A highly anticipated promotion turned south for the New York Yankees this week after the products failed to show up in time for the game.
The first 18,000 fans to arrive at Yankee Stadium were promised commemorative bobblehead dolls of retiring player Mariano Rivera, but due to shipping delays, the promos weren’t on hand when the gates opened at 5 p.m. The stadium was forced to hand out vouchers to the first fans instead.
In the in middle of the third inning it was announced that the bobbleheads had arrived and would be distributed to voucher holders. This caused the 18,000 leaving their seats to wait in lines for hours, missing a majority of the game against the Rays.
According to a Yankees’ spokesperson, the bobbleheads were traveling from Seattle to the stadium when a train issue in Chicago held up the shipment. A later delay caused by the delivery truck on Tuesday pushed the final delivery time to after 6 p.m.
According to the New York Daily News, the bobbleheads were provided by Alexander Global Promotions of Bellevue, Wash. The Daily News reports that giveaway shipments typically arrive on the day of the promotion, and not sooner, due to storage restrictions at Yankee Stadium.
