Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show (2 of 3)

2014 Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show
@njh287; www.dsmsports.net
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 2nd
of 3 decks. See more at
www.dsmsports.net.

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 display.

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 own
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 this 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 event 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 and
baseball gear 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 handful of 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 or major
league sports team.

Never did quite 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.

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

Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show (2 of 3)

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Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show (2 of 3)