The Big Money Behind Minor League Baseball’s Renaming Revolution 小联盟球队改名革命背後的商机 https://reurl.cc/z5OxVp Minor league teams are increasingly doubling down on their regional flare, and i t’s leading to huge revenue opportunities. Some teams make millions from the st art. 越来越多小联盟球队加强在地特色，而这带来了庞大的商机$$$，有些球队从一开始就能赚 进数百万美元 The Salem Red Sox and Syracuse Mets don’t have much in common. One is a Low-A t eam in a 25,000-person town nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia. The other is in Triple-A, one step below a major league team in playof f contention, located in a booming college town in upstate New York. 红袜低A队伍Salem Red Sox和大都会3A队伍Syracuse Mets 并没有很多的共通点 But the franchises face the same issue. Many of their local fans are New York Ya nkees loyalists who refuse to wear Red Sox or Mets gear. “There’s that rivalry , and they’re not going to be caught dead in a Red Sox shirt,” Salem GM Allen Lawrence tells Front Office Sports. 但他们都遇到一样的问题，就是它们所属地区都有大量的洋基球迷 所以会对於他们队名敏感XDDD 直接导致影响球队周边贩售 https://i.imgur.com/8QbXbZW.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/r1Sb0vn.jpeg 毕竟几乎一模一样 The solution: Salem and Syracuse are rebranding so that, in Lawrence’s words, f ans “can proudly wear a T-shirt from their hometown team.” 解决方法就是它们都要改名啦 让这些球迷能骄傲地穿所属地区球队的衣服 Like many minor league clubs, Salem and Syracuse are planning names that pay tri bute to their local history and culture. Both teams’ GMs say they’ve benefited from having the major league affiliation in their team branding, but now want t heir fans to have an identity that speaks to their organization specifically. 像许多小联盟球队一样，他们正计划以队名向当地的历史与文化致敬 两支球队的总管表示，虽然在队伍品牌与所属大联盟球队的联系有带来了好处 但他们现在希望球迷能拥有一个更能代表他们球队本身特色的认同 “We love being affiliated with the Red Sox. It’s one of the biggest brands in the world,” Lawrence says. “But we felt like it was time for our club to have a new name that’s both unique and distinctive to baseball here in this market, in Salem, Virginia, and southwestern Virginia. … Quite honestly, we probably sh ould’ve done this years ago.” 「我们很喜欢能与红袜队有合作关系，毕竟那是全世界最具影响力的品牌之一」 「但我们觉得，是时候让我们的球队拥有一个全新的名字了──一个既独特又能代表Salem 、维吉尼亚州西南部，还有这个棒球市场的名字，说实话，我们或许早在好几年前就该这麽 做了」 The increasing quest for hyperlocal branding has led to some outrageous team nam es. In the mid-2000s through late 2010s, sports-branding firm Brandiose came up with identities including the Rocket City Trash Pandas, a nod to northern Alabam a’s space industry and raccoon population; the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, highl ighting the Floridian fare; and the Akron RubberDucks, honoring the city’s rubb er-making history. 对「超在地品牌化」（hyperlocal branding）的追求日益增加，也催生出一些相当夸张的 球队名称 从2000年代中期到2010年代末，体育品牌公司Brandiose创造出一系列具有地域特色的队名 包括「火箭城浣熊」（Rocket City Trash Pandas），这名称致敬北阿拉巴马州的太空 产业与浣熊数量 https://i.imgur.com/TPOpUcK.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/HfG8WEW.