Skip navigation
MOST POPULAR RELATED TAGS
  • TOPICS
  • SECTORS
  • COMPANIES
Sports Biz Video Gallery
Discussing the state of the game, with Tom Condon, CAA Sports and CNBC's Darren Rovell.
Lebron James tells fans he will likely ditch the number 23 next year. CNBC's Darren Rovell has the story.
darren rovell's sports index
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

RSS FEED

» Help

Current DateTime: 08:50:26 21 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 30212900

SPORTS BIZ VIDEO GALLERY

» More

Current DateTime: 08:50:26 21 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 30231077
powered by digg

Sports Biz

Text Size
Jan.09
8:59 AM ET
Wednesday, 9 Jan 2008
The Ex-San Diego Padre Chicken Still Rules!!

Source: famouschicken.com

One of my most favorite pieces of e-mail I receive every year is the Minor League Promotions tracker from a company called Plan B Branding. They basically evaluate the promotions that go on in the minors and show what works and what doesn't. Well, I just got the latest report and here's the data you need to know.

Long after "The Baseball Bunch" (my favorite show as a kid after "This Week In Baseball") and the San Diego Padres ditching him, the Famous Chicken was the number one promotion in the minor leagues in 2007. Its appearance at minor league games, on average, increased attendance by 26 percent.

That's pretty good when you consider, as the firm reveals, that the Chicken's appearance only cost teams 22 cents per fan. It's also pretty good when you consider that the Chicken is more than 30 years old.

My favorite business story with the Chicken involves the day long ago that the man inside the costume, Ted Giannoulas, negotiated an attendance deal with the Padres. The rule worked that he'd get a piece of every ticket above a certain number of expected fans for the night.

The Chicken brought some 30,000 more fans to the game and Giannoulas came home with a $40,000 payday. As the story goes, he spent all that money defending himself in a lawsuit against KGB radio, the station that in March 1974, first put him in a chicken suit as part of a promotional gimmick.

And without further ado, here's the best of the Chicken, courtesy of You Tube.

 

FYI: The other surprises on the top promotions were park sleepovers (increased attendance by 13 percent) and used car giveaways, which boosted attendance by 1,161 fans per game.

Questions? Comments?

© 2009 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Tools:
PrintEmailAdd This share icon
Next Post
  • digg share
ADD COMMENTS
Remaining characters


Current DateTime: 06:39:37 21 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 01:07:30 21 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 01:02:04 21 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779199

Current DateTime: 01:02:05 21 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779198
  Data is a real-time snapshot  *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2009 CNBC, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
A Division of NBC Universal
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters