The Jackets just released the following:
Columbus Blue Jackets, Cleveland Indians Announce Marketing Alliance
The Columbus Blue Jackets and Cleveland Indians have joined forces to form a marketing alliance to engage sports fans across Ohio with the opportunity to experience the ex
citement of the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball, the clubs announced August 18.
The basis of the partnership includes:
Shared advertising and hospitality elements
Special ticket offers to each team’s fan base
In-arena and stadium entertainment presence for select games at each team's venue
Media exposure across broadcast partner channels
All I have to say is F-I-N-A-L-L-Y some creativity.
Actually I shouldn't say that because last year's Giant Eagle promotion was an outstanding one that was creative and really helped put butts in seats in a horrific economy.
I love this partnership though. It makes a lot of sense.
Baseball and hockey seasons synergize so well together. There is hardly any overlap. With the Indian's AAA affiliate right next door it only makes sense for both organizations to promote one another.
I actually thought it was a no brainer for the Jackets and Clippers to join forces but to have their big club partner up is even better and increases the Jackets exposure in another major Ohio market -- something they have struggled to achieve throughout their existence.
For the Indians it's a great opportunity for them to solidify their foothold in the Columbus market and gain an competitve advantage over their direct competition in the south in the Cincinnati Reds.
Sounds like a win-win to me and it's nice to see professional sports franchises from different leagues actually work together instead of against one another.
Hell I just might have to become an Indians fan now.
...and don't be surprised if this isn't the first step towards the Jackets saying bye bye to Fox Sports Ohio and hello to Sports Time Ohio which is the sports network owned by the Indians.
I may be mistaken but I believe the Jackets TV contract with FSN Ohio expires either this year or the year after.
Well done Jackets and Indians!
-LTL
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Jackets hit home run
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8 comments:
Maybe if they went to Sports Time Ohio, they'd televise ALL the games instead of 75/82 (plus pre-season).
This DOES make a great deal of business sense. The Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Indians AAA affiliate beginning this year) have the highest total and average game attendence of ALL of AAA baseball (over 570,000 total; over 9500/game). Of course, a lot of this can likely be attributed to the new (and AWESOME) Huntington Park downtown next to Nationwide Arena, home of the Blue Jackets. But, judging from the hats and clothing, there are a large number of Indians fans in attendance. This affiliation has to help the Indians solidify their fan base here in C-bus and central Ohio. I know I pay more attention to the main club now (despite their lousy season, I might add). I have to believe that this new cooperation will draw more interest in Cleveland and northern Ohio for the Blue Jackets. Colloborating on advertising and promotions makes for good business. And, for those of us who regularly attend Blue Jackets games and now the Clippers in the Arena District, the association of the two franchises just seems to happen naturally now. You see the "mixing" of the logos, etc in the pub and restaurants all over the area. So, making these associations "official" is a very positive move IMO.
Now if the Jackets were REALLY thinking (and had flexibility), they'd make moves to put their farm team in Cleveland/NEO instead of Syracuse. That would be pure synergy between Columbus and Cleveland...
doesnt the NHL have a partership with Fox Sports?
@Tom - that would just be TOO perfect. Lol
while i like this move.. the title of the post made me jump at the thought of maybe we got an offensive defensiveman. haha maybe soon though
I agree with Tom, being a Clevelander it is tough to watch the AHL franchise here in Cleveland since they are associated with the Colorado Avalanche. I always thought it would make sense for the Lake Erie Monsters to be CBJs farm team. It would be nice for the fans of Cleveland to watch some up and coming stars and then be able to continue to follow them once they make the NHL. This would only increase the CBJ fan base to more folks in NEO.
Kids starts to enjoy certain players on the Monsters and then off to Colorado to play, even with NHL Center Ice you have to stay up until 9pm for them to take the ice and to see them live you have to hope the Avs make a trip to Nationwide.
Do whats right CBJ and LEM, form the necessary partnership!!!
Tom and Chimera25: I agree that having the Jackets AHL affiliate in Cleveland would seemingly be a perfect match. As I posted earlier, having the Indians AAA affiliate here in Columbus is great. You get to watch guys like Marte, Crowe, Sowers, Valbuena, Toregas, etc play and develop here in downtown C-bus and then can easily follow them on TV with the big club. Or vice versa with Carmona, Hafner, etc coming down for rehabs. It is great. I was more of a casual Indians fan before but now follow them more closely because of this. If the Indians were playing better, I would much more likely make the drive up I-71 to attend a game or two there as well. The same would just have to happen if the Jackets' AHL affiliate were in Cleveland. My guess is that if the Clippers-Indians affiliation continues to prosper here, this might likely open the door for discussions in the hockey world.
Gotta agree with all of you. A CBJ AHL affiliate in Cleveland just makes way too much sense.
-LTL
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