Bally Sports ad features Randy Johnson and ‘Short Boy’ beers.
Bally Sports is taking a quick minute to pay tribute to the MVP of the baseball season—the pitch clock.
The network of regional sports channels—which is trying to overcome financial problems while pivoting to a streaming model—is doing so through a tribute to 1970s beer ads that supposes that shorter baseball games require shorter accompanying beers. The spot, which features an appearance from 6-foot-10 Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson, comes from creative agency R&R Partners.
Guto Araki, chief creative officer of R&R, said the spot is part of an overall branding strategy for Bally Sports meant to “recode people’s understanding of what this brand is.”
It’s a complicated story. Bally Sports is not a casino, a gym or a pinball machine maker, but the name of 19 former Fox Sports Net regional sports networks divested by Disney as it acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019. Sinclair Broadcasting purchased the channels; Bally Corp., the gaming company, purchased the naming rights, with the idea of promoting its casino and gaming services. Diamond Sports Group is the subsidiary of Sinclair that operates the network.
Beset by high debts and cord-cutting consumers, Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy protection in March. When Diamond fell behind on rights payments to the San Diego Padres in May, the team’s broadcasts were swiftly taken over by Major League Baseball. On Tuesday, the judge in the bankruptcy case approved Diamond's bid to reject its broadcast contract for the Arizona Diamondbacks, whose games will also go to an MLB-controlled broadcast.
The restructuring agreement Diamond is pursuing in bankruptcy court contemplates spinning off from Sinclair to be a standalone company focusing on the newly launched Bally Sports+ streaming service to complement its RSNs. The group currently has MLB streaming rights for the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins. But the group still needs to secure streaming and expanded digital rights for its streaming products, it said.
Bally execs are optimistic that marketing can help distinguish the product and set the stage for new growth as a streamer.
“I think now is a better time than any to get fans to rethink what Bally Sports is; awareness since the Fox rebrand has been low and our name can be confusing,” Michael Schneider, chief operating officer and general manager of Bally Sports+, said in emailed remarks. “Now is the time to really transition the brand from one that is synonymous with linear local television to one that really speaks to the exciting future we see in front of us and how our product and relationship with fans is evolving.”
Araki relied on a staff of creatives with experience in sports and deep baseball knowledge to come up with the “Short Boys” concept. They include brothers Beau and Bryan Abbott, who are behind the “Baseball Card Vandals” project. The Abbotts suggested giving Johnson a call to provide contrast to the stubby “Short Boy” cans. They also gave baseball fans an Easter Egg in the form of a pigeon flying by as Johnson appears; “The Big Unit” famously, if accidentally, fatally struck a pigeon with a fastball in 2001.
“The guys on my team are avid baseball fans, and one thing the team found was the amount of conversation around the pitch clock,” Araki said. “We thought there was some tension because there’s a lot of tradition around baseball, and all of a sudden you’re changing a rule … we thought this was something interesting to talk about.”
The pitch clock, which enforces a 15-second limit between pitches, or 20 seconds with runners on base—has reportedly shaved a radical 27 minutes off the average game time, as compared to last year.
The initiative, meant to increase the pace of play, has had other impacts in beer: Five MLB clubs (Milwaukee Brewers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers) this season extended alcohol sales past the customary seventh inning cutoff at their home games (the Brewers subsequently reverted).
The 8.4-ounce beers featured in Bally’s ad really exist. They are available at the five breweries where they were made: Dog & Pony Show Brewing (Detroit), City Barrel Brewing (Kansas City), Company Brewing (Milwaukee), Cigar City Brewing (Tampa), and Tripping Animals Brewing (Miami). Bally has MLB streaming rights to teams in each of those cities.
The ad will be shown in those same five markets. The media plan includes buys with connected TV, Meta, Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat; display banners; streaming audio on Spotify; and out-of-home including digital screens in bars, according to R&R.
