Raptors giving away 1 million free tickets

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 23, 2009 | by Andrew Aragon Deseret News

Ogden Raptors officials sat in a staff meeting during the winter, wondering what effects the struggling economy would have on their bottom line this season.

But rather than wait to see how it played out, the Raptors decided to take a preemptive strike -- and give back to their passionate fan base.

Raptors president Dave Baggott arranged to have 1 million free tickets given away this season in a promotion with McDonald's and Comcast. Fans can pick up free general admission tickets to Ogden games at participating McDonald's restaurants from Centerville to Brigham City. The tickets will be available for 34 of the team's 38 home games.

"We're basically telling our fan base if they're figuring out how to pay for things, cross us off their list," Baggott said. "If there was ever a period in time when corporate America should give back to its communities, it's now. It felt like a good thing to do."

There is no better buy for sports fans this summer than attending Ogden Raptors games -- you can't beat free. There are no strings attached in picking up the free tickets, but there are ways fans can use them to their advantage.

All free tickets are $5 seats. Fans can use their free tickets and pay $5 to upgrade to $10 tickets, and if they do that they'll receive a $2.50 food voucher at the concession stands. Also, no purchase is necessary to pick up the free Ogden tickets from the participating McDonald's restaurants, but Baggott said it wouldn't hurt to buy a bag of fries or some other item when fans receive their free passes.

The million-ticket giveaway is a first for a baseball organization, Baggott said.

"There's a million of them (tickets)," Baggott said. "That's a lot of them. It's an unprecedented program. No one has ever done it. I challenge any other company to donate $5 million (worth of product) to their communities."

It is undoubtedly a generous gesture by the Raptors, who have led the Pioneer League in attendance in each of the last nine seasons. They'll make it 10 straight this season while increasing general admission capacity to 3,500 seats.

The Raptors, who are affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers, had hoped to add some more fan interest by bringing in suspended slugger Manny Ramirez for a rehab assignment. The Dodgers, however, announced last week that Ramirez, suspended 50 days for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy, will start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Albuquerque tonight.

E-mail: aaragon@desnews.com