "Roberto Clemente Day'' at the stadium, celebrating the late Pittsburgh Pirate and humanitarian. "It's important to have that soul of the neighborhood reflected in the [stadium's] daily activities," said Lino, an avowed soccer fan. "That feeling of pride has to be there.'' Abramson added that, "The promise of the ballpark is that it would be everybody's ballpark. It does a disservice to the commu- nity if we're only marketing in English.'' n A 'bridge' to the city's neighborhoods from page 1 2017 Ballpark Debuts The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, Fla. The Depot, Cleburne, Texas Dunkin' Donuts Park, Hartford Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland, Fla. (renovations) Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, Fla. (renovations) SunTrust Park, Atlanta, Georgia Willie Horton Field, Detroit (Old Tiger Stadium site) S O U R C E : B A L L P A R K D I G E S T (Above) Yard Goats Assistant General Manager Michael Abramson in the stadium's media center, from which home games will be aired. At top, some of the many sponsor logos. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D