First, it's hard to beat the setting for Petco Park in downtown San Diego. Just a great pic to set the scene, with some clear digital signage you can't miss. Should there be a hashtag, a website, a CTA on these brand logo signs?

Because everyone loves to check out the food stands...one of the basics, here unbranded 'Bayview Grill,' but clear branded products on the menu. Interesting to note that the branded items go with either their logo or their name, not both.Also, not everything is branded that could be; e.g. hot dogs are, burgers, peanuts, coffee not branded.

The Padres have kept the Western Metal Supply Co. building ad-free on the exterior (though plenty interior with a bar/restaurant/store)Nice shot of the Petco Park sign, the signs adorning the video screen [with Seinfeld scene; approved use!] change periodically.

Hard to beat this postcard-ish, picturesque view of the game. Teams should encourage and facilitate fans capturing/sharing the scene – ie make a personal postcard using a team/sponsor App, propagate an #AtTheBallpark hashtag on Instagram; collect best fan pics during the year to showcase [book/album too?]

Left field bleacher view of Petco Park. Notable is combo of static and digital/rotating signage and the LED ring exhorting fans to stream video live from their Verizon device [no At Bat app push or place to go for video, however].

A right field view of Petco Park. Wonder what kind of beer they sell here? [Kidding] And Verizon dominating the boards, including prime location next to out-of-town scores [good place for an App push or CTA].This also offers a great view of a special Jack Daniel's seating area; a lot of potential in “branding” sections with exclusive, sponsor-related perks

This is where hungry fans go to fill up if they purchased the “All-You-Can-Eat Seats.” These promotional seats are a great sell, typically kept low enough to keep traffic to get food low and demand for the seats high.Many of the All-You-Can-Eat-Seats I have seen typically have lower class fare [hot dogs, peanuts]; Should teams also to have 'premium' eating seats [even one w/ a fixed, gourmet menu] and/or seats that are fed by food sponsors/brands of the team and venue.

San Diego is well-known as a military town and the military invites young fans to see how hard they can throw a ball at this branded “Launch Pad” here. The military LOVES recruiting at sports events; having kid-friendly activities like this, related to the sport, is a great, easy way to activate. Addition – Provide a way to share/capture/preserve one's achievement at this exhibit

Nice branded merchandise area located next to the “Launch Pad.” Again, lots of military logos (though why not also sell themed, camo Padres gear here?) Also clear Nike logos abound, though not in-your-face Nike branding as much as it could be. Are fans more likely to want/buy merch AT the ballpark? Sure, so give them a reason to – ie use it or lose it discount offer.

Completing the military area of Petco Park is a fantastic model of an aircraft carrier that attracts a lot of eyes and attention. The model is not enhanced with any multimedia or digital elements. And there is no kiosk in this area to browse the sponsor [military, in this case] website, social media, sign up for more info, etc. Cheap & easy way to capture data from interested fans!

Love this demo area for fans to view and test these golf club products

The best way to expose fans to your product and get them interested? SHOW it off and let fans see/use it! An underutilized tactic by brands who instead prefer just banners, logos, videos, and contests. Running a contest? Have 3-5 possible product prizes fans can check out and pick which they would want to win. Expose your product!

Fans are uber-distracted, especially kids, with so much stimulating visuals at a ballpark, so the need to stand out and be eye-catching is paramount! Here, local popular BBQ chain Phil's BBQ has a giant porker [yep, they sell pork] attracting fans and a phone # to call. Well-done, but why not have a website, text/mobile rewards club, website, hash tag, instant reward CTA, etc. too? Fans are there, eating your food, being exposed, grab them and start a relationship while you can!

Not a lot of commentary here, just thought it was interesting to share that Petco Park has a stand where fans can get gelato and crepes. Should the 7th inning stretch also signal 7th inning specials for specialized food/drink at the venue (not beer so late in the game, of course). Surprised baseball teams, especially, do not have more consistent in-venue food specials, limited by time/urgency during stipulated innings.

The area in right field of Petco Park has a lot of nice amenities and activities, including this large screen letting fans watch the game [since their field view is obstructed]. WHAT'S MISSING HERE? A nice TV product attracting tons and tons of eyes and the Pads can't get an electronics/TV brand to pay for these views y branding this TV?

The “Park at the Park” at Petco Park is kicking all game long with kids and families playing on this baseball/wiffle ball field, clearly sponsored by State Farm, which is extremely active in sports and MLB. Love it. Again, a digital supplement would make sense here – a photo kiosk to share pics of the field/kids playing, a hash tag to go along w/ State Farm's youth baseball campaign, a website/QR/social page with more info on State Farm's support of MLB and youth baseball, etc.

