We are back into the season where promotions at games will begin in earnest. Will they change? What will be new? When is the first digital sock giveaway?
One promotion which ties to cause has started to sprout up (pun intended) from both sides of the country…one started to grow before the pandemic (pun again), the other is springing new shoots now (OK, no more).
They are tree giveaways, but symbolic and actually in person.
Last year just as things stopped, the Brooklyn Nets and National Grid began working together to make their urban community greener through the Threes for Trees program. For every three pointer made by a Nets player during a regular season home game, National Grid and Brooklyn Nets volunteers will plant a tree in the tri-state area. Together it helps enrich the environment, gives a brand partner great messaging and provides green spaces for generations to come. The Nets also began a program of value add for their fans as well, one that will hopefully begin anew, by literally giving away trees for select fans to come pick up and then replant as well.
Of course its not a bobblehead, but it is a great, and very smart, promotion.
Then this week we had the Portland Thorns of the NWSL. They announced a program where for every Thorns goal scored, the club will plant 100 trees in partnership with One Tree Planted and Keep Oregon Green.
Trees planted through this partnership will be part of the restoration projects across the Malheur National Forest and surrounding areas. The Canyon Creek Fire Complex in 2015 and the Rail Fire in 2016 removed all forest vegetation from thousands of acres in this region. Due to environmental conditions since those fires, there are large areas still devoid of surviving seedlings. Thorns goals this year will plant trees in these areas to assist in the regeneration process and give native ecosystems a helping hand in restoring healthy, beautiful, and biodiverse forests.
Fans can join us in further contributing to this goal and help us grow the Thorns Forest.
Again a great bigger picture initiative that sends a clear message about sustainability, replenishment and a lasting impact that ties club to community.
Hopefully it takes root elsewhere as well. Ok, no more puns, but well plated best practices all around.
