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Benne
May 06, 2004 at 07:23PM View BBCode
an overhead shot would actually be kinda cool, advertisements notwhithstanding.
skierdude44
Thank you for writing the Los Angeles Dodgers to share your opinion with us. We truly appreciate when Dodger fans take the time to express their views and comments, both positive and negative. E-mail such as yours gives us an additional opportunity to view the Stadium and its operation through the eyes of our fans. Your comments have been forwarded to our Advertising department.
Thank you for your support of Dodger Baseball.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Customer Service
Atleast it is being fowarded, but they seem to just have computers answer the emails.
May 06, 2004 at 07:26PM View BBCode
Glad to see the Doders are listening:rolleyes:.Thank you for writing the Los Angeles Dodgers to share your opinion with us. We truly appreciate when Dodger fans take the time to express their views and comments, both positive and negative. E-mail such as yours gives us an additional opportunity to view the Stadium and its operation through the eyes of our fans. Your comments have been forwarded to our Advertising department.
Thank you for your support of Dodger Baseball.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Customer Service
Atleast it is being fowarded, but they seem to just have computers answer the emails.
skierdude44
May 06, 2004 at 07:42PM View BBCode
I just finished sending emails to all the american league teams. Now off to the national league.
skierdude44
May 06, 2004 at 07:44PM View BBCode
Some teams cannot recieve anymore mail because they are over their limit right now though. The Yankees and A's are the only ones that I have had a problem with though. Just keep sending emails until you get through if u get one of those messages.
skierdude44
May 06, 2004 at 07:55PM View BBCode
The Mariners told me that they would respond "when appropriate." Anyway i have sent an email to every team (and i think two to the phillies by mistake) and I will continue sending them if the team just tries to brush me off.
skierdude44
To Whom It May Concern,
I would just like to say that I hate the idea of selling advertising space
on the bases and pitching rubber. I believe that it is not a very smart
idea, and I view it as just selling out. I am not the only one who feels
this way either. There are quite a few people on my fantasy baseball site
that are not very happy about this. Don't be surprised if you get quite a
few more emails concerning this. I feel that it is disrespectful to the game
and is just selling out which I personally hate. I realize that you may not
be completely responsible for this, and I would appreciate it if you could
send me the info needed to contact who is responsible for this.
Thankyou for listening and please give me your feedback on this.
Sincerely,
Steve Parello
This is the response I got from the Padres:
Dear Mr. Parello:
Thanks for your email. For better or worse, this seems to be trend in all of
sports. Where corporate America can enter a sports venue, it will seek to do
so.
Tim Katzman
Corporate Communications
He makes it sound like they put a gun to their head and forced them to take the money and put ads on the bases.
May 06, 2004 at 09:17PM View BBCode
Ha! this one is a laugh. Talk about a brush off. Here is the original email i sent:To Whom It May Concern,
I would just like to say that I hate the idea of selling advertising space
on the bases and pitching rubber. I believe that it is not a very smart
idea, and I view it as just selling out. I am not the only one who feels
this way either. There are quite a few people on my fantasy baseball site
that are not very happy about this. Don't be surprised if you get quite a
few more emails concerning this. I feel that it is disrespectful to the game
and is just selling out which I personally hate. I realize that you may not
be completely responsible for this, and I would appreciate it if you could
send me the info needed to contact who is responsible for this.
Thankyou for listening and please give me your feedback on this.
Sincerely,
Steve Parello
This is the response I got from the Padres:
Dear Mr. Parello:
Thanks for your email. For better or worse, this seems to be trend in all of
sports. Where corporate America can enter a sports venue, it will seek to do
so.
Tim Katzman
Corporate Communications
He makes it sound like they put a gun to their head and forced them to take the money and put ads on the bases.
