2014 Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show Guide

2014 Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show
One of the highlights of the annual
Baseball Winter Meetings in the
Baseball Trade Show, featuring vendors
from several verticals, pitching their
product or service to baseball club
representatives.
What follows is a little “tour” of the
2014 Trade Show, held in San Diego, CA
December 8-11.
@njh287; www.dsmsports.net

There were 23 “new
products” at this year's
Trade Show, ranging from
ticket and POS solutions to
baseball practice tools,
novelty items, and more.
You'll see some in the
slides to follow.
The amount of promotional
items and ticketing
solutions stood out the
most

All the big-name brands
were there, including
Under Armour, which had
more apparel than
equipment on-site and was
trying to woo a lot of minor
league clubs on their
products.

There were a few apparel
vendors focusing mainly on
sales and production of
caps/hats. The quality of the
product, speed of
manufacturing, and inventory
management were the main
factors pitched as
differentiators.

Everything in a sports venue can be
branded and personalized! And this
vendor featured trash receptacles,
bar tables, and more to outfit a
venue with such customized items,
brandished with team and/or
sponsor logos.

While print is dying with the
growth of digital and mobile, this
company wants to help teams
turn their print publications into
masterpieces with these creative,
custom covers for books and
other team or sport publications.
A very specific space, but some
neat designs!

There were 2-3 apparel
companies focused primarily on
team uniforms in the minor
leagues. It appears, for now,
there is still good competition for
these smaller clubs (as opposed
to their MLB parents, where
major deals reign).

There was certainly no shortage
of novelty promotional items
vendors on-site and each differed
in their sales pitch, sales
materials, and presentation. This
display here, showcasing cups
and helmets, was one of the
more underwhelming at the
show.

This vendor, FanZones.com,
specialized in jersey
personalization, particularly
inventory management and e-
commerce (including using
mobile on-site). Several pro clubs,
many in the NHL, use them to
digitize their team stores and
offer in-game jersey
customization, among other
features.

Colorful displays were prominent
throughout the show as apparel
producers tried to capture the
attention of the buyers at the
Trade Show and engage them in
conversation to outfit their
merchandise offerings.

This was actually one of two
exhibitors on-site showcasing
sports team promotional items,
specifically for pets. Sports
licensing knows no bounds and
pets is the next avenue being
traversed.

Another use of licenses and logos
and custom merchandise for
teams, here is a company that
showcased bags and totes of
several varieties adorned with
team and/or sponsor marks.

A lot of exhibitors tried to earn
reputability by promoting
themselves as “preferred
vendors.” I am not sure how one
attains such a billing nor how
much buyers value it, but it was
certainly notable at a handful of
Trade Show booths.

While the majority of
exhibitors were not related
to on-field health and
performance, this product
seeks to mimic the effect of
icing one's head through
their proprietary
technology and head
covering. I did not trial it,
myself!

Not much to say, here; just
a vendor promoting
branded clothes hangers. As
I said, everything can have a
sports team logo affixed to
it for sale to fans.

A pretty cool piece of
technology to enhance practice
by launching baseballs for
defensive practice, controlled
by software. While these kinds
of products got a lot of looks,
most clubs can't afford to
budget for it.

Baseball players don't need to
be ripped and in tip-top shape,
right? Well, this exhibitor wants
ballplayers to monitor their
body composition with this
analyzer.
Not amenable to a diet of
ballpark concessions; the norm
for a lot of Trade Show
attendees.

Fireworks displays are even
more popular in MiLB than MLB
and this exhibitor offered
pyrotechnics solutions of many
types. Clubs said these displays
are a great way to draw in
casual fans for entertainment
and get sponsors involved.

Success Promotions, whose
booth is shown here, offered
visitors a look at all of their
products with a couple of
tablets on-hand showing their
digital catalog of products. A
good idea not every booth
utilized.

While Aramark, Levy, and
Centerplate dominate major pro
sports venues, there were a few
smaller concessions and
concessions supply business there.
Many of these functioned more
like co-ops, using the scale of
clientele to gain preferred rates
from vendors.

Already with a strong presence at
sports and entertainment venues,
dippin' dots was on-site (with free
samples!) to further penetrate
ballparks, especially in the hotter
and more humid climates of the
minor leagues, where the frozen
treat is a perfect companion.
They had some competition on-side,
however...(slide to come later)

Whether it's padding for a wall, a
foul pole, fence, or anything under
the sun, this was the only booth
pitching padding for sports venues,
where pads came customized with
team and/or sponsor logos. A
niche, but necessary market.

While companies like SportsDigita
are growing with their sites and
digital products for teams' sales
departments (tickets and
partnerships), this booth services
the continued need (for now) for
physical booklets for tickets, sales
materials, coupons, and more.

Teams need nice lockers and these
guys can provide it. But which
sports fan wouldn't want one of
these, brandished with their name
and favorite team, in their room at
home? Now that is a way to get
ready for work every day!

They were the only booth
dedicated to netting at the Trade
Show. If nothing else, the show
illustrated that there are so many
products and services required in
sports and businesses around to
serve these niche needs.

