On Friday, April 6, the first 10,000 Houston Astros fans who showed up to the team’s game against the San Diego Padres were lucky enough to receive what may be one of the coolest sports giveaways of all time: a replica World Series ring.
While the replicas may not be as valuable as the real ones, fans still flocked to Minute Maid Park early that morning to get themselves some bling.
The promotion was so successful that the Astros have actually decided to do it all over again on June 20 before they face off with the Tampa Bay Rays. Fortunately for fans that were disappointed to miss out on getting a ring the first time around, the Astros have promised a ring to every fan in attendance on June 20. This, as well as the fact that no fans will be allowed to line up before 8 a.m., should quell the craze that hit Minute Maid Park during the initial promotion.
🚨 giveaway alert! 🚨
Due to the overwhelming popularity of the Replica World Champions Rings presented by @CocaCola earlier this month, we will be giving ALL fans in attendance the replica ring on June 20 against the Rays. 💍https://t.co/kkaXUInbIc pic.twitter.com/AhVQQGVAOW
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 16, 2018
While faux jewelry may seem to be too niche of a promotion to be successful in most industries, it has proven its worth to sports teams before. For example, when the Miami Hurricanes decided to spice up their merchandise offering last year with the “Turnover Chain,” the team saw merch sales increase by 580 percent. Talk about the power of a solid promotion!
In a statement about the World Series ring promotion, Reid Ryan, president of business operations for the Astros, talked about the value of the team’s fans.
“We appreciate the unbelievable support of our fans who stood in line for hours for the replica World Champions ring,” he said. “We recognize there were many fans who were unable to receive this giveaway, and thanks to our partners at Coca-Cola, we are able to share this piece of history with even more Astros fans.”