ME
May 06, 2004 at 09:24PM View BBCode
MLB made this decision, not the individual teams, every team is doing it, though the teams with more fans are getting more money from it than the teams with no fans (some are getting $100000, some are getting $50000). If the teams reduced ticket or concession prices with that money than it would be a good idea, otherwise it doesn't really matter much.
happy
anyway, it doesnt bother me too much, but i am kinda against putting stuff on the playing area (bases, helmets, jerseys, whatever) but anything else is free game. I think they should put an advertisement on each seat. and they can pay for my ticket each year. Id prefer they keep it off the bases and such, but i would say it doesnt bother me too much. If i was getting all these emails about the "integrity" of the game and all that, i would send a generic email back that says "welcome to America"
May 06, 2004 at 09:37PM View BBCode
I am definately going to the San Fran games, I am probably gonna get some front row tickets!!!anyway, it doesnt bother me too much, but i am kinda against putting stuff on the playing area (bases, helmets, jerseys, whatever) but anything else is free game. I think they should put an advertisement on each seat. and they can pay for my ticket each year. Id prefer they keep it off the bases and such, but i would say it doesnt bother me too much. If i was getting all these emails about the "integrity" of the game and all that, i would send a generic email back that says "welcome to America"
skierdude44
May 06, 2004 at 09:45PM View BBCode
Well, the White Sox emailed me back and told me that basically, they agree with me and have never allowed any advertising on the bases and that their hands are tied. The one thing that they did not answer is who I can contact to complain about this.
skierdude44
May 06, 2004 at 11:21PM View BBCode
The Brewers said something similar to the White Sox. It is funny how they say it was put together by baseball, but then totally avoid the issue for the rest of the email.
skierdude44
May 06, 2004 at 11:28PM View BBCode
So far I have gotten a total brush off from the Padres, something from the Whitesox saying that they are only doing because baseball is making them do it, and something from the brewers which basically says that this is being run by baseball and they are just going with the flow (although they could object because Selig is their owner or whatever but they wont do that). So far none of them have told me what I really wanna know though, and that is how to contact whoever is really in charge and complain to them. I said in the email that I realize that the individual team is not totally responsible for this and that I would appreciate it if they could tell me how to contact those who are responsible. No help so far but I have only gotten 3 responses so there is still hope. I'm gonna email the Yankees and A's tomorrow because they were over their message limit and I could not get through to them today.
Duff77
I'm a rare bird anyway in the fact that aside from my Orioles hat, I won't pimp for anybody. I would never wear anything with a logo on it. Not even a shoe with a swoosh. I absolutely refuse to be used as a billboard...even for things I like (Orioles hat excepted).
But the bottom line for me is that when I'm at a game, or watching one, I want to believe that what's going on is somehow important...not just "entertainment." When you fill it up with advertising, it violates that fantasy, which is important to a lot of fans. I want to believe I'm there because the game matters somehow. I don't want to believe I'm there because someone else wants my money. When there are ads everywhere, that's how it feels to me.
Of course there's a line to be drawn between what's necessary and beneficial and what isn't, and it's a matter of taste. I don't mind all those signs in the outfield when I go to a minor league game, but it would offend the hell out of me at a major league game. Hell, I didn't like signs on the outfield walls at Oriole Park, and I still don't--even though I'm used to it. One thing that annoyed the hell out of me from day one...right up until the day they got rid of it...were those "Nobody beats the Wiz!" signs overtop of every tunnel leading to the seats at Oriole Park. They were there for about a year and they annoyed the crap out of me.
Also...ever notice that when a sporting event has less people showing up, it has more advertising? Anybody ever wonder if there isn't at least SOMETHING of a relationship between the two?
May 06, 2004 at 11:39PM View formatted
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I don't even want to get into this with happy again, but where does it end? How about a huge Coors Lite banner across the Rocky Mountains? Big enough for the entire city of Denver to see? Heh? Why not? Make that natural wonder pay! How about ads on every tree in Yellowstone? Make the park free! I guess it just comes down to the fact that some of us think things have meaning, while others think things have no meaning and should be bilked for whatever they're worth. It's a failure of the culture and probably irreversable. I feel like a dinasour.
I'm a rare bird anyway in the fact that aside from my Orioles hat, I won't pimp for anybody. I would never wear anything with a logo on it. Not even a shoe with a swoosh. I absolutely refuse to be used as a billboard...even for things I like (Orioles hat excepted).
