It used to be only in Detroit could you throw an object on the ice during a hockey game and not be escorted from the building, in this case the former Joe Louis Arena. However the Teddy Bear toss for charity has taken the place of octopi in Motown, and we have a new record.
Minor and junior hockey teams from Topeka to Portland brought in the sponsored between period and post-game event this past week, where fans came in with their own Teddy’s of all shapes and sizes, and filled the ice with bears. Now we also have a new record, and then some. The Hershey Bears, American Hockey League affiliate of the Washington Capitals, set the event world record by collecting over 35,000 stuffed animals during its annual Teddy Bear Toss at Giant Center on Sunday.
It broke their own record record of just under 34,500 last year, and the previous mark of 28,815 thrown by 19,289 fans of the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen in 2015. The Bear Toss is not new to hockey; the Kamloops Blazers of the Canadian Hockey League claim to have originated the tradition in 1993-94, and it has gone on across minor, now college and junior league hockey clubs for years.
The advent of digital and social media his significantly amped up the exposure, and the competition of the bear toss this year, with more challenges probably coming from clubs large and small in the coming months. Is there risk from projectiles of any kind being hurled around an arena? For sure, but clubs have seen nothing but positives in the promo in recent years. Hershey got a nice boost going the social side by using #Hershey30kchallenge and help from the local Old Barn Hockey radio show which got the word out far and wide.
So what else can be done with bear tosses? Lots. For one, the whole event is sponsorable either in a giveaway of customized bears to toss, or in a redemption program for a sponsor like a Build-a-Bear in years to come. There is a “hidden bear” opportunity, where players select tossed bears and exchange them with fans whose names are tied to their tosses for tickets and signed items. There is the opportunity for a give back, where players can even toss their own bears back into the crowd, ala a teeshirt toss. The promo also does not have to be just at period or game end, there could be scores of back and forth promos during a game.
Want to factor in some technology into the bear toss? How about a mini camera on a bear that makes it to the ice, with a little viral video showing the life of the bear from purchase to when he or she makes it onto the ice and is retrieved by a player. The possibilities of micro cameras tied to crowd sourcing can be a nice sponsorable add-on as well.
Could the bear toss make it to the larger and more controlled arenas of the NHL or other elite minor league sports? The possibilities for liability probably go up, but set at the right level, with the right amount of bears, or maybe other stuffed animals, the promotion has great potential for both a charity raise or for a sponsor, not to mention the viral aspect that every club craves. The toss as it currently exists is quaint in that the bears are all sizes and colors and make for an amazing panorama of colors on the ice. Could a little uniformity slow it down or diminish the tradition? Maybe but that’s certainly low risk.
The team said the bears are being donated to more than 30 local charities including schools, churches, lions clubs, the American Cancer Society, Children’s Miracle Network and Milton Hershey School.
So congrats Bears for amping up the promo. Many families can never figure out what to do with the dust collecting dolls over time anyway, so coming up with a very unique way to clean out a closet and do good in the community is always a good thing.
