Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show (1 of 3)

2014 Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show
One of the highlights of the annual Baseball
Winter Meetings in the Baseball Trade
Show, at which vendors from several
verticals pitch 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.
This is the 1st
of 3 decks. See more at
www.dsmsports.net.
@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 teams and
stores with 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
the pets category 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 a body
analyzer.
Not exactly 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 businesses
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-site,
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 primarily padding for
sports venues, where pads came
customized with team and/or
sponsor logos. A niche, but
necessary market.

While companies like Sports Digita
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 one of a couple of
booths 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 performers
that did tricks and a show on
pogo sticks. Coming soon to a
minor league ballpark
entertainment near you?

One of two batting tees showcased
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 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.

This is the end of deck 1 (of 3) for your tour of the 2014 Baseball
Trade Show at the Winter Meetings. For decks 2 and 3, visit
www.dsmsports.net

Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show (1 of 3)

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