But the bottom line for me is that when I'm at a game, or watching one, I want to believe that what's going on is somehow important...not just "entertainment." When you fill it up with advertising, it violates that fantasy, which is important to a lot of fans. I want to believe I'm there because the game matters somehow. I don't want to believe I'm there because someone else wants my money. When there are ads everywhere, that's how it feels to me.
Of course there's a line to be drawn between what's necessary and beneficial and what isn't, and it's a matter of taste. I don't mind all those signs in the outfield when I go to a minor league game, but it would offend the hell out of me at a major league game. Hell, I didn't like signs on the outfield walls at Oriole Park, and I still don't--even though I'm used to it. One thing that annoyed the hell out of me from day one...right up until the day they got rid of it...were those "Nobody beats the Wiz!" signs overtop of every tunnel leading to the seats at Oriole Park. They were there for about a year and they annoyed the crap out of me.
Also...ever notice that when a sporting event has less people showing up, it has more advertising? Anybody ever wonder if there isn't at least SOMETHING of a relationship between the two?
ME
May 07, 2004 at 01:25AM View BBCode
MLB decided not to do this because lots of people were pissed off at it. Most teams are now $50000 poorer (some are $100000 poorer).
deanscubs
"We saw some of the polls on the Internet that said that 71 and 81 percent of the fans didn't approve of it," Geoffrey Ammer, president of worldwide marketing for the Columbia-Tri-Star Motion Picture Group, told ESPN.com. "Based on this reaction from the fans, we didn't want to do anything to take away from their enjoyment of the game and if that was the case with this element of the promotion, we could afford to do without it."
In an ESPN.com SportsNation poll of almost 45,000 readers, 79.4 percent said they thought that baseball was "selling out" by allowing the "Spider-Man 2" advertisements on the field.
The Yankees, who would receive more money than other teams for running the promotion because of playing in a large market, insisted that they would remove the logoed bases after batting practice and not use them in the one game that they had committed to in participating in the promotion.
Other parts of the promotion will be unchanged. Movie trailers will be featured on stadium scoreboards, the logos will be placed in the on-deck circles, and fans attending the games will receive "Spider-Man 2" foam fingers and masks. Movie branding will also appear on a ceremonial pitching rubber and home plate -- both of which will be replaced with the standard white variety once play begins.
that's still very annoying but at least they listened. however it shows that a complete sellout of all that is good in the world is going to occur very soon.
May 07, 2004 at 02:13AM View BBCode
woooohooo! ME is right, espn.com has a story on it."We saw some of the polls on the Internet that said that 71 and 81 percent of the fans didn't approve of it," Geoffrey Ammer, president of worldwide marketing for the Columbia-Tri-Star Motion Picture Group, told ESPN.com. "Based on this reaction from the fans, we didn't want to do anything to take away from their enjoyment of the game and if that was the case with this element of the promotion, we could afford to do without it."
In an ESPN.com SportsNation poll of almost 45,000 readers, 79.4 percent said they thought that baseball was "selling out" by allowing the "Spider-Man 2" advertisements on the field.
The Yankees, who would receive more money than other teams for running the promotion because of playing in a large market, insisted that they would remove the logoed bases after batting practice and not use them in the one game that they had committed to in participating in the promotion.
Other parts of the promotion will be unchanged. Movie trailers will be featured on stadium scoreboards, the logos will be placed in the on-deck circles, and fans attending the games will receive "Spider-Man 2" foam fingers and masks. Movie branding will also appear on a ceremonial pitching rubber and home plate -- both of which will be replaced with the standard white variety once play begins.
that's still very annoying but at least they listened. however it shows that a complete sellout of all that is good in the world is going to occur very soon.
jojo888
May 07, 2004 at 02:19AM View BBCode
That's good though, that baseball listened to the fans (somewhat). More power to them (except the Yankees).
Duff77
Not everything is about money.
May 07, 2004 at 03:55AM View BBCode
Originally posted by ME
Most teams are now $50000 poorer (some are $100000 poorer).
