While many major sports chase the big ticket dollars with wines and spirits, it's always good to look at the minors for the down and dirty fun promotions that get the teams a little more ink and maybe shake loose a local sponsor or two. Today's comes from the Reading Phillies, who recently had Spam Night. The night featured not just sampling, but also a sculpting contest for the mystery luncheon meat, giving kids and adults the chance to show their artistic side for a chance to take home some solid prizes. The contests and sculptures grabbed local TV and radio time as well as some nice photos regionally, giving the brand a nice ROI for an inexpensive event. Very tastefully done. Thanks to Ben Hill at milb.com for sourcing it out.
Some other good reads…the London Telegraph has a great profile of billionaire Roman Abramovich and how he has spent millions building Chelsea into a world soccer power…the Wall Street Journal's Matt Futterman had a good piece this week on how the USTA is looking to rebuild American tennis on the professional side…Mark Kriegel has a good piece on the Tampa Rays rise on Foxsports.com…and Richard Deitsch has a good q and a with chef Mario Batali in yet another unusual NASCAR outreach piece on si.com.
