Red Claws tap sponsorships
The combination of lobster and beer proved too irresistible for Gritty McDuff's. The Portland-based brewer has frothed up a new beer called Red Claws Ale in honor of Portland's popular new basketball team.
And Gritty's, a sponsor, is not the only business seeing possibilities in the Maine Red Claws. Sixty local businesses are sponsoring the team in its nascent season, including Isamax Snacks bakery, famous for its whoopie pies. Isamax has come out with "Hoopie Pies," featuring the team mascot on the packaging.
Already, the young NBA Development-League team leads all other development league teams in season ticket revenue. In May, team General Manager Jon Jennings told Mainebiz that the league had already sold 650 season tickets and all of the venue's top-tier $90 Hollywood seats, which sold out in 10 days. CNBC reports that now, the team logo -- a fierce-looking lobster called Crusher who appears to be flexing his claws like an irate wrestler -- has helped the team merchandise outsell all other teams.
The Red Claws marks a departure from former development NBA teams that have traditionally been saddled with what CNBC calls generic logos and set up in random cities in the South. These days, minor league basketball teams are strategically placed, have intricate brand identities and passionate owners working hard to connect the teams to their communities, CNBC comments.
Red Claws came out of a partnership between Jennings, a former assistant coach and scout for the Boston Celtics, and Bill Ryan Jr., owner of Oxford Plains Speedway, and has an ownership group that includes prominent business people such as Bill Ryan Sr., chairman of TD Bank, Michael Dubyak, president and CEO of Wright Express Corp. in South Portland and Stephen Goodrich, founder and CEO of PowerPay in Portland.
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