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


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Baseball Winter Meetings Trade Show (2 of 3)