What happens to the Royals’ giveaways if there are no games?
A week ago, the Royals were scheduled to open a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins, and fans at Kauffman Stadium were in for a treat each day.
On June 12, attendees would have received a replica Royals jersey from the 1970 season. The next day the Royals were scheduled to give out a Whit Merrifield “Hit Counter” bobblehead, and the weekend would have ended with a “Sluggerrr Birthday Bash.”
Instead, the 2020 season remains on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. So what happens to giveaway items if there are no games?
“Some of the promo items that we had already ordered before COVID hit, those are the ones that we kind of had to use our auxiliary space for,” said Toby Cook, the Royals’ vice president of publicity. “The majority of the items that we had planned for this year were actually never produced. We didn’t produce them (or) then we’d have all of these giveaway items that we’d have to find space for.”
The Royals’ auxiliary storage space is located away from Kauffman Stadium, and items that did arrive before the season was postponed have ended up there.
For the home opener, the Royals planned to give out 2020 schedule magnets, so those might be in the storage space — but also is a candidate to be tossed. Most of the other giveaway items that either arrived (tote bags would have been distributed on April 18) or weren’t produced could be part part of future plans.
“They’re all candidates for 2021. We just don’t know exactly if some of them will just not happen at all,” Cook said.
Among the giveaways planned for this year: a Hawaiian shirt, a Margaritaville sun hat, a dancing bear bobblehead (for Grateful Dead night), a skeleton salsa dancer bobblehead (Day of the Dead celebration), a Mensch on the Bench bobblehead (Jewish Heritage Night), a Royals hoodie and more.
Bobbleheads of Merrifield, Jorge Soler, Hunter Dozier, former Royals manager Whitey Herzog and Hall of Famer George Brett were also scheduled to be given to fans.
“Our plan is the majority of them will just be moved to 2021,” Cook said. “There are some of them that might not happen at all. But we’ll make that decision. Because we don’t know the status on fans in the building this year, we haven’t ruled out whether any giveaways could happen this year.”
It’s possible that Major League Baseball owners and the players union could set aside their differences and reach agreement on a season. The chances of that happening seem to change daily, but if a truncated season is worked out, the Royals aren’t giving up on fans being in the stands.
That seems like a distant hope, but the Royals are staying prepared
“I think that as soon as we have some sort of an idea on a schedule then we’ll start making those final decisions quickly and then making announcements,” Cook said. “Because of the idea of any schedule coming out we would want to be able to follow up with what giveaways are for what game if we are able to play games with people in the stands.”