Not everything is about money.
Unclescam777
But hearing that baseball has changed their minds, that's relieving.
May 07, 2004 at 06:03AM View BBCode
I was originally shocked when the Yankees took a stand like that. I despise the Yankees but when I read that they refused to have ads on their bases except for batting practice I felt proud of them for some strange reason.But hearing that baseball has changed their minds, that's relieving.
skierdude44
This is great. They realized that they do need to listen to use and that we do have some power in their decision making process. Great job everyone who contacted the teams and expressed your disappointment with the ads.
Me, not everything is about money and who cares that these teams are alittle poorer now. It's better for them in the long run because if they did go through with this then many people would simply stop going to the games and they would be a lot poorer. It was a dumb idea in the first place.
If we can get a response like that by showing our disappointment why dont we hound them about steroids? Email all the teams and see if they can give you information on how to contact those with the power to implement testing. Keep hounding them and threaten to stop going to games. This shows that we can take a stand and get things done so lets keep using our power.
May 07, 2004 at 11:25AM View BBCode
George isnt that bad a guy believe it or not. I have heard a lot of stories about some things he did. I'm surprised that the Yanks were the first to drop it though because I couldnt get through to them and I doubt alot of others could.This is great. They realized that they do need to listen to use and that we do have some power in their decision making process. Great job everyone who contacted the teams and expressed your disappointment with the ads.
Me, not everything is about money and who cares that these teams are alittle poorer now. It's better for them in the long run because if they did go through with this then many people would simply stop going to the games and they would be a lot poorer. It was a dumb idea in the first place.
If we can get a response like that by showing our disappointment why dont we hound them about steroids? Email all the teams and see if they can give you information on how to contact those with the power to implement testing. Keep hounding them and threaten to stop going to games. This shows that we can take a stand and get things done so lets keep using our power.
FuriousGiorge
May 07, 2004 at 01:48PM View BBCode
I have news for you: baseball didn't decide to scrap this idea, nor do they do anything, because of the fans' voice. The only time baseball notices the fans is when they stop showing up at games or watching them on TV, and since that's really more of a team issue, MLB as an entity doesn't really care one iota about the fans. No, MLB decided to scrap this idea because of the press. The publicity around it has been awful, and MLB realized that they were going to get roasted about it in the press for the next several months. So...sorry to burst your bubble. Send your letter if you want, but don't think anything is going to happen.
Unclescam777
May 07, 2004 at 02:01PM View BBCode
I don't know how true that is furious. I know the press played a big part in their decision to scrap the idea but the article I read said that 79% of fans hated the idea and that was the reason baseball decided not to put ads on the bases. While I don't believe it was entirely about the fans displeasure, I'm sure it played at least a minor role in changing their minds.
FuriousGiorge
May 07, 2004 at 02:22PM View BBCode
They decided to scrap the idea because it made them look foolish, and for weak men like Bud Selig that is the only bad thing that can happen to him that he understands, to be made to look foolish. The 79% is a function of how vigorously the press has pursued this story - not a single write-up or TV news story that I've seen has been anything but disdainful of MLB over this. It's the press that drives this stuff: it they don't pick up a story, then it isn't a story. All the letters and petitions in the world aren't going to change anything in the game unless the story is something the press publicizes. I mean, I'm sorry to be cynical, but when it comes to the leadership of MLB it's hard to be anything else. They don't, nor will this group ever, have any sort of long-term plan for the continued success of Major League Baseball, and they don't have any notion of long-term consequences, only short term gains.
whiskybear
May 07, 2004 at 04:15PM View BBCode
George is right on about this--and even the bad press likely would not have stopped them had baseball not already been in murky waters with the steroid issue. Never underestimated The Bud's desire to make an "honest" buck.
nextyearcubs
Its funny that Selig was without comment when the campaign was announced, yet when it was scaled back he was able to put his two cents in. His lack of leadership in the executive office is glaring, a better man would have NEVER let this happen. What I think is that had there not been an outcry, this probably would become commonplace... High profile events like the postseason and all star game would feature ads on the bases. Despite MLB's eagerness to sell advertising on whatever it can, I don't think many sponsors will come running, dollars in fists, to do a similar campaign.
