By Janice Kalmar

MOST BASKETBALL FANS WOULD BE SATISFIED to see Michael Jordan score 30 points or Dennis Rodman's double-digit rebounding, but the Chicago Bulls want those who attend a game at the United Center to experience much more.
    It's this reason that each Bulls game takes on its own personality. Promotions, music that's played during timeouts, and on-court performances are staged around the pace of a particular game. Everything that occurs while the players are not on the court is designed to entertain and pump up the crowd.
    "We don't want there to be any time during a Bulls game that fans are looking at an empty court," said Steve Schanwald, vice president of marketing and broadcasting. "We want our fans to be participants rather than spectators." 

Team philosophy--appeal to the broadest audience

Schanwald believes that to be successful long-term, the Bulls must appeal to a wide-ranging audience -- not just the avid basketball fan.
    "We want to attract more than just the person who loves basketball," he said. "We also want the person who has a marginal interest in the game. We want to appeal to the broadest possible constituency. We want to make even boring games exciting."
    Exciting may be an understatement. Between the music, entertainment and in-game promotions, fans don't have a chance to sit idle. Prior to the start of each game fans receive a promotional giveaway. As fans walk to their seats, even the non-basketball enthusiast probably will stop to check out the interactive displays and team memorabilia that line the United Center concourses. What fans would pass up the opportunity to put their foot inside the size 22 shoe of the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal or measure up to Michael Jordan?
    During the game itself, there are typically nine in-game promotions that take place during timeouts and halftime. Most of these promotions have been running for several years, such as the M&M's Dot Race and Huggies' Diaper Derby.
    However, the Bulls are always on the lookout for new ideas, and when something doesn't generate the kind of crowd reaction the team is looking for, it's time to modify or scrap the promotion.
    The Dot Race, which is presented on the scoreboard during every game, has always been popular with fans, according to Schanwald, and it became even more popular after the voice of Phil Georgeff, the legendary horseracing announcer, was added to sell the race.
    The success of the in-game promotions are gauged by the fans. "We watch the promotion during the game. But we also are watching the fans. If 'Joe average fan' watches the promotion it's a plus. If he's turning around talking to his friend, it's a minus. If you get him to laugh, it's a big plus," said Jeff Wohlschlaeger, the Bulls' coordinator of game operations.
    Oriano Pagnucci, public relations director at AT&T, said his firm's association with the Bulls has been a win-win situation.
    "The Bulls want to make each game an all-around entertainment event," he said. "Fans expect to have a good time and the Bulls see promotions as a way to enhance their experience."
 

Pagnucci credits Schanwald and his staff: "They are top-notch people. They are always looking to initiate promotions that get fans involved. They continuously get the pulse of fans. If something isn't working well they'll work on it to make it better."
    Pagnucci said over his eight-year involvement with the Bulls, Schanwald and his staff have made numerous suggestions that have increased the popularity of the AT&T Long Distance Shoot Out, and the company's current promotion, the AT&T Long Distance Road Rally. 

Setting the standard

Promotions aren't unique to the Bulls or even the NBA. The Bulls were one of the first NBA teams to begin using promotions to fill the gap between play in the mid-1980s. Schanwald says promotions are now commonplace at all NBA games -- even in Boston, where the Celtics resisted mixing entertainment with the game of basketball for many years.
    "Nothing we do is meant to detract from the game itself," Schanwald said. "We want to enhance the experience for fans. Other sports, like the NHL and NFL, have seen just how successful the NBA has been and they too are becoming more promotion-oriented. It's a way to give fans something extra for their money, thus broadening the audiences sporting events appeal to."
    When it comes to promotions, the Bulls pride themselves on setting the standard rather than following the crowd. The offseason is used to examine what went well during the year and to develop new promotions for the coming season. Schanwald's team prefers to seek out corporate partners and then devise a promotion that would be suited to those companies. However, there are times they have an idea for a promotion and seek out an appropriate corporate partner.
    For instance, when Lou Malnati's Pizzeria decided against sponsoring the Diaper Derby, a crawling race in which parents are used to coax their infants into crossing the finish line first, the Bulls approached Kimberly-Clark, the manufacturer of Huggies diapers.
    Pleased with the popularity of the Diaper Derby, Kimberly-Clark was interested in adding another promotion this season. Schanwald and his staff developed four ideas that were presented to the company. Huggies' Quick Change Contest made its debut at the United Center last year. The contest pits adults against each other in a relay race that involves putting on and taking off oversized sneakers and Bulls uniforms.
    "Adults are the ones who buy diapers, so we wanted to come up with a promotion that would appeal to them," Wohlschlaeger said. 