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/GTrXha2.jpeg 「杰克森维尔巨虾」（Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp），突显佛罗里达当地的海鲜文化 https://i.imgur.com/F9Z6kGu.jpeg 还有「阿克伦橡胶鸭」（Akron RubberDucks），纪念该城市的橡胶制造历史 https://i.imgur.com/EUI8Wmy.jpeg Behind the fun of regional team names is a real business opportunity. Many of th e rebranded teams made at least $1 million in retail sales in the first year aft er their name changes, Brandiose cofounder Jason Klein tells FOS. The Trash Pand as, initially slated to debut in 2020, raked in $4 million in merchandise sales before ever playing a game (their inaugural season was canceled due to the COVID -19 pandemic). 在这些充满趣味的队名背後，隐藏着一个真正的商机，Brandiose的共同创办人Jason Klein 告诉《FOS》 「许多重新命名的球队，在更名後的第一年，周边销售额就突破了100万美元」 其中垃圾浣熊队虽然原定於2020年首度亮相，但在尚未打一场比赛之前，就已经创下了400 万美元的商品销售额（虽然该队的首个球季因COVID-19疫情被取消） https://i.imgur.com/npSnqMp.jpeg While Salem and Syracuse aren’t banking on replicating the runaway success of t he Trash Pandas, they’re excited for the boost a new name could provide. “The hope is that it does generate great revenue and excitement through merchandise a nd other opportunities, that’s all part and parcel of this rebrand,” Syracuse GM Jason Smorol tells FOS. 尽管这两队并不指望能复制「垃圾浣熊」那样的爆红成功，但他们仍对新队名可能带来的推 动力感到兴奋 「我们希望这次更名能透过商品销售及其他机会，带来可观的收益与话题，这些都是品牌重 塑的一部分，」 Many organizations choose to work with a firm such as Brandiose; Salem used Coll egiate Licensing Company. The team first sourced ideas from its staff and key co mmunity members before shipping them off to CLC. A common theme was the region’ s outdoor lifestyle, Lawrence says. The organization will unveil its new name in November ahead of the 2026 season. 许多球队会选择与专业品牌公司合作，例如 Brandiose；而红袜低A则与 Collegiate Licen sing Company（CLC）合作 该球队首先从内部员工与当地重要社群成员那里徵集创意 然後交由 CLC进行後续设计 球队预计将在2025年11月，也就是 2026球季开始前，公布新队名 Syracuse took online submissions from fans in August, and it will put out two se parate ballots in September with the top-10 and then top-5 names. Smorol says he ’s received submissions about the salt industry, Syracuse’s inventions includi ng the serrated knife, and the city’s upside-down traffic light. 大都会3A则在8月透过网路向球迷徵求新队名提案 并将在9月推出两轮票选活动，先公布前十名候选名称 接着再从中选出前五名 球队方面表示，已经收到不少关於当地盐业的提案，以及与雪城发明相关的名称──像是锯 齿刀（serrated knife）──还有城市着名的「上下颠倒红绿灯」 Still, his team has seen a glimpse into what’s possible from having a fun, hype rlocal name on Thursday nights. That’s when the Sox play as the Salem BeerMonge rs, a tribute to the local craft beer industry first introduced in 2019. 他们也已经看见使用有趣且超在地队名所带来的潜力 每逢周四，红袜低A会以「塞勒姆啤酒商」（Salem BeerMongers）的名义出赛 这是向当地精酿啤酒产业致敬的另类队名，最早在 2019 年推出 https://i.imgur.com/mNDA0VV.jpeg “I think we sold merchandise in 40-some states within the first 48 hours, and I said, ‘Wow, this is what having your own identity can lead to,’” Lawrence sa ys. “Being the Red Sox, we just haven’t had a taste of that, because the fact of the matter is, if somebody wants to buy Red Sox merchandise, they can go to F anatics or Walmart or Amazon.” 「我记得当时在推出後短短48小时内，我们就卖出了商品到超过 40 个州」 「那时我心想：『哇，这就是拥有自己品牌身分能带来的影响力』作为红袜队的附属队，我 们过去根本没有这样的机会，事实上，如果有人想买红袜队的商品，他们大可以去 Fanatic s、沃尔玛或亚马逊」 https://i.imgur.com/KEMyEzQ.