While I dislike ads everywhere, it is undeniable that advertising in ballparks is as old as the game itself. Anywhere crowds of people are present, you can be sure that advertisers are looking for ways to get their attention. Let us not forget there were once ads right on the Green Monster itself. Who could forget the giant ads for Lifebuoy or Chesterfield cigarettes plastered on fences all over the ballparks of yesterday. Not that it makes it OK, because I still don't like it, but its nothing new, and in fact, from looking at the pictures I've seen, there's probably less signage today. What today's advertisers seek to do is gain control of an event, that's what bothers me. They want the park, event, weekend named for them, instead of what it really is. The Radio Shack All Star game, the CarQuest bowl. While advertising was once more passive and background, today it seeks the spotlight, and to generate a "buzz", hence thousands of us talking about the ads on bases, stories in the legitamite press, for what movie??? We all know what movie it is, and you know what? I didn't even know they had a second one coming out. So I guess it worked again, huh?
But I'm glad that somebody had half a brain to put a stop to this.
May 08, 2004 at 01:02AM View BBCode
Sadly, Furious is right on this. The very fact that this was all set to happen shows what MLB is willing to do. While I am glad that the plan has been scrapped, I wouldn't give MLB all the credit for scrapping the ads... Let us not forget that this was a two party transaction, between a motion picture company and MLB. While MLB cannot afford the ill will generated from this affair, a movie set to premiere later this summer can afford it even less. I'd be willing to bet that the movie company was more behind the plug being pulled on the idea than it was baseball. They got cold feet and figured the bad publicity would hurt their box office numbers.Its funny that Selig was without comment when the campaign was announced, yet when it was scaled back he was able to put his two cents in. His lack of leadership in the executive office is glaring, a better man would have NEVER let this happen. What I think is that had there not been an outcry, this probably would become commonplace... High profile events like the postseason and all star game would feature ads on the bases. Despite MLB's eagerness to sell advertising on whatever it can, I don't think many sponsors will come running, dollars in fists, to do a similar campaign.
While I dislike ads everywhere, it is undeniable that advertising in ballparks is as old as the game itself. Anywhere crowds of people are present, you can be sure that advertisers are looking for ways to get their attention. Let us not forget there were once ads right on the Green Monster itself. Who could forget the giant ads for Lifebuoy or Chesterfield cigarettes plastered on fences all over the ballparks of yesterday. Not that it makes it OK, because I still don't like it, but its nothing new, and in fact, from looking at the pictures I've seen, there's probably less signage today. What today's advertisers seek to do is gain control of an event, that's what bothers me. They want the park, event, weekend named for them, instead of what it really is. The Radio Shack All Star game, the CarQuest bowl. While advertising was once more passive and background, today it seeks the spotlight, and to generate a "buzz", hence thousands of us talking about the ads on bases, stories in the legitamite press, for what movie??? We all know what movie it is, and you know what? I didn't even know they had a second one coming out. So I guess it worked again, huh?
But I'm glad that somebody had half a brain to put a stop to this.
skierdude44
May 08, 2004 at 03:18AM View BBCode
Bud Selig is probably the crappiest commissioner ever. What will he be remembered for? The answer: The first allstar game ending in a tie, steroids, and ads on bases. He and his head haunchoes are incredibly dumb. They are coming off the best postseason in years and excitement for baseball was at an alltime high, but what happens, Selig and company screw it up. Their little drug test trying to prove that there isnt a steroid problem blows up in his face and now thats all you hear about. A few months ago I heard that he was gonna invoke the "best interests of baseball" clause to make steroid testing required but said he was gonna do it but then didnt even know if he could and backed off. For once could he just take a stand on something? Forget about if you can or cant do it, just take a stand. Stand up for drug testing. If he stands up and does something about it things will happen, but instead he lets Don Fehr and Gene Orza drag him around by the balls.