BLOOMINGBURG, NY – One way sports has changed recently is the number of advertisements teams manage to cram inside arenas and stadiums. 
Whether they be splattered along the boards of a hockey game or plastered all over baseball stadiums, the name of the game is and always will be money. Apparently, multi-million dollar stadium and arena naming rights and team-owned cable networks aren’t enough to fill organization coffers. One local team has gotten creative in bringing in some more advertising dollars… and that would be the New York Mets.
The marketing department really needs to take a bow for the brainchild in marrying Chick-fil-A to the new fowl poles inside of CitiField. It’s genius. Who doesn’t like the food at Chick-fil-A, anyway? But the accolades stop there. The Mets are the absolute biggest cheapskates, so they’ll take a little extra dough at the cost of alienating some, of an already frustrated, fan base. These vertical signs hanging from the fowl poles have obstructed the view of fans sitting in certain outfield seats. Attendees at sporting events have taken enough of a financial beating with parking and concession prices going through the roof and now the Amazins are blocking the view of those paying decent money to see their product, however sad it may be.
Is it a promotion to show fans how cleverly they added new revenue for the team? This is only the next step of what is to come in sports advertising. Unlike old barns in the NHL and NBA and older MLB sites, there were architectural flaws leading to reduced-price obstructed view seats. New stadiums and arenas are constructed so every seat has unobstructed sight-lines to the game they’re watching, so the addition of these ads are making for an unpleasant group of people. So far there has been little word on what the penny-pinching Wilpons plan to do for those effected, but you get the feeling they don’t care and will probably offer a free soft drink or coupons to the fast-food chicken joint they’re promoting. Just another reason to hate what’s going on in sports, I guess.
Get used to it folks, as there will always be a money grab by teams looking to increase profit margins at the cost of ruining the game experience at your local arena or stadium.
Leave your thoughts below – and they don’t have to be related to my rant – and come back tomorrow for a man more tasty than even Chick-fil-A, the rooster of our staff, Ben Whitney.