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/f2MDd9y.jpeg These mini-rebrands can drive significant revenue for teams across the country, and Klein says the majority of Brandiose’s business is now focused on minor lea gue theme nights with a goal of teams making at least $100,000 in merchandise sa les every year from these efforts alone. 这类的「迷你品牌重塑」行动，已为全美各地的小联盟球队创造可观收益 像是Brandiose现在的主要业务重心已转向这类小联盟主题之夜 目标是让球队光靠这些主题活动的商品销售，每年至少进帐10万美元 One team hit the theme night jackpot this summer, albeit in an unusual way. Last Week Tonight With John Oliver offered in May to design a theme night for any mi nor league team, and chose the Erie SeaWolves among 47 teams who applied for a m akeover. On an expedited timeline for a July 19 debut, the HBO show rebranded th e team as the Moon Mammoths, after the mammoth bones discovered in Erie County’ s Lake Pleasant by resident George Moon in 1991. 今年夏天，有一支球队在主题之夜活动中意外中了大奖 《上周今夜秀》於今年 5月公开表示，愿意为任何一支小联盟球队设计一场主题之夜 结果从47支申请队伍中选中了老虎2A球队伊利海狼队（Erie SeaWolves），为其进行大改造 https://i.imgur.com/dMmBugl.jpeg 该节目在短时间内完成准备，并於 7月19日正式亮相，将球队重新命名为「月亮猛玛象队」 （Moon Mammoths）──名称灵感来自 1991 年当地居民George Moon在伊利郡的愉湖（Lake Pleasant）发现的猛玛象化石 https://i.imgur.com/A5MlfBt.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/VbKEF1O.jpeg The SeaWolves received more online orders in July than in the past five years co mbined. (Disclosure: I also bought gear for my dad’s birthday.) “We’re proces sing every day what used to be three to four months‘ worth of work, in terms of fulfilling orders,” GM Greg Coleman tells FOS. “I don’t know if I’ll ever e xperience anything like it in my career ever again.” 伊利海狼队在7月所收到的线上商品订单数量，超过过去五年的总和。 「我们现在每天处理的订单量，相当於过去三到四个月的工作量，」球队总管Greg Coleman 告诉《FOS》 「老实说，我不知道我的职业生涯中是否还会再遇到这样的时刻」 https://i.imgur.com/AsIIklN.jpeg Ahead of next summer, several other teams are hoping to build a home run identit y like the IronPigs. On top of the Salem rebrand, the Carolina Mudcats are movin g 25 miles east to become the Wilson Warbirds. The Modesto Nuts will be replaced by a yet-unnamed team in Ontario, Calif., through a shift in affiliation among three different teams. And two other teams are expected to announce new names or logos for 2026 in the coming months, a source tells FOS. 随着明年夏季临近，还有多支球队想要这样搞 「卡罗来纳泥鲶」（Carolina Mudcats）将向东迁移 25 英里 https://i.imgur.com/gLTtEh4.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/EsWBDDL.jpeg 变身为「威尔逊战鸟队」（Wilson Warbirds） https://i.imgur.com/udnthTM.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/Q0r0nst.jpeg 另外由於三支球队之间的附属关系调整，「莫德斯托坚果队」（Modesto Nuts）将被加州安 大略市的一支尚未命名的新球队取代，据《FOS》消息来源透露，还有另外两支球队预计在 接下来几个月内宣布将於 2026 年推出新队名或新标志 Landes’s advice to teams taking on a new identity: Be willing to laugh at yours elf, don’t get cold feet, and keep it local. “It still needs to be something t hat’s very unique to your community that they feel a pride in,” he says, “oth erwise I think it would be very short-lived.” 「这个名字仍然必须是非常独特且能让社区感到骄傲的」 「否则它可能只是昙花一现」 --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc), 来自: 61.230.130.122 (台湾) ※ 文章网址: https://webptt.com/cn.aspx?n=bbs/Baseball/M.1756864076.A.F59.html ※ zxc906383:转录至看板 MLB 09/03 09:48 ※ 编辑: zxc906383 (61.230.130.122 台湾), 09/03/2025 10:51:05