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Fred Greene on Sports Karaoke
Gameops.com: What is Sports Karaoke® and Fantasy Play-by-Play®?
Greene: We started 13 years ago with the concept of enabling fans to announce games live at the stadium and giving them a VHS video tape copy of their performances. That is Fantasy Play-by-Play®. The concept proved to be very fresh and different and has become a regular feature for many teams and events. Sports Karaoke® is a new project we developed. Sports Karaoke® enables fans to call great plays in sports history for the enjoyment of the fans. Sports Karaoke® is better suited for sports bars. Sports Karaoke® does not provide fans with a tape of their call.
Gameops.com: Who are your clients?
Greene: Over the last 13 years we have worked with teams in 13 different sports including all four major sports. Many teams bring in Fantasy Play-by-Play® for the entire season. We also do a large number of fan fest-type events. For example, last month we were in Boston for the Major League Baseball Fan Fest. We produced about 5,000 VHS tapes for fans in 5 days.
Gameops.com: How are you able to customize the product to different teams and sponsors?
Greene: We customize the product for every team and sponsor. Our product can feature your sponsors logo or message and the selection of great plays will reflect your region. For example, at the MLB Fan Fest we had a selection of topical and historic plays, from Fisk's home run in the 1975 World Series to McGwire's 62nd home run. Our product also has a strong history of satisfying our corporate sponsors with outstanding exposure, like our 11-year relationships with Anheuser-Busch in Yankee Stadium and Busch Stadium.
Gameops.com: How long does it take you to produce these custom shows for teams or events and is there a set price?
Greene: We are able to produce our product in about seven weeks. We prefer to customize our bid for each event since there are so many ways for us to fine-tune the product and maximize your teams resources.
Gameops.com: We like to provide teams with examples of successful promotional ideas, have you found unique usages for Fantasy Play-by-Play®?
Greene: The Orlando Magic did a great promotion using Fantasy Play-by-Play®. Each month they selected 2 or 3 of the best Budweiser Fantasy Play-by-Play® performances. During a game they would play the videos for the fans on the jumbotron. Fans then voted on the best announcing and the winner had the opportunity to perform live on an Orlando Magic broadcast. At the end of the season they also gave away a trip to Miami for a game against the in-state rival Heat. At that game the winner participated in the broadcast live on the Sunshine Network. The contest was very well received.
Gameops.com: Any other usages for your product?
Greene: Many teams found that Fantasy Play-by-Play® not only had great entertainment value for the fans, but had high value for sponsors. The Pittsburgh Pirates used the Fantasy Play-by-Play® as inventory for sponsor packages. For example if a bank sponsored a giveaway night they would package Fantasy Play-by-Play® reservations with a suite and additional signage to enhance the value to the sponsor. The bank could then select eight of their top employees to perform one inning of commentary. Many times the sponsor would call the next day to schedule additional time slots for Fantasy Play-by-Play® when they called to thank the team for a great night.
Special thanks to Fred Greene for his time. If you are looking for more information on Fantasy Play-by-Play® you can contact Greene Creative Services at:
http://www.greenecreative.com
Fantasy Play-by-Play®, Sports Karaoke®, and Budweiser Fantasy Play-by-Play® are registered trademarks of Greene Creative Services.
Other Karaoke Notes:
- Teams across all sports have been finding ways to use Karaoke as part of their game entertainment.
- Joe Mulvihill from the Sports Magic Team has been using a Karaoke-like promotion successfully for some time.
Joe Mulvihill: We have a promotion we provide to our teams called "Sing for your Supper." Our performers select two members of the audience. Each member does a quick sing-a-long to a popular song. At the end we ask the crowd to vote for the best singer. The winner receives a gift certificate from a sponsor's restaurant for their effort. The crowd loves it and the sponsors get a clever plug.
Karaoke is a fun, inexpensive, and easy way to enhance your game entertainment. We have found a few good resources like computer software Karaoke players and song files on the Internet. Those links are listed below. Most sites also include additional links and information.
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