Chatterbats Shake Up Baseball Promotions

For baseball teams looking to give their fans and sponsors something more to cheer about, a new promotional product is meeting with resounding success. It's called Chatterbats, and this novel item is becoming increasingly popular with major and minor league teams.

Chatterbats are 16 inches long and have the wood grain appearance of a real bat. They are constructed of soft plastic and have navy beans inside a hollow chamber designed to produce a soft SHUSH sound.

"Chatterbats were a great lift to our team during the 2006 season," says John Sorrentino, Vice President of Business Development for the Houston Astros. "The distinctive sounds that come from the Chatter Bat can excite and ignite the crowd. When we ran out, many fans were disappointed in not getting their Chatter Bat. It was a hit!"

The restaurant chain Boston's, The Gourmet Pizza, sponsored a fan give- away promotion featuring Chatterbats at a Texas Rangers night game. Mary Terry, National Marketing Manager for Boston's, who was at the game, had this to say: "I watched and heard the fans' response with the bats and I knew we had hit a home run."

As far as the Rangers were concerned, the evening was a tremendous success. In addition to an attendance lift attributed in large part to the promotion, Jeff Cogen, President of Texas Rangers Baseball Club stated: "we generally believe the atmosphere created that night will create return business given the fan's game experience and the unique buzz created with Chatterbats."

Chatterbats have been featured at many Major League Baseball parks including at Minute Maid Park, Ameriquest Field and at Dodger Stadium during the 2006 playoffs against the New York Mets.

The AAA team, Frisco RoughRiders also used the bats with success. "Not only did these fun products enhance the experience for the fans, but also provided them with a great souvenir to take home."