The Sahlen's logo crowns the field's giant video screen.
Sahlen Packing Co. landed a major league advantage when the Toronto Blue Jays agreed to make Sahlen Field their home base this season.
The Howard Street-headquartered, fifth-generation company will gain a windfall of valuable national exposure as sports fans hear the Sahlen brand name and see its logo night after night during Blue Jays baseball games.
"Being a regional brand for the longest time, this is something that really allows more visibility," said Kenneth Voelker, vice president of marketing and business development at the hot dog and deli meat producer. "It's going to put more eyeballs on our brand so people can see what a really premium hot dog it is."
It's a needed boost.
"With no fans, there are no concessions sales and we really rely on that," Voelker said. "But who would’ve ever thought a little regional company in Western New York would have national publicity?"
It's perfect timing, too, as Sahlen's is getting ready to launch its e-commerce site within the next month for direct-to-consumer sales.
"We're gonna have these games televised and people are gonna start to see pictures and banners and signage throughout the stadium," Voelker said. "With the power of the internet, people can Google 'What is Sahlen's?' and they're gonna see what everyone in Western New York sees. It's gonna shine a light on everything the company was founded on the last 150 years."
You can't buy that kind of publicity. Actually you can, but it would cost much more than Sahlen's likely paid.
Sahlen's signed the 10-year naming rights agreement in the fall of 2018.
"Sahlen’s, the company, has found its way into an unbelievable bargain," said Matt Davison, chief business officer at Martin Group Marketing.
While terms of the Sahlen's deal were not disclosed, the company could double or triple whatever it pays for the naming rights just through the value of the media exposure it will get, Davison said.
The Amherst-based health care company North AmeriCare paid $3.3 million for a 13-year naming rights deal for the ballpark in 1995, before it pulled out of the pact four years later and Dunn Tire assumed the contract. Coca Cola won the contract in 2008 and held it until Sahlen's took over, but terms of that deal were never disclosed.
This year's conditions could prove especially valuable. Stuck home because of Covid and unable to sit in the stands, fans are eager to end a monthslong professional sports drought. That pent-up demand is expected to send MLB viewership soaring.
Blue Jays games will air on television and radio stations in visiting teams' home markets, in Toronto, on Sportsnet, and could be picked up for national coverage on the MLB Network and ESPN. The name Sahlen Field also will be heard on MLB Network Radio, digitally streamed on MLB.TV and be mentioned in newspapers and online across the country.
"That could propel the value of this sponsorship even further," Davison said.
It's a home run for Sahlen's, which has made a concerted push in recent years to expand into new markets. That effort was made possible by a new processing technology the company employed that triples its hot dogs' shelf life.
Sahlen's gained footholds with Buffalo transplants in other markets. In 2015, it followed Buffalonians to Charlotte, N.C., with placement in the Harris Teeter grocery chain, which has stores in Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia as well as the Carolinas. The following year, it expanded to Florida, partnering with Publix, which also has stores in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. It furthered its reach when it landed slots in the Meijer supermarket chain, which has stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and Wisconsin; and continues to grow with Wegmans, which has locations in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts and North Carolina.
As part of the 150-year-old company's strategy to win over new customers, it sponsors sports teams in new markets, as it has done with the Charlotte Knights of minor-league baseball and the NHL's Florida Panthers.
Sahlen Field is the stadium’s fifth sponsored name since it opened in 1988. It opened as Pilot Field, then became North AmeriCare Park in 1995 after the original rights holder, Pilot Air Freight, defaulted on its payments to the city. The ballpark switched to Dunn Tire Park in spring 1999 after the tire company assumed the final nine years of payments in the contract with North American Health Plans. The City of Buffalo owns the stadium, but the Buffalo Bisons team manages operations there.
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July 27, 2020 at 01:30AM
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Hot dog maker hopes MLB fans learn what WNYers know: 'What is Sahlen's?' - Buffalo News
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