Stadium One was one of a few
software-based venue
management and analysis systems.
Their solution sought to allow for
inventory management, sales
trends, revenue analysis, and other
infrastructure data points. This one
did not incorporate ticket sales,
just merchandise and concessions
purchased at venues.

There were a lot of big name
brands with fancy metal bats, but it
wouldn't be a Baseball Trade Show
without some wooden bats like
these from Old Hickory!

InGate was one of a few ticket
companies, all of which made
sure to note they produced
“thermal tickets.” Nothing too
much to differentiate, here,
besides price point,
presentation, and style.

While hibu, a digital marketing agency
specializing in website development
and consulting, works with several
small businesses in several industries,
they were looking to break into
baseball at this year's Trade Show.

Burger Dog was trying to find its way into minor
league ballpark concessions and make other
connections. What is it?
Hot dog stuffed with ground beef and cheddar
cheese (a jalapeno cheese version is in the works).
Taste? Different
and pretty good

XPogo was certainly eye-
catching, featuring perfomers
that did tricks and a show on
pogosticks. Coming soon to
minor league ballpark
entertainment near you?

The only batting tee of any type at
the Trade Show, this tee sought to
make it easy to adjust the ball
placement to make hitting practice
quicker and easier.

You have to hand it to
these guys selling
scorebooks for teams to
sell at their venues. Good
to see old-school
scorekeeping isn't totally
dead (yet).

There were a handful of seat
manufacturers, pitching
differentiating factors from easy
logo switching to
luxury/comfort. There was a lack
of seating innovation, in regards
to technology and connectivity
and app integration, in my
opinion.

Another entry in the 'every
service needs a provider'
category at the Trade Show –
this company can outfit your
venue with bathroom
stalls...that go all the way to the
floor, lending that little extra bit
of privacy.

The main benefit of these
compression sleeves seemed to just
be superior sun protection, but the
styles were sure eye-catching.
These ones are called “Sleefs.”

Baseball players and teams travel
quite a bit during the season...and
this booth had “the most versatile
pillow” around. It looked
comfortable, at least.

This community website wants to
help teams and baseball enthusiasts
all around the country unite online,
play games, form leagues, and
more. Certainly a need for this kind
of do-it-yourself web service and
this organization seemed to have
modest success getting active users
on board.

While teams can produce their own
ballpark video tours with
rudimentary video and editing
knowledge, this company took it to
a highly premium level with a
produced, enhanced “virtual tour.”

For ballplayers and teams in
search of superior sock science;
especially helpful for teams
accustomed to playing in
sometimes muddy terrain.

This is not a duplicate of a
previous post, just another
booth offering branded
furniture for your venue. They
pitch their superlative
craftwork and custom design
capabilities.

A second batting tee both
much different from the other.
Instead of a single adjustable
tee, this sold more so as a set
with different tee sizes,
adjustable to a degree.

And here it is, the dippin' dots
competitor: Mini Melts. The
distinguishing factor is it has
more buttercream/fat than
dippin' dots so offers a creamier,
richer flavor. They are in some
sports venues and theme parks
with hopes to expand there, as
well as to shopping malls and
movie theaters.

I was delighted to see an Oyo
Sports booth after reading about
this company in the past and
their rising success
manufacturing sports-playing toy
figures, making the most of their
licensing deals.

This exhibitor, Foam Work,
specialized in branded foam items,
including the timeless foam
fingers. A fun niche certainly seen
often at sports venues and
merchandise stores.

Another vendor assuring your pet
can have a collar, food dish, etc.
bearing your favorite team's name
and logo.

Here is another seating company,
this one offering an array of
options, able to showcase team
and/or sponsor logos, as seen in
the photo.

An apparel company that had
'retro' style applied to clothing
with sports team names and logos
on them. A nice selection on hand
at the Trade Show.

The branded item vendors each
showcase different specialties,
including cups and insulated
thermoses, bearing team marks.

Micros, a system from Oracle, was
one of the bigger players there for
point-of-sale services. They had
one of their touch pads running
the software on-site for demos, as
well. A solid, reputable name
looking for new growth streams.

Where there's a baseball field,
there's a tarp on-hand for the
occasional, or frequent (in some
cases), rainy days.

Another of the handful of vendors
at the Trade Show specializing in
print tickets, a part of the industry
still surviving, and perhaps thriving
in the minor leagues, even as
paperless, digital, and print-at-
home ticketing grows in MLB.

Branded, novelty stools. A neat
addition to a bar, man cave, or
sports venue patio?

One of the few pieces of wearable
technology on-hand; this one was
integrated with a mobile app and
data dashboard to track
performance and other statistics in
real-time. Impressive displlay.

There is certainly a growing
presence of athlete assessment
solutions and this exhibitor
presented another option for
screening and evaluating player
health.

Inflatables were eye-catching and
presented themselves as a novel,
visible way to activate on-site with
sponsors at games / sports venues.

This product combined pitching
practice with data capture and
video to deliver an analytical look
at one's pitching routine.