Ready, set, game time

While it's the responsibility of Schanwald and his marketing staff to develop the in-stadium promotions, the task of orchestrating the entertainment, music and promotions falls on Wohlschlaeger in game operations.
    Wohlschlaeger tests new promotions prior to presenting them to fans to make sure that the promotion can be completed in the time allocated. The event can't interfere with the game itself and must be completed during a regular timeout or 20-second timeout.
    During the game itself, Wohlschlaeger is present courtside wearing a headset. While he has a map that details each promotion for every game, his priority is to keep the crowd into the game, and that may mean substituting a performer or switching a particular contest and replacing it with something more appropriate.
    For instance, the LuvaBulls, the Bulls' dancers, are scheduled to perform during specific timeouts. However, before taking to the court they look to Wohlschlaeger for direction. He flashes a stop sign to indicate if the entertainment is going to take a different turn. Wohlschlaeger uses a different colored paddle to indicate when he wants a certain performer -- Benny the Bull, Da Bull, IncrediBulls, Bulls Brothers, the Bullimp or the LuvaBulls -- front and center.
    The music is chosen spontaneously to reflect the pace of the game. He makes his selection and communicates with the public address announcer, the music operator and scoreboard operator via headsets.
    "As soon as a timeout is over and the players are back on the court we're talking about the next timeout," he said.
    Wohlschlaeger admits it isn't always easy to be up for every game. "You do the best you can. We also realize that the fans have minds of their own. We can't make them have a good time if they don't want to," he said.
    If ticket sales and the diversity of the crowd the Bulls attract are any indication, fans enjoy the non-game entertainment as much as watching their favorite NBA stars. 

Giveaways worth more than you might think

Promotional giveaways have become standard fare at Chicago Bulls home games. Fans can expect to receive a giveaway at every game played at the United Center this season.
    According to Schanwald, the team began giving items away at every game several years ago. Like their in-arena promotions, the Bulls use these items as a way to give fans something more. The quality of the items are increasingly important.
    While Schanwald is always on the look out for new and different items, caps and umbrellas are the most popular giveaways, and these items are repeated several times throughout the season. "We've established a standard," Schanwald said. "Our fans expect to receive something at every game."
    Wohlschlaeger noted that some fans actually purchase their tickets to games based on the promotional items being given away.
    The pins, magnets, posters, calendars, lunch boxes, travel mugs, mini basketballs, cooler bags, fanny packs, coins and basketball cards obviously have a perceived value to fans. Some of the items have also become collectibles.
    According to Oscar Gracia, a collector of Bulls' memorabilia who lives on Chicago's South Side, any item given away since Michael Jordan joined the team has some monetary value.
    "A pin with Michael's name on it is valuable. If the pin also has his picture, it's even more valuable," he said.
    Gracia said the items that carry the most value are sheets of basketball cards given away in the mid 1980s. A sheet of Gatorade cards distributed in 1985 is valued at as much as $300 and a set of Crunch 'n Munch cards sells for between $325 and $500, according to Beckett Basketball Monthly. A single Michael Jordan card from the Gatorade series ranges in value between $120 and $225, while the same Crunch 'n Munch card garners between $225 and $325.
    Also valuable are the photographs given to the first 18,000 fans attending Jordan's retirement celebration, Gracia said.
    Gracia's advice to fans, "Hold on to the items. They are all worth something." And if you happen to receive a lot of cards, Gracia says, don't break up the set. "The card sets are much more valuable when they are left intact." 
    Given that, it seems the only thing more valuable than Bulls promotional items are Bulls tickets -- the most valuable ticket in town.

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