A short while ago we e-mailed every single Major League Baseball Club asking for them to reply to us with some interesting promotional items that we’d be able to showcase with our audience.
We figured that It would be fun to see what the teams send and how attentive they are to fan requests via e-mail.
The responses, and lack of responses, thus far, have been shocking.
A number of teams outright refused to send any items. A few sent digital items. Two teams, the Orioles and the Giants asked me to send them a letter in the U.S. Mail.
On February 3, the items from the Giants came in the self addressed stamped envelope that I provided them. They sent an impressive collection of items that included:
A team pack of four baseball cards
A Shawon Dunston (coach) autographed card
A small Giants sticker
A team schedule
A short letter
My first response upon seeing all this was, “Wow! That’s awesome.”
My next response was, “Good for the Giants! They get it, they understand fans.”
This was more than I ever expected. I was (and am) very impressed with the Giants. It is fun to find an envelope full of fun items like this in the mail.
Good for the Giants!
***
There are thirty teams in Major League Baseball. Two of them asked me to request a fan pack by mail. I did exactly as they asked – and quickly received two fan packs. A few other teams sent some digital items of interest. The rest of the teams (to date) have completely ignored my request for fan items… little things like a sticker and a schedule. The teams have completely ignored my request.
Is that the way to build or support a fan base…or even an inquiring fan?
From my perspective, as someone who loves the game and just wants to have some fun, it seems that most teams need to work, extremely hard, on their public relations and fan support. It doesn’t take much to make a fan happy. All it takes is a team showing an interest in him.
Why most of baseball has resisted a simple fan’s outreach is beyond puzzling to me. This small case study seems to indicate that most teams need to do a bit of self-reflection. Baseball needs to invest in the fans who take an interest. This activity seems to be proving that most baseball teams are doing a terrible job at fan outreach. If some teams wonder why their attendance is down, it might be because they can’t even make the time or effort to return an e-mail or to even send a pocket schedule to an interested fan.
I’m still hopeful that the mail will be bringing more items in the days and weeks to come.
Here is a photo of the items the Giants sent. (Good for the Giants!)