Ever handled a wet, soggy, heavy
baseball? This machine turns that
non-usable ball back into a dry
baseball ready to go.
The kids in the movie “The
Sandlot” would've loved one of
those.

This vendor offered a variety of
flavored peanuts, mostly with spicy
seasoning.

So many apparel companies, but
so many teams in need of
merchandise. The better the
presentation, the more walk-up
traffic these vendors attracted.

A nice presentation for this vendor,
pitching a variety of promotional
items, from foam fingers to
insulated coffee cups.

While some exhibitors had
solutions to help staff at team
stores take care of lettering, this
company provided their premium
lettering service to teams.

Many of the apparel companies
got bigger spaces, including some
like this with tables and chairs and
large display areas.

A strong belief in social media and
mobile-friendly websites fueled
this company that promised virality
for ticket sales efforts.

This business did both digital and
physical designs, definitely helpful
to have skills and expertise in both
for a company in this space (and
for a team looking to hire a
freelance).

Part of the graphic design vendor's
pitch was demonstrating creative
uses of their capabilities – from
lineup boards to cornhole!

Particularly attractive for staff-
crunched minor league clubs,
solutions like this game
presentation management system
(specializing in video content
delivery) offered software
solutions for teams to streamline
their game operations.

New Era had an extensive setup at
the Trade Show, demonstrating
they can make some sweet
caps...and other apparel, too.

The Trade Show featured 3-4
booths with architects pitching
their expertise in designing sports
venues. No sign of complementary
services in public financing law and
political lobbying.

Rawlings had a lot of apparel on-
site, but it was this glove chair and
footrest that captured my
attention!

An informational booth for the
MiLB health benefits

Another entry in the promotional
items pool, showcasing their
variety of offerings at this booth.

So this is one of those apparel
brands helping to create and
produce some of those more
garish minor league uniforms, eh?

The only vendors at the Trade
Show specializing in branded and
team emblems.

This apparel booth pitched more
active sportswear and certainly
took care to showcase items
tailored for both men and women.

Team-branded rain gear and
umbrellas. A must-have for any fan
in a rainy climate.

Good look at the variety, and
styles, of caps offered by this
apparel vendor.

There were a couple live
entertainment performance
exhibitors at the Trade Show and
this one catered more specifically
to the young fans.

Large inflatables + team jersey =
success (and potential activation or
store display?)

Intuit was on-site making sure
teams were aware of their
QuickBooks accounting
software

Portable heaters and coolers seem
useful for any minor league sports
team.

Never quite did figure out how this
company was “revolutionizing seating.”

This interesting exhibitor wanted
to assess the valuation of your
baseball franchise.

Fanoculars utilizes their licensing
deal with Topps player cards to
deliver custom binoculars that can
be a good merchandise item
and/or team giveaway (with or
without sponsor). They do have an
impressive list of clients with
whom they've worked.

Another use of licensed team logos
– branded concession trays for the
fan that has everything.

Ad Art could deliver physical and
digital signage to take care of any
team's signage needs.

Any ad showcasing women stood
out from the crowd and this
business with headbands was at
the Trade Show fresh off a
licensing deal with MLB.

Franklin continues to maintain a lot
of share with batting gloves. But no
doubt Nike and Under Armour are
making headway there.

Keeps your drink cooler, per the ad
copy. If you need that kind of
thing.

More fun uses of MLB licensing –
hot wheels cars. I could've gone for
a San Diego Padres toy car growing
up!

Nike had a lot of space...but not a
lot of product to showcase on-
hand at the Trade Show.

National Design pitched
themselves more so as a
'custom souvenirs' company,
suited well to serve sports
teams.

This variable batting weight,
Hitting Jack-It, wants to
enhance you batting speed
and skills.

The baseball card market is alive
and kicking, right? They still
make good souvenirs and game
giveaways.

Minor league clubs varied in how
deeply they had integrated CRM
systems, but there were a
couple vendors at the Trade
Show offering such solutions

Along with a lot of the printed
ticket providers, this company
offered digital ticketing solutions
for teams and venues.

This company offered software
that is kind of like Go2Meeting,
allowing for interaction with
team and fans, as well as staff on
the team or in the organization.

Majestic produces MLB's jerseys,
so they didn't need much more
than this understated setup to
get the attention of baseball
business folks.

Another architecture and design
company with expertise in the
sports space. And a nice digital
setup showcasing previous
projects.

Uber-personalized and
customized baseball bats, for
any player pro to youth.

Had to include this, uh, exciting
booth – American Licorice.
Tip: Make a straw from Red
Vines – bite off both ends, insert
in drink, enjoy!

Two Hands Pro wants to help
train your hands to operate
optimally, including when
they're inside your baseball mitt
fielding or catching the ball.

Another family-friendly live
entertainment show. There is no
shortage of need for ways to get
fans to the ballpark beyond just
the game itself.

Booth Traffic offers not just
device chargers, but interactive
screens that teams can utilize in
any number of ways for fans to
use while juicing their mobile
devices.

2014 Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show Guide

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2014 Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show Guide