The trade of Ken Griffey Jr. to the Reds has made Reds
tickets a "hot item," as "fans new and old were lining up"
this past weekend for tickets, according to Allen Howard of
the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. Increased demand "prompted" the
Reds to open their Advanced Ticket windows at Cinergy Field
from 9:00am to 5:00pm ET on Saturday, and team officials
called the ticket demand since the trade "overwhelming"
(CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 2/13). Reds Assistant Dir of Media
Relations Mike Vassallo: "It's just been a 48-hour onslaught
-- a very nice onslaught" (AP, 2/12). ESPN's Solomon
Wilcots: "On the first day of GriffeyMania, the Reds netted
an estimated $3.2 million dollars in season-ticket sales and
attached revenue" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 2/11). ESPN.com's
Peter Gammons reported that Friday was the Reds' "biggest
ticket sale day in history" (ESPN.com, 2/12). The Reds PR
department even sent out an e-mail asking media outlets to
let people know that the team is getting in touch with all
potential season-ticket holders who left messages on the
team's season-ticket hotline (THE DAILY).
THE GRIFFEY BUMP: A Mets official said that news of the
Griffey trade "led to the sale of about" 1,000 tickets total
for the six games the Reds will play at Shea Stadium (Bergen
RECORD, 2/12)....Cardinals Dir of Ticket Operations Josie
Arnold said that ticket sales for the team's two series
against the Reds at Busch Stadium have jumped by "well over"
3,500 since the trade (K.C. STAR, 2/12).
THE BOTTOM LINE: In Cincinnati, John Byczkowski
estimated that the Reds "can expect an additional" $5.5M in
revenue from increased ticket sales due to the Griffey
trade. Indians Exec VP Dennis Lehman said that increased
season-ticket sales would allow the Reds "to do a little
better planning as far as [their] advance sales are
concerned." Meanwhile, the team has sold 70% of the
advertising space at Cinergy Field, compared to 40% at the
same time last year. Reds Dir of Marketing Cal Levy: "For
this season, we're so far into the selling season that the
impact on the marketing will be felt, but not as much as
will be in the future" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 2/12). Player
agent Tom Reich said the Griffey deal has enhanced the Reds'
franchise value somewhere between $50-100M (AP, 2/12).
MARKETING ANGLE: In Cincinnati, Randy Tucker writes
that many local businesses "probably can't afford to sign"
Griffey to the type of million-dollar endorsement deals he
has with companies like Nike, Pizza Hut and Nintendo.
Industry experts warn that Griffey's major sponsors "are
probably concerned about [his] overexposure" and "might
discourage" him from doing many local spots. But Griffey
will get to choose his own deals, as he "doesn't have a
clause in any of his endorsement contracts barring him from
doing local spots" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 2/14).
WHY ALL THE FUSS? In CO Springs, Lynn Zinser noted all
the praise surrounding Griffey for signing for less than
market value and wrote, "Last anyone checked, playing a
sport for $12.9 million a year isn't among the
qualifications for sainthood" (CO Springs GAZETTE, 2/13).
