Chatham Anglers Youth Baseball Clinic
For seven weeks this summer, the Chatham Anglers will host their annual youth baseball clinic. As a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League, sponsored in part by Major League Baseball, these clinics are unparalleled opportunities for kids age 6-17 to learn and practice with some of the team’s best pros. The clinics run from June 17 through August 2, and players can join weekly or for the entire summer. Registration is in-person at the beginning of every week and is $100 for players 6-12 and $125 for players 13-17, as the older player session is longer and geared more towards student-athletes aiming to play at elite high school and college levels. All you need is a glove and some sneakers, and you’re ready to step up to bat.
As the clinic starts midway through June, I would begin marketing in the first few weeks of April and really turn the dial up at the end of May. This may seem close to the start of the camp, but I think that because registration is at the beginning of each week of the clinic it is unwise to advertise too early in case parents forget. Most people who enroll their children in these clinics are already summer visitors to Cape Cod as well, so advertising outside of the New England area might be a waste. The clinic runs only in the mornings, so few if any families will travel to Chatham specifically for this clinic. This is a mindset we can change however, if the Anglers have a budget for a national advertising campaign and for the ability to offer a ‘sleepaway camp’ style program so that youth players can attend on their own, all day every day for several weeks and gain even more training and contact hours.
Target Regions:
- New England
- Massachusetts, especially wealthier towns where families are likely to have a summer home/rental in Cape Cod
- Rhode Island
- Connecticut
- Vermont
- New Hampshire
- Maine, but less so in this state as many people here will summer on their own coast rather than travelling down to MA
- New York City
- Wealthy Manhattanites spend their summers in the Hamptons or on the Cape rather than the Jersey Shore
Target Markets:
- Parents of Elementary School-age kids in target regions
- Recreational Sports clubs in Boston-area suburbs
- Elite/Travel Baseball and Softball teams in Boston-area suburbs
- Middle Class or higher summer residents of Chatham/Surrounding towns
Media Targets:
- Yankee Magazine, in print and online at www.NewEngland.com, every month.
- Run feature story in May 2019 on a college (or even MLB) baseball player who grew up attending Chatham Youth Baseball Clinic
- Current issue is titled “Escape to the Cape and Islands” and could easily advertise the Cape Cod Baseball League games as a fun, family-friendly activity in the evenings, and the Anglers Youth Baseball Clinic as a chance to let your children run around and us their energy each morning (as well as give parents a break for a nice, quiet start to their day)
- Cape Cod Times, daily magazine and online at CapeCodTimes.com, has an average monthly reach of 3.46 Million and the paper publication is delivered to over 96,000 households. On the Cape, the annual consumer spending is $6.8 Billion, and with a week of clinics costing $100 there is reason to believe Cape Cod residents and summer visitors are able to afford at least one week of clinics for their children.
- Cape Cod Life (lifestyle magazine for locals and summer renters)
- Cape Cod Local News (Cape Media, Channel 99)
Baseball is America’s pastime, and advertising with this nostalgia for classic American summers is a great way to engage audiences. Cape Cod Radio, locally owned and operated, presents another medium for advertising. With 4 different shows running on several channels am and fm, advertising with “CodComm” is sure to reach parents who want to see their sons and daughters thrive as young athletes, and kids who love to get outside and play.
One potential collaboration opportunity would be with the Chatham Anglers minor league team to increase attendance at their games and gain interest in their clinics. Games are free to the community, but perhaps if parents are aware of a raffle for two weeks of free clinics for their child, they will purchase one and stay until the end of the game to see if they won. This would be a promotional opportunity for the clinic, as the winner would be announced to all attendees who may have not been aware of it before, and a financial opportunity for the team with the proceeds raised by the raffle.
A sample advertisement could be “A classic American summer is not complete without a trip to the Ballpark. Get your kid out there at the Chatham Anglers Youth Baseball Clinic, and soon they’ll be playing in the majors!” With colors of red white and blue, the Anglers are the perfect team to promote a very American ideal of athletics and summertime. As the team name, Anglers, is a fish, the marketing team could also collaborate with bait and tackle stores or local fish markets by offering discounts or deals that are mutually beneficial.
Rory Coleman 