Report: River Cats will become Giants affiliate
The Sacramento River Cats will play as an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in 2015 according to BallparkDigest.com.
An official announcement is expected tomorrow. The Giants affiliation is expected to create a greater River Cats fan base in the Bay Area media markets and increase merchandise sales.
The River Cats had been a farm team for the Oakland Athletics since beginning play in 2000 at Raley Field in West Sacramento.
On Monday, the River Cats cut their ties with Oakland to be able to talk with other teams.
Earlier today, Oakland reached a four-year deal with Triple-A affiliate the Nashville Sounds. The Nashville Sounds had been affiliated with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Becoming a Giants affiliate may be a boost for the River Cats because the Giants are a far more popular team in Northern California, according to BallparkDigest.com.
Eric Edelstein, executive vice president and chief operating officer with the Reno Aces, said affiliation changes should have little effect on Triple A teams. At best, the change could give the River Cats a single-season attendance bump for affiliating with a team that is popular in the market. The Reno Aces are the Triple A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
'I do think that your affiliate can make a difference in attendance but not as much as one might think, and the effects seem to normalize after a year or so,' Edelstein said.
He cited the Sacranton, Pa., RailRiders, which nearly a decade ago changed affiliation from the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees. After a burst of ticket sales at the announcement, the the spike was followed by a leveling off back to regular business, he said.
Mark Anderson covers technology, banking and finance, medtech and biotech, venture capital, energy, mining, hotels, restaurants and tourism for the Sacramento Business Journal.
Post a Comment for "Report: River Cats will become Giants affiliate"