One of several walk-by merchandise stands at Petco Park with clear Majestic branding. MLB stands atop pro sports as having the best suite of mobile products, but, despite the league-wide licensing with Majestic, no way to peruse and/or purchase products via mobile to buy/pick up at the game. Would a mobile app/CTA be a good addition here? Couldn't hurt; even a discount to buy with one's phone (fan data!).

Along the concourse, one sees this stand to the left touting the Jr. Padres kids club and their end-of-season trip to Disney's California Adventure. This is what you see; not much attracting the attention of kids here and no digital elements to sign up on the spot! However...

Hidden off in a relatively invisible corner is this Jr. Padres center pictured at the right, where one can get more info, is clearer/more attractive, and, most importantly, has computer kiosks to check in, sign up, and get more info on the spot! Addition- how about an interactive game to get kids over there to begin with...PS/XBox/EA Sports, then, too?

A look at the Padres Store located at Petco Park and accessible via the main concourse circumnavigating the ballpark. Despite all the previously seen branding (Majestic, Nike), there is an absence of branding here. Would a digital callout – shop.mlb.com, view products on Pinterest, etc. be enticing/engaging?

A lot of helpful escalators assist thousands of fans reaching their seats every game, including to the Toyota Terrace. What's missing here? So many fans passing through, so much empty, unused space for sponsorship, logos, branding, content marketing, etc. Lots of room for creativity here (kinda like that seen at airports).

Maybe this is the norm at all ballparks nowadays, but I love seeing the city being given some good real estate for content marketing; both to showcase the city from a touristic sense and reinforce the marriage between the city, the ballpark, and the team. Would love to see a website [and QR code?! Ha] that supplements this visual with more info on the city, the history, sights to see, special deals on restaurants/attractions, etc. More ROI opportunity in front of the right demographics. Maybe a website/CTA for tourist info, too?

One of many branded restaurants seen at Petco Park; these are becoming more and more ubiquitous at pro sports venues and it'll be interesting to see how these brands capture/use fan data between in-arena and storefront customers, maximize ROI and track customer lifetime value, and how it all affects financial models for teams' own concessions and pricing [of food/drink and admission].

There are several hot dog concession stands around Petco Park (it IS a baseball stadium, after all]. If one looks closely enough on the menu, they can see the small Wienerschnitzel logo, but the brand gets no mention from the 'Friar Franks' name. But, rest assured, fans are made well-aware who makes Petco Park's official hot dog – there is a clear sign like the one pictured above next to several restrooms! Ha.

The official pizza of Petco Park comes from local chain Filippi's Pizza. Much better showcase and use of brand than in the previous slide as it's clear who is serving your pizza here. What could the brand do better at this stand? Hand out full menus/locations, promote their website/social media, offer a storefront coupon to redeem at restaurant, do a coupon giveaway based on an in-game achievement (ie a leadoff home run = free appetizer], etc. Brands pay big $$ for this space and should utilize as much as possible!

Uber, recently acquired by Google Ventures for $258 million, has a lot of these signs up throughout the ballpark, but there is no clear CTA on the sign; ie QR code to download the App, info on where to get the App, what the App really does, etc. Nice-looking sign, but brands must assume fans know NOTHING about them and need to make becoming a customer as simple, clear, and easy as possible. Uber falls short here.

Nice shot of right field at Petco Park shows Sony owning these LED boards intermittently and the Petco Porch, which is a moniker used by broadcasters to describe the area of seats next to the foul pole.Speaking of which...the foul pole is a GREAT ACTIVATION; one of the best in pro sports as the pole becomes a club shaft for a sponsor golf club. See it? Awesome!

While the Padres don't do too much between innings in terms of fan engagement, they do very well here with Verizon promoting tweet-to-screen photos, collected by tweeting photos @Padres (Instagram integration would be good, too). This type of promo is becoming par for the course across pro sports. Bonus idea? Save these photos shown & exhort fans to email/text in to request a copy of their tweeted photo being shown on the big screen. Facilitate fan sharing of incidences like this that give them a story to brag about/tell!

Verizon also owns the real estate where in-stadium messages appear like Happy Birthday, Congratulions..., etc. These are generally FREE to submit (I know from personal experience...promo proposal!), so why not allow fans to tweet in these messages earlier in the game, too, and show a few submitted via Twitter? No need to do separate promos, encourage fans to tweet/text these in too; more activity/data capture.

Another shot of the menu at Bayview Grill, notable to me only because they offer Gluten Free Beer. Is this popular now? Wonder why a major beer brand hasn't jumped on being the official gluten free beer of...yet, if this is a growing trend.

Overall, a great night at Petco Park, including an exciting Padres win and some great weather. As many that have spent any time in sports biz can relate, it is impossible to attend a sports event now without noticing the promotions, the activations, and every element of the business side, so hope you enjoyed my annotated tour of Petco Park!

Petco Park, the Padres, and Sports Business Observations

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