A few questions with Greg Bader, Director of Communications Baltimore Orioles

Greg Bader, Director of Communications for The Baltimore Orioles, was gracious enough to stop by Baltimore Sports and Life to answer a few questions.

BSL – “In 2009, the Orioles are again continuing to offer fantastic ticket bargains, such as:
Tuesday Bargain Nights, featuring $8 Upper Reserve Tickets & Friday Student Nights, featuring $6 Left Field Upper Reserve Tickets What 2009 promotions are the Orioles most excited about presenting to their fans?”

Greg Bader / Orioles – “We are always looking for ways to provide affordable tickets and added value promotions for our fans. You touched upon two of the most popular… Tuesday Bargain Nights and Friday Night Student Nights. Another great deal is our Bleachers and Boog’s promotion for every Thursday game. Fans can get a ticket in the Eutaw Street Bleachers and a Boog’s BBQ sandwich for $15 (the face value of the ticket alone is $15). We are also excited to be bringing back T-shirt Tuesdays (first Tuesday of every month the first 10,000 fans 15 and over will get a t-shirt) and also about a couple new promotions… Adam Jones Bobblehead Night on June 17 and an Oktoberfest celebration on October 3. There are plenty of other promotions as well, and many are being added as the offseason moves along… the preliminary list is found at orioles.com. Be on the lookout for several additional affordable, family-friendly ticket options for our fans during these difficult economic times.”

BSL – “All games with NY, and Boston have large contingents of fans from those cities. There are even more opposing fans during week-end series against those teams.This year, there are week-end series against the Yankees, and Red Sox on the following dates:

NY – May 8th – 10th
Boston – July 31st – August 2nd
Boston – Sept 18th – 20th

What steps are the organization taking to have more Black and Orange in the park for those games?”

Greg Bader / Orioles – “Of course the club wants to see Orioles fans in the seats every game, but especially those against our division rivals the Yankees and Red Sox. We continue to provide deals and incentives for Orioles fans to come to those games, including Bargain Nights, Student Nights (when applicable) and other giveaways for some of those dates. Ultimately it is up to the fans to determine whether they want to come to those games. We’d like to see O’s fans from throughout the region buy up those games now before Yankees and Red Sox fans have a chance to get them. There is availability for the games, and we encourage all Orioles fans in to buy now while good seat locations still remain. We were successful last season in introducing a lot more orange to the ballpark landscape in the form of hats and t-shirts that were given away at the park. Having orange t-shirts for season plan holders and for the T-shirt Tuesday promotion definitely helped bring in some more orange in the literal sense.”

BSL – “Can you provide some detail on the Orange Carpet program, and the benefits that provides to Oriole season ticket holders?”

Greg Bader / Orioles – “The Orange Carpet Program continues to bring our loyal season plan holders added savings, convenience, VIP treatment and behind-the-scenes access. Ones of this year’s highlights include the exclusive orange “Baltimore” script gameday t-shirt. 13-game plan holders up through full season plan holders will receive one t-shirt per seat per account. We encourage our fans to wear the shirt, as those who do are eligible to be selected for unique ballpark experiences such as visits to the TV/radio booths, the grounds crew area, on-field for batting practice, etc. One lucky season plan holder and a guest are selected each game– but only if they are wearing their gameday t-shirt. Other benefits include a significant savings per ticket over a single game price, MLB’s most flexible exchange policy, free FanFest and Spring Training tickets, special invitations to State of the Orioles Board Meetings, and much more. (Depending on seat location, some season plan holders are essentially paying for just 9 games if you look at what it would cost them if they bought the tickets individually). A complete list of Orange Carpet benefits is found at orioles.com.”

BSL – “Besides The Warehouse Box Office, and directly calling the Orioles at (888) 848-Bird – Oriole fans can buy single-game tickets at the OfficialTeam Store in York, PA.As the Nationals have moved-in to DC, and eroded some of the Orioles ticket-base in Northern VA, DC, Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties-what steps have the Orioles taken to appeal to larger audiences in Pennsylvania that are within 90mts of Oriole Park at Camden Yards?
Specifically with targeted Group outings, and Sunday Season-ticket plans?”

Greg Bader / Orioles – “We remain aggressive in our efforts to market to our fans throughout our territory, particularly in Southern and Central PA, western Maryland, the Eastern Shore, DC and Virginia. We have grown the Orioles Radio Network from 10 stations three years ago to 37 stations in 2008. Many of these stations are found in the areas I mentioned, and that clearly helps to keep our widespread fanbase in tune with the happenings of Orioles Baseball. We are aggressively pursuing group ticket and season plan leads in these areas, including the area you specifically asked about–Pennsylvania–and we are showing some positive results. We are finding that interest in the Orioles throughout the Mid-Atlantic region remains extremely high, proving once again that we have some of the best, most loyal fans in baseball.”

BSL – “Major League Baseball operates the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities(RBI) program, whose primary goal is increasing interest and participation in baseball with African-American youths.

What steps do the Orioles take, to partner with Baltimore City schools to make tickets available to City youth?

On days where exceptionally low attendance might be expected, would it not be better to give-out 5-10k tickets to the public?

The atmosphere would be better inside the Stadium, you would gain those additional Concession sales, and you would potentially gain a new audience.”

Greg Bader / Orioles – “The Orioles have and will continue to partner with Baltimore City schools to bring kids out to Oriole Park. Each year we provide 50,000 tickets to youth groups in the area, many of whom we find through working with the City schools, as part of the Commissioner’s Initiative for Kids. On top of these tickets, as part of the OriolesREACH Gameday Experience Program, we provide an all-expenses paid experience for area kids–150 kids each game–that includes a game ticket, coach transportation, food and drink, t-shirt and hat. The program brings 10,000 kids each year to Camden Yards (over 40,000 since the program’s inception).”

BSL – “The Orioles have long been involved in-many philanthropic endeavors. In 2008, the O’s branded their efforts as Orioles Reach. What programs will The Orioles be focusing on supporting 2009?”

Greg Bader / Orioles – “First let me encourage you to visit OriolesREACH.com for a comprehensive look at everything we do. We will be continuing many of these programs, including the Gameday Experience Program (described above), the Food Drive, the Cardboard to Leather Equipment Drive and many more. One of our major initiatives that we started last year was Shannon’s Fund, named after our former Community Outreach Director Shannon Obaker who passed away at age 29 two years ago. The Fund will benefit cancer patients and their families at the University of Maryland Medical Center. We’ll be having several events throughout the year–auctions and other such activities–to raise money for this extremely worthy